I am making my first cake for someone other than family...this means I'm getting paid, and I want to do a good job. She wants a 2 tier cake to feed 35-40 people. What sizes should I make the tiers, and about how many layers should each one be?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!! I don't want the cake to look squatty and thrown together!

http://www.wilton.com/cakes/making-cakes/baking-wedding-cake-2-inch-pans.cfm
that is a very handy link!
a 7 and 9 would give 50 (id say), gives you 2 inch difference - a one inch border round the whole thing, which works. play with the combinations - some people prefer a 3 or 4 inch difference, and it depends if your doing round or square

how do you normally bake a cake? do it that way. if you bake one and torte it several times, thats fine. if you bake two and have one layer of filling, thats fine too. its nerve racking, but she wouldnt have asked if you couldnt do it.

to be boring i will throw in the legal bit - are you allowed to selll from home?
xx

When I have to make a two tiered cake for 35-40 people I always make a double 6" for the top and a double 8" for the bottom tier. All of my pans are 2 inches deep so each tier is approx. 4-4 1/2 inches tall. According to the Wilton chart a cake this size will feed 36 people.