I've been asked to do a wedding cake that utilizes champagne flutes the bride found as the pillars. Makes me nervous!! I have visions of someone bumping the table and sending the top layer flying! Is there a trick to securing/stacking? Or do we just cross our fingers? She is also having a chocolate fountain and wants it all on the same table, so there will be lots of action around it.

O boy, that's a doozie,
I know I"ve seen it done, just don't know how to tell how to go about doing it.
hmmm, so here's yer bump darlin, hope that someone out there can help with it.
O, by the way, welcome to c.c.

How about a hot glue gun to put glue around the rims and the base of the glasses? I've never done it, so I've no idea if it would work .... just throwing it out there!

The closest I ever came was using brandy snifters. A bride/friend had NO money for a wedding and asked just for sheet cakes. I wanted to do something a bit special. So I turned 4 brandy snifters upside down on the table (with flowers in the bowl part of the glass), then set the sheet cake on top of them. I had made her a top tier for her anniversary and it was on a glass cake pedastal that elevated it slightly higher than the sheet cake.

But these glasses were on the table and not part of a tall tiered wedding cake.......

Thanks a gazillion for the welcome. I've actually been lurking around for some time, but haven't spoken up much . I'm opening a shop in a few months and am suddenly panicking about all of the things I don't know . i have a feeling you'll be hearing from me a lot more...the things I read and see here are priceless!!

You could hot glue the rims of the glassess to one cake board that will set on top of your bottom tier and glue another cake board to the bottom of the glasses. This should give you the stability you will need.

Really a dangerous and scary way to separate a cake. They look beautiful, but if that glue doesn't hold and someone bumps the table the whole cake could go over. I know plastic flutes would not look as elegant as glass but they are lighter weight and would hold the glue better. The problem with the glass is the fact that the bottom of the glass is curved a bit, (you know, concaved shape) so the glue would not hold on the entire base, only around the rim.

All I did was dowel underneath each glass. I used 3 dowels under each to make sure the glass was level, solid and well supported. Although I was nervous when I put the top tier in place it was fine. I didn't use anything to secure the glasses. Just relied on the dowels and the weight of the top tiers to hold in place. I wouldn't put a chocolate fountain on the same table as any wedding cake though. There's far too much chance of the cake being knocked and damaged, especially if there's any children running around.

See Jans Cake in my pictures. Its too big to post as an attachment

All super helpful info - thank you. I was leery from the beginning...unstable, what if a glass breaks...etc. But she really has her heart set on it as it's what was done on her parents' cake. I guess I'll just give her fair warning and let her make the decision...

But I'll still take any advice anyone has to give

Try to talk her into moving the chocolate fountains. I sell chocolate fountain packages and the above post is right ..... there is a LOT of activity around those! Convince her that the mess made by people using the fountains (and yes, there is a HECK of a mess!!!!!!!!!) will detract from the elegance of her cake, which is the centerpiece of her reception.

What about securing the glasses to clear cake plates using clear silicone adhesive? It's really a strong bond and being attached to cake plates on the top and bottom would make it sturdy.

Just an idea...

I refuse to use glass for separators for cakes and always suggest the perspex separators which are widely available for this purpose. I point out the concerns that you have highlighted and so far I haven't had a customer insist that I use glass. Although the cake is no longer your responsibility once it reaches it's venue safely and is set up accordingly, I still wouldn't be comfortable with what might or could happen. As long as you make your concerns known as you say, nobody can come back to you on it. I'd get the customer to sign something taking responsibility for the decision to use glass so there is no come back on you. That's just my opinion.

Here is a link I found on champagne glasses (not flutes) that are designed to be used as pillars (click on the photo for more detail). Looks like they are a sugarcraft product ..... http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=images&imgsz=all&imgc=&vf=all&va=champagne+glass+cake+pillars&fr=yfp-t-429&ei=UTF-8