Questions About Support For 7 Tier Wedding Cake
Decorating By ptanyer Updated 20 May 2009 , 9:18pm by mpetty
I am doing a 7 tier wedding cake in 2 weeks and have to drive it 2 1/2 hours, then stay over-night and then transport it to the reception site. The cake will be a 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 square cake with cut corners. Each tier will be about 4 1/2" tall with 2" layers. The bride has arranged for a beautiful silver cake stand in the same shape as the cake tiers. SPS is out of the question due to the cost.
I plan to move the cake in two sections: = 6, 8, 10 and 12, and then the 14, 16 and 18. Then I can put the two sections together at the reception site and finish the final beading around where the 2 sections join.
Now my questions are:
1. Are single cake boards enough support fthe tiers for a cake this size? Do I need to use 1/2" foam core instead of cake boards, or masonite under each tier?
2. If I use masonite under each tier, then how would I use a center dowel for extra support? Will the center dowel go through foam core or even doubled cake boards?
3. I was planning on using a 3/4" piece of mdf covered in white fondant with white satin ribbon around the edge to match the white on the wedding cake.
If you can think of anything else I haven't considered, please don't hesitate to let me know. I am working on a checklist to make sure that I have absolutely everything ready so that when I start baking I don't have to stop and start. (I've already got all the rehearsal dinner and wedding clothes for my family out, organized and suitcases partially packed with things we don't use everyday and will need to take with us..talk about OCD...things like this always bring it out in me...LOL).
Thanks in advance for all your help and assistance.
I think you should talk to Edna. I remember her website talking about how she transported a 7 tier cake in two sections like that. I remember something happened and she had to fix it. So you might find out the story so that you can avoid what happened to her.
Good luck!
I don't have experience with a cake that tall but I do use masonite boards and dowel down the centre.
Here's the method I use:
1. Use a board for every cake plus a base board.
2. Cut the dowel 2 inches shorter than you expect the cake to turn out (eg 3 tiers, 4 inches tall = 12 - 2 = 10 inch dowel. Cut one end on an angle so you have a point.
3. Using a wood screw, screw the dowel to the centre of the base board so it stands up straight - point upwards.
4. Drill a hole through the centre of each board the same size as the dowel (check the dowel will slide through before you put the cake on it)
5. Ice each cake individually and add support dowels (or bubble straws - I always use wooden dowel though because of the weight)
6. Slide each cake onto the dowel - the weight of the cake is enough to push it down.
HTH
SPS is out of the question due to the cost.
Are you donating this cake for a family member or something? At 560 servings (per the wilton wedding chart), this is a $1500+ cake. SPS would be a small fraction of that. But if it's a gift or something, I can see where your cost would be a concern.
I agree with Leahs and Debi..........SPS all the way...........by the time you buy all of the masonite and dowels you will have spent more $$ and time constructing something..........the 4 tier teal, brown, and gold cake in my photos was transported just as you see it, on the back seat of my car for a 2 hour drive to the reception- did not have one single thing move, shift, or fall off...............after that- I was SOLD on SPS...........I vow to never cut another stupid dowel ever again!!!
I think you should talk to Edna. I remember her website talking about how she transported a 7 tier cake in two sections like that. I remember something happened and she had to fix it. So you might find out the story so that you can avoid what happened to her.
Good luck!
That cake was not real, it was a dummy for a competition. SInce it was a dummy and didnt have the weight of a real cake, the topper went sideways.. Being fake I never took enough precautions as I do with the real cakes.. 
The tallest cake I travel with is been 6 tiers and was already stacked. It was heavy as can be!.. I wouldn't travel for 2 and a half hours with a 7 tier cake stacked. 6 is the limit for me..
Edna 
The total cost of SPS for that cake is $30.69 before shipping. That's CHEAP. And especially so for a system that will hold your cake securely.
Exactly what Leah said! 
You will be stress free!
