I received a phone call today from a woman who 'knows someone who went to a wedding' I made the cake for. 
Anyway, her son just got home from Iraq, he's only staying for Xmas, then right back, but he decided he is not leaving this country without marrying his sweetie! (Pause to wipe eyes) She said she heard my cakes were awesome and wondered if there were any possible way to get a cake on Saturday. If not, she understood. I said, "Are you kidding me? A soldier home from Iraq for a few days wants to marry his sweetie? You can bet I can put something together for you!!" She left it totally up to me on what to do. Only said the bride likes pink and yellow, and they want something "weddingy". She wants a sheet cake for the guests, and just a little round for the couple. I said 8" round? She wondered if I had smaller, I said 6" she thought that would be good. I already made some pink and yellow roses, and some pink apple blossoms with yellow dots to tie the colors together. Here comes the question... I have already quoted her a price, a very reasonable one that doesn't cut me too short, but I feel like a single round 6" cake isn't very "weddingy". Do you think I should (without asking for more money, just kind of as a donation) put a small 4" tier on top of the 6"? Just make it a little bitty stacked wedding cake... just decorate it with the flowers? I don't *think* the customer would be upset by this... (That's not what I ordered!!!) I think she would appreciate it, she sure sounded nice on the phone, and that way the bride will feel like she had a 'real' wedding cake. Or should I just stick to exactly what she ordered? Help guys... I want this to be special for this lovely couple, but I don't want to overstep my bounds! (Well, what you ordered didn't seem good enough, so I changed it!) 
What would YOU do?
i personally think it would be a nice gift gesture. I probably would do what u said.
1. she said do what u want
2. u can say somethign like u started feeling so romantic, yada yada yada (which I really did)
That would be such a sweet surprise! Go for it!! 
I would definately add the four inch cake .. sometimes without charging Ive made larger cakes then requested .. if I personally think the image or what not would look better on a larger cake .. since I dont do this professionally or anything and most cakes are freebies nobodys ever complained and I really dont think this lady will either!
I just thought about it... don't want to do tiered... someone will be picking up the cake because the wedding is 45 minutes away from here. I should only do stacked because I won't be there to set up a tiered cake. Otherwise that totally would have been the way to go! I think I will put the 4" right on top of the 6" and put the flowers on it. Still don't know exactly what I will do for the sheet, but these things have a way of working themselves out, you know? Hehehe. Thanks for the feedback!!
Oh, and the funny part was, he said, "Who's Smama? (Pronounced Smah-mah)" I was like... "That's Zee-mama... this crazy broad who stalks me!" KIDDING!! I explained it to him and he laughed. I told him "Good job looking like a lazy degenerate though. Would it kill ya to open the shop once in a while!" Hahah! 
Glad he's the owner or he'd be fired!! He used to be a workaholic, now he works when he's got nothing better to do. A terrible symptom of having a big fat savings account, I guess. I wouldn't know, I don't really have that problem!
Tell her the other tier is a gift from you, and that the bride must freeze it and save it for when he comes home from there for good! (wiping eyes again!).
Which reminds me, the son of my friend, Margi, comes home from there next month! YA-A-A-Y!
Theresa 
I think you'll be fine adding an additional tier, I would add an 8" to the 6" but that's just me, you know cake is never too much!!
Also if you still not sure I will give her a call and tell her that beacuse of the special circumstances (did I spell that right? ) you wanted to offer the bride and the groom an extra tier for their cake if that's ok with her at no charge.
Good luck and post pictures and let us know how it went!
I totally understand where you're coming from... I'd probably do the same (I'd do a layered instead of a sheet though).. OTOH, you might want to call and ask "is it o.k. if for the same price I quoted you do a little nicer cake for them given the circumstances as a one-time-only deal (that they know you won't do it for any customer in a normal circumstance)".. Just that way you've got the "o.k." for your peace of mind. BUT, leave it COMPLETELY open as to what you're going to do so you've got the design control ;o))
My thought would be depending on how many are attending, I'd go ahead and do a square or rectangle double-layer for the base, stack the 6" and 4" on that, dowel it good, and do your decorating. Mind you, I've got a soft spot when it comes to things for troops and it's a special situation. It also makes it so you don't need to get anything back but they get a great cake for their pics. You never know, it'll probably draw some media attention even if only at a local level.
I'm a member of the fan club too...when we get together we all wave our 6" foam rollers in the air and chant your name!!!! (I still swear that is the best tip I've ever read on CC!)
Anyhow...
Nine chances out of ten the bride wants your cake and is obviously leary about asking for "too much" on such short notice, so I would go for the full monty!!!! The last minute favor and the additional cake that you do for her will get so much mileage for your business!!
