so, my customer wants a big big wedding cake, with the bottom tier being a 24" round......... 
do they even make HALF pans that big?! and if they do, which i'm HOPING they do... where would i acquire one such pan?!
thanks in advance... this is going to be tricky!
I'm sure they do make them that large! Just look at the normal places-like Global Sugar Art, Into The Oven, etc.
And I hope you are charging a lot. 
Make *sure!* your oven will hold something that big. Most likely it won't. It is up to you to inform the UNinformed public that such things are seldom, if ever, possible.
It would take something like a commercial pizza oven to bake something that size.
LOL! i was waiting for my email to tell me people replied but apparently i didn't mark it to tell me! good job me...
anyways, she wants the cake for 250, and i recommended 18, 14, 10 and 6, where they'd be saving the top tier, and i think it comes in at slightly under 250...
BUT she's having cascading flowers down the sides, provided by her florist, who specifically asked her to ask me if i could leave enough room on both sides for flowers... i told her each tier would have two inches of space all the way around... she texted her florist (must be a friend) who asked if i could do 3 inches....
so i had to up the sizes to 24, 18, 12 and 6... which i don't even know how many that feeds, probably way over...
and for the original size i was charging $700, but i up'ed it to $800 ... mostly because it was so spur of the moment and i have NO IDEA how many a 24" serves...
i'm probably not charging enough, i never do... more often then not i usually break even or barely make any money... i need to stop worrying about people thinking i'm charging too much...
How many tiers does she want?
she wanted 4, but then started asking about a fake tier, but she wanted it in the middle, so i told her that wasn't possible so it's back to 4...
I was kind of in the same boat as you but my bottom was a 18, that i had to go on line to find, none of my stores here carry that size. In looking i did not see anything over 18. Also the more i looked into it i found out that a 18 will not fit a reg size oven. So my thought for you....you said she wanted more than 4 tiers. Why not do a dummy cake at the bottom. That could be the 24 than do the others real and you would have the sizes you would need. Just a thought......Good luck 
Would you and the bride consider doing more tiers instead of the super large ones? I'm just thinking that proportionally it might look a little off, very wide and not very tall. And I would definately charge more. The ingredients alone will cost a lot!!!
24" square would serve 12 X 24 (1 X4 X2) servings - 288
WIth all the top tiers, this cake would be way more than what they need. If you cannot get the pans, you can always use 12" pans and put together 4 of them to make it 24". I Hope it is square, otherwise what I am talking makes no sense.
Good luck and yes, you are way undercharging for this cake. I don't sell cakes, but can you even cover your ingredients and minimum wages with this price. None of my business, just curious.
Well here are my two cents.
You definatelly undercharge I just saw your cake pics and lady you got some talent, dont sell yourself short!!!
Now what if you make her; her 4 tiers that she wants and you add some 6" rounds around the cake just to make sure she has enough for all of her guest.
Just a thought !!!
ok here was my suggestion but somehow when i posted it before it became it's own thread... anyway!...i just cpoied and pasted what i already wrote...
wow! do they make ovens that big? lol. seriously though, i have never seen pans that big, but this is what i would do... make 4 12" square cakes, put them all together to make a 24" square and carve them out into a 24" circle. to carve out the circle you can measure a piece of string 12" long and tie one end to a dow or something, stick it in the middles and attatch something ...or even a knife... to the other end so you can make a perfect circle. you will have lots of leftover cake but just charge her extra for that, lol. ...there might be a better way to do it, but it's an idea
i doubt a typical oven could bake a cake that size and it would take a long time to do-i might suggest to her that the bottom tier be a dummy as you don't need that much cake to feed her guests and that should provide enough room for the florist to cascade her flowers (of course the florist could possible cut back on the amount of flowers-you still want to see cake not just a bunch of flowers imho) hope it works out-i'd be shaking in my boots then i'd say not possible
I wonder if you could do 4 12 or 14 inch rounds and have the other tiers stacked on those, that would leave alot of room for floral creativity (sp).I know I have seen some like that on here and it is a nice design. I'm not sure what to call it maybe someone can make more sense than I am.
That does sound like very strange dimensions for the cake (very wide, not very tall) unless you were planning on doing extended tiers - in which case there would be enough cake for every wedding in town not just hers!
My question is if the florist is requesting the extra space maybe they are inexperienced - surely they would have done flower cascades before and would be familiar with the usual dimensions of a cake? Could you speak directly to the florist to work out why they need so much space? It might also be worth doing a scale drawing to show the bride exactly what she is requesting with those dimensions - it sounds like both the bride and the florist need some guidance here.
thanks for the kind words and helpful hints... i am definately going to call the florist... i didn't even think about that....
i bought an 18" half round, and they had a 20" half round at my local supply store, but nothing bigger... if they could even get a 22" half round, i'd just do that and be done with it...
oh, and about the size of my oven, if it doesn't fit there, i work at a local bakery, and i'd just bake it there, they know i do cakes on the side, but as far as they need to know "it's for my friends wedding".... 
i have to meet with her again anyways, her wedding is in two weeks, we JUST signed a contract, and she wants a revision about what i would do in case of food poisening (not in the original)....
on the plus side it's a henna design which i've always wanted to do
Huh? She is counting on food poisoning? Even having someone thinking about it, would make me turn around and say, thanks, but no thanks. So what are you going to do, if someone get's foof poisoning? How will you or she know, it's from your cake and not the other food?
Huh? She is counting on food poisoning? Even having someone thinking about it, would make me turn around and say, thanks, but no thanks. So what are you going to do, if someone get's foof poisoning? How will you or she know, it's from your cake and not the other food?
true! i think i scared her with my contract, the part about allergens... then she asked if i ever had a problem with food poisening... which made me laugh, cause who asks that?
excuse me, bakery, what is your ratio of good cake to food poisened cake you sell?!
Out of curiosity, I checked my pan vendors website and the largest they make in a round pan is 18" BUT, they do make a half round in 24" You could do 2 halves to make a full round. I'd cut out a semi circle in cardboard or paper to see if your oven would take a pan that large. The beauty of a half round is that it goes in diagonally. Lloyd pans has 3" deep for $38.33 and 2" deep 24" half rounds for $34.68
Out of curiosity, I checked my pan vendors website and the largest they make in a round pan is 18" BUT, they do make a half round in 24" You could do 2 halves to make a full round. I'd cut out a semi circle in cardboard or paper to see if your oven would take a pan that large. The beauty of a half round is that it goes in diagonally. Lloyd pans has 3" deep for $38.33 and 2" deep 24" half rounds for $34.68
i must not of mentioned it in the beginning but i was looking for half rounds, i bought my 18" as a half, just because i'd like to be certain it will bake evenly through the middle and not be burnt!
i will definately look into this place! do they have a website?
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