Madiken: Check out L & M Bakers Supply Co. in Toronto. They will order it from the States and ship it to you so there's no duty etc. They do have a minimum order amount (I think $35) so I ordered a complete set of rounds and squares. They were great to work with!
http://www.lmbakersupply.com/
Maybe it is my inexperience with a cake that large, but I would have a difficult time lowering 4 assembled tiers into place. That would be too heavy and awkward for me. If space allowed, I'd stack the bottom three/four tiers and assemble the rest one at a time on site.
SPS is Single Plate System. Check out Leah's thread here: http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-603925.html
Maybe it is my inexperience with a cake that large, but I would have a difficult time lowering 4 assembled tiers into place. That would be too heavy and awkward for me. If space allowed, I'd stack the bottom three/four tiers and assemble the rest one at a time on site.
That's my thought..stacking 4 tiers that are already stacke seems to be an impossible task for me. The weight alone!.OMG.. I would do probably 4 tiers.. and stack the rest there.
Being a cake in fondant, you can do most of the piping at home in royal Icing and just finish the borders at the reception. If it was buttercream, then it would be more difficult.
Edna
Sorry I just got a chance to respond to everyone's comments and suggestions, but my day job sure can get in the way (lol). Anyway, here goes:
Indydebi: The cake size was determined by the bride who wanted bigger cake portion sizes for the guests. Because of the size of the cake, the bride's mother (my sister) is paying for the ingredients and the supplies. My gift to them is making, decorating, transporting and setting it up. So additional costs are a factor now since we have already purchased everything I thought was needed.
Leahs: I am a total moron...all this time I thought that I was reading the sps as sfs 
. Okay now I am on the same idea page with you. I checked out the sps and see where you got your figures. But the cake tiers are going to be a cut corner cake. How do I make the square plates work on a cut corner cake? The plates are plastic and looking at where the posts go, there is no way to cut the corners off. So I'm back to square one (no pun intended,hehehe).
Edna and Jammjenks (and everyone else I forgot to list): In reviewing my original plan, I can see where it would not work to stack the way I thought I would. It really will be too heavy - don't know why my mind works the way it does sometimes...
I tried attaching a photo of the cake I am making so ya'll can see what I have to do. But I can't get it to post (ggrrrr). It's the Beribboned Bouquet Cake in the new Martha Stewart Wedding Cake book. The only difference is that this cake will be 7 tiers and there will be no little flowers on the cake. Just the monogram, royal icing dots and food safe flowers on the top. My concern is having enough time to pipe all the icing dots around the bottom of each tier after I finish setting it up. I only have one hour to set it up and then I have to leave so I can get to the church for the wedding. I'm not a fast piper and worried about time and having a perfect cake when I leave for the wedding.
Thanks,
Pam
Have you ever thought of making kitchen cakes so you don't have to deal with such a huge cake?? Or maybe giving the option of having a spearator plate on one of the tiers so is easy to travel with and you can fill it with fresh flowers?..
Since this is a gift that looks to me is worth over $1,000, can you choose something that can make your life a bit easier instead of more stressful?
Think about it.. I do wedding cakes in a weekly basis, I have 11 weddings this week and 13 next. When I do cakes over 5 tiers, they cause stress for delivery, and this is a service that is being paid..But doing a cake as a gift for a family member, I think I would try and make suggestions to them so I can actually deliver a cake that will be perfect. Rather than to be stressing if it will fall down or if I can finish decorating it at the reception hall on time.
I am only giving you some things to think about..at the end of the day is your cake and your choice and I wish you best of luck.
Edna
So I have a four tier (3 stacked, top column) that I need to travel about one and a half hours to deliver. Do you think SPS would be ok to travel that far, or should I not assemble until I get there, with the exception of the top tier? I am not sure I would have enough time to wait to assemble all tiers.
Wow, I'm a nervous wreck about driving a 3 tier cake 40 minutes on the freeway with SPS. Well, after reading this post I think it might just make it. Seven tiers!! Six tiers, I'm impressed, and really glad it's not me. Someone would have to sedate me to do 6+ tiers....lol.
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