hii guys
i was just asked by my cousin to possibly make a cake to feed 400 people[wedding cake]
im not too experienced with making cake for that many and i was just wondering if some of u more seasoned decorators could give me possible sizes/combinations to feed the amount of ppl he requested for it to feed?
i really appreciate any help u give
tia!

22-18-15-9-6 if you serve the top tier

got it from earlene's cake serving chart you can google it or go here

http://www.earlenescakes.com/ckserchart.htm

I'd make a 4 tiered cake and then have extra cakes out back.

Making a cake to feed 400... it'd be really big and a pain to ice and stack. So make a 6-9-12-15 for 170 servings and then have two double layer 12x15's for another 200 servings and if you need 30 more servings just do an 8" square. The main cake will be a good size and you won't have to worry about stacking 8 cakes.

lol
omg im getting scared but hes family so i dont want to say no without at least trying
maybe i should mention that im going to be doing this from home so whats the last size that would fit in my oven?
seriously freaking out a bit now...but thnx for the replies!!!

I'm with jkalman....I've made sheet cakes for 100 or so people to put in the back....its easier on you and cheaper for the client

the biggest full pan you'd get in there is probably a 15". Anything bigger would have to be 1/2 pans. I'm serious... I wouldn't try to make a 400 serving main cake. I make kitchen cakes for large weddings. The kitchen cake is torted like any other cake so it looks just like the main cake on the inside and no one knows that their pieces didn't come from it. You don't have to decorate the kitchen cakes either which makes your job MUCH easier. Just ice them with BC and you are done. No borders... no piping... nothing.

you could do a square cake, i know a 16" serves 128, 14 serves 98, 12" 72, and a 10" serves 50, a 8" 32. It depends on what size cake you want to make, you can also make a grooms cake to add to the serving size, just something to think about.

I would do a 16, 12, 9, 6" which serves 200 and two 12x18x4 kitchen cakes. I can get a 16" in my regular oven.

thank you soo much for the replies guys!
im leaning towards the main cake with side cakes also so lets hope that if he does decide to go with me for the cake that i can actually pull this off in what ever capacity!!
the worst is that the wedding if for the middle of april and he just told me so its not liek i have a whole bunch of time to figure all this out either!
sigh
thank god for u guys!!

right, not always cheaper, but if you're not decorating, just icing, no borders, I usually charge bit cheaper for that cake....

If you make the full size sheet cakes for the side, he might want to make sure the kitchen area at the reception has an area big enough. I made one once and the "kitchen" wasn't much bigger than a postage stamp.

[quote="jkalman"]I wouldn't try to make a 400 serving main cake. quote]

I did a main cake for 520. 5 tiers. Covered in gumpaste flowers.

Oops. 6 tiers

wow leahs and indydebi!!
i probably would have had a heart attack at my tender age just from the stress of having to make the one shown!!
i actually got an email back from my cuzin saying its actually for 200 so i think that just made my life a whole lot easier...well at least in the not having to make such a large amount department...as for the rest im still wondering..
anyway thank you all sooo much for your support and replies

Wow Leahs...that cake is beautiful........how on earch did you carry it????

One tier at a time, and assembled onsite.

Well yes... but she sounded apprehensive about a cake for 400... so the smaller decorated cake with kitchen cakes would be a great option for someone who doesn't do it all the time.

I wasn't saying your should never try to make a big honkin' main cake... just giving a less daunting option.