I have a request for enough cheesecake to feed almost 300 guests! the bride wants the cheesecakes stacked to look like a wedding cake with the bottom tier being 18 in. I don't even know if this is possible. Has anyone ever tried anything like this?? ANY help would be appreciated!!!!!!!

Ugh! I just spent for ever typing a reply and then something happened and it didn't work...so I'll try again.

AT the bakery I work at we do cheesecake layers quite often. Make sure that the cheesecake is baked well because if it is too soft it will crack and split. We bake in normal cake pans with a crust on one layer and one without but a paper liner in both. After it is cool it goes into the freezer in the pans at least overnight.
To release from pans turn upside down onto parchment paper and wet towels in hot water and cover bottom and sides of pans, replacing as they get cold. Push down on bottoms of pans to help release the bottoms of the cakes. Sometimes it helps to run a knife or spatula around the edges but I only do this on stubborn ones because it can mess up the sides or the crust. As the towels wam the edges of the cakes they will slide out of the pans.
I level if they need it and then stack together (the one with no crust on top of one with crust..obviosly. Usually if I have leveled the cake is sticky enough to stick layers together but sometimes it might need a little buttercream. If the cakes have gotton soft during this process I just pop them back into the freezer for awhile before icing them.

I ice with a crumb coat and then ice like I normally would or cover in fondant. When stacking keep in mind that cheesecake weighs more than regular cake and dowel accordingly.
To be honest we have never done one as big as a 18" So I don't know about that. If I remember correctly the biggest one we have done was a 14. We usually suggest that they only do one or two layers of cheesecake and not the whole cake because of the weight of cheesecake, so we might do the 18" as real cake and them some of the smaller tiers in cheesecake if the whoe cake is to be stacke. If you have any other questions let me know, hope this helps!

Here is a cheesecake wedding cake idea from Wilton. They used cream cheese icing.

http://www.wilton.com/idea/3-Tier-Wedding-Cheesecake

I've done stacked cheesecakes a wedding or birthday cakes but my biggest tier was 12". It can be done. No problem about the weight because it's the dowels that support the weight of the cakes, not the cheesecakes. Just chill at least 24 hours before assembly. The tallest I've made is a 12+10+8+6". Do they even make 18" springform pans?

My cheesecakes have a graham, nut or other cookie base. They are frosted in white chocolate creamcheese bc. If desired they can be covered or accented with fondant. The fondant goes in the fridge too and when the cakes gets delivered there will be condensation so I direct a fan to it until the cake dries off.

I confess I sorta prefer cheesecakes to "real" cakes because they're less fussy & easier to bake. You deliver them cold which to me means it's very stable, unlike cakes which are often at room temp upon delivery.