I am having a major blank moment here. LOL. I need to figure out what sizes will work best for a square 3 tier stacked wedding cake for about 60 servings. Right now I am going to assume the top tier will be saved and not served. Any suggestions please??

10"-8"

According to the wilton wedding chart, which is the chart most venues cut by:
6 sq serves 18
8 sq serves 32 (total 50)
10 sq serves 50 (total 100)

If it was my client, I'd tell them "You can't have a 3 tier square to serve 60. Decide if you want a little more or a little less."

And if they want a little more, then you charge them for the full 100 they received, not jsut the 60 they wanted.

Wilton wedding chart?
Or are you looking at the cuttimg guide?

Please send me a link...

4"
6"
8"

THe six and the eight total 50 servings, the four serves what 6-8? That's close. Do they make a 4" square? lol..I'm sure they do, but I've never had to look for one.

wedding chart .... cutting guide .... the servings are the same.

Wilton wedding chart: http://www.wilton.com/wedding/wedding-cakes/wedding-cake-data.cfm

How to cut a cake to achieve those servings: http://cateritsimple.blogspot.com/search/label/cake%20comb

Pics of 1x2x4" cake pieces, so you can see they are NOT "paper thin", which is what most people think when they hear the term "one inch": http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1156785

The 4" top is an option, (and it would serve 8 ..... cut into 1x2x4" pieces, the cake would be cut in 4 rows by 2 columns = 8 pcs) but I refused to do a cake smaller than 6". I found 6" to be a PITA, so if they wanted a 4" cake, it would cost them more than and extra 8" cake.

Sorry to crash your thread but I just have what might seem to be a silly question.....I'm only new too all this

I'm making my friends engagement cake and she needs it too feed approx 30-45 people. I have just done a 9" square cake and have a 7" square cake coming. My 9" cake is 2" high and what I'm wondering is do I make another 9" cake and put them together with ganache or do I just cut the one I have already done in half and fill that? Is that what it means when they say 2 layer? Making 2 lots of the same cake and putting them together? Or will what I have already cooked be enough too feed the amount of people she is having?
I hope all that makes sense

When you say cut it in half, do you mean cut it in half so you have a 2-layer 9x4.5" cake that is 4" tall? Or do you mean torting it .... slicing it in half so you have two 9" square cakes that are 1" tall each?

yeah torting it is what I meant

No " " needed. As long as I've been doing this, I still run across a term now and again that I need explained!

It depends on how many servings you need.

A 9" square, single layer (whether torted or not) when cut in industry-standard 2x2x2" pieces (8 cubic inches) will be cut in approx 4 rows by 4 columns = 16 servings.

A 9" square, double layer (and you can tort these, too, to have the look of a 4-layer cake) when cut in industry standard 1x2x4" pieces (8 cubic inches) will be cut in approx 8 rows(*) by 4 columns = 32 servings.

So if you are feeding 10-15 people, the single layer, torted, will be fine.
If you are feeding 20-30 people, I'd recommend the double layer (two 2" cakes stacked on each other).

(*) When dealing with odd-shaped square cakes, I always round down to the nearest even-number because (1) this takes into account any shrinkage of the cake from baking (2) take into account the flared pans which may be 9" on the top (open) end but only 8" on the bottom (3) it's easier to divide by 2

Thank you so much! I can do my happy dance now and quit stressing about which sizes to make. The majority of my cakes are sheet cakes, I rarely do stacked cakes.

Thanks for posting those links, indydebi. I will have to keep that in mind when I do my next cake. I love doing the layered cakes, but I don't get too many calls for them.

Indydebi, you have been a great help already to me, and I only recently signed up here. I've done 2 cakes since I signed up. Thanks!!! I hope to one day be as good as you.