I've only stacked cakes with dowels, although I am vaguely familiar with Wilton's plate/pillar method (or whatever you call it). SPS looks pretty much the same. Can someone explain the difference?

A pillar is placed between the tiers, leaving space (4 to 5 inches) so you can add flowers or something between the tiers.

This is a plate-n-pillar'd cake: http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=155153

SPS legs go down into the cake for assembling a stacked cake. Check leahs cake pics. All of her cakes are set up with SPS.

Wilton hidden pillars and SPS are really nothing alike. The SPs legs fit tightly into the plate - so tight you may have to really work at it to pull them out. It's sturdy, secure.

The W version is wobbly, wonky. The legs don't even begin to fit tightly. Not even close.

SPS comes precut in these lengths : 4", 5", 7" and 9". The advantage of precut at the factory is that you know they're all perfectly even.

With W you have to cut the legs. If they're uneven, your cake could lean or fall.

And finally, SPS is usually cheaper.

Is SPS disposable or reusable?

Cheap enough to be disposable (just add cost to price of cake and you don't have to worry about getting it back), but can be reused if you wish.

Thanks for the info!

I consider it disposable. You can get a couple of uses out of hte legs and additional uses out of the plates, though.

Just chiming in here, if you're trying to decide between the Wilton and SPS - go with SPS! I just used it for my first time last week and LOVED it! I had no worries about it sliding or falling. You can breathe easy and that is worth a lot.

I've been trying to find where to buy the sps but can't find it at the sights I've checked. Is it called SPS or is there another name I should be looking for? Could someone please pm me the info if we can't name companies on this forum.
Thanks,
Grams

ditto

Thank you all so much!!