Kudos to you for doing it on short notice and for a Christmas Blessing of a price!!!!
That's sweet of you to say. I just want to help someone that is helping us, you know? I figure what goes around comes around, and I want LOTS of good things to come my way!!!
I would agree with the other posts that they may just trying to be careful and not ask for too much on short notice and will appreciate any of the above and beyond that you want to do for them.
I had a similar situation last October. The couple was already married and he was heading out to Iraq. Her parents wanted to give them a reception combo going away party. they called me less than 3 weeks ahead of time for a buffet for 50. I was happy that I had the date open.
Some of you may have read on other posts that my son just finished his 4 years as a Marine. In October he had just finished his 2nd tour of Iraq. So my husband and I decided to do something special for these parents.
After the buffet was over and we were packed up and ready to go, I approached the bride's mom and told her we were ready. She said, "I'll get my purse." I went over to the father and said, "you're needed over here". When we got them together, I told them that since we also had a son in Iraq, and we appreciated everything they were doing for this couple on such short notice, we wanted to contribute to this event. I told them, "There is no charge for today."
The mom broke into tears and the dad's face went white with disbelief. Mom asked "Can't we give you a tip or anything?" I told them no, it would tarnish the karma. We want to do this. We told them to take the money and use it on the kids because I'm sure they didn't have a big honeymoon.
I told them there were 2 strings attached: (1) If you do something nice for the glory, then it doesn't count, so I didnt' want to see or hear any big public anything about this. It's just a gift to the couple that we want to do for them. Then I pulled some business cards out of my pocket and turned to the dad and said, "And two, you DID say you had 3 other daughters?"
I may not have gotten a check for that event, but I was paid more for it than anything I have ever done. I cannot tell you what a great feeling it was to be able to do something like that for a young man heading to Iraq.
Sorry this ran kinda long, but whatever "above and beyond" you do for this couple, you will get paid in ways you never imagined. And I dont' mean monetary.
I am sitting here reading all of your comments and the nice things you do for these soldiers. My husband just got home from Kuwait, my brother-in-law is leaving for his third tour in Iraq in January. I cry everytime I hear of things like this. You guys are the best. My dh wasn't getting ready to deploy when we got married, but he was in SC and I was in IN, so we couldn't be together unless we got married, so three months after we met, we got married. We didn't really get to have a wedding, so on our five year anniversary we are having a vow renewal ceremony. I am hoping to be good enough by that point to make my own cake. Thank you for all you do for our troops.
indydebi. I am in tears. What a moving story. Kudos to you
Melvira. What ever you do I am positive that they will love it. Go with your heart You will NEVER go wrong there.
My Brother-in-law is going to Iraq in Jan or Feb. SO this really hit home for me.
Ok you guys, if interested, the cakes are in my photos. I appreciate all of your input, and am glad that I made it a little nicer than what they were expecting! HOWEVER....
I AM SO AFRAID OF HOW THE CAKE IS GOING TO LOOK WHEN IT GETS TO THE PARTY!!!
The M.O.T.G sent a younger guy to pick up the cake and while I was giving him instructions NOT to tip the tiered cake while transporting, and to drive carefully, he started telling me how he didn't want to go to 'this thing' anyway... because they were taking him away from Christmas at his grandma's house. Then he kind of shoves the cake in his giant truck and actually burns rubber peeling out of my drive. I am MORTIFIED. God, please watch over that poor cake. This couple deserve a decent cake, and I tried to give them one. Please don't let one cranky kid spoil it!
I KNOW... I KNOW... once it leaves my possession it is NO LONGER MY PROBLEM, but of course you can understand why I am nervous! Oh well, I have pictures and witnesses that say it was in perfect condition when it left here. Of course, it's not about placing blame. I just want them to have a nice cake!! *sigh* I'll shut up now! 
Ugh... It must have took a LOT for you to 
and not say "I'll find a way to deliver it myself".. But, the thing is, if the kid wrecks it, they'll know he is the one who messed up. Here's hoping the kid got to the first turn after your house was out of sight and it wobbled a little for him to take it easy. You know, how kids act when adults are around versus when they aren't..
You're right CoutureCake. I hope he did chill out. I never received an angry phone call, so I can only assume that when it got there it looked similar to when it left here, or that they knew it was his fault! I expect I should hear from them regardless relatively soon, as they got more than they expected.
Whew! One holiday down and I finally got back to CC and immediately looked at your cakes! The wedding cake(s) turned out just beautifully! I really love how the colors and (especially) the flowers pull the two cakes together. Let us know if you hear anything about the crazy driver (some friend he is, huh?)
Great work...as ALWAYS!!!
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