I've been decorating for quite awhile, have done numerous wedding and tiered cakes...but have always stacked and finished on site. I've finally plunged into ordering SPS for two tiered cakes coming up. So many questions: 1) what's the largest number of tiers you've stacked for transport, 2) what kind of distances do you travel with an already stacked cake, 3) have you ever had SPS fail? ugh, the thought sends chills up and down my spine. (I asked the last one because just the other day there was a post on here of a beautiful cake with a strong support system (specific system not named) that slid during transport.

Any encouragement or bits of knowledge would be greatly appreciated.

TYIA

SPS is great. If you follow the directions you will be fine. The largest assembled cake that I transported was 3 tiers, because that is as big of a cake that I can carry. Seriously, it is a safe method for stacking.

Hi,
Best advice, build a very solid supported cake, with dowels and boards,
plan the journey if possible, the smoothist route and drive carefully.
If your vehicle is big enough have someone to sit in the back watching the cake (this doesn't apply if the cake is in the boot or trunk )

hope it goes ok good luck!

I have used SPS a couple times. I have no doubts it is a sturdy system. Tallest cake I have ever used it on was 5 tiers, but only the bottom 3 were stacked for delivery. Not because I didn't just the support strength, but because I didn't have the strength to lift a cake that size. The farthest I traveled with a cake stacked using SPS was 2.5 hrs. My husband was driving and he drove normal speed (which means speading) and taking corners like normal. I told him to drive normal because I was testing the system. The cake was not for a client so I didn't care if it fell apart, my main concern was finding out what SPS could handle.

Now, that being said, I don't use SPS for 90% of my cakes because sometimes my cake tiers are 3 3/4", sometimes 4", sometimes 4 1/4". I hate having to have exactly 4" tall tiers. I also do not like the way you have to have a border. My main support is bubble tea straws with 2 wooden dowels offset from the center hammered all the way through the cakes and cake drum.

I can only lift 3 tiers, so that's all I pre-stack. I've been using the system for years and it's great. We drive normally. No need to drive carefully!

I'm just a hobby baker - every great once in a while I do a tiered cake. My last tiered cake was a 6 tier. It was my first time using SPS. I was soooo worried! It was really heavy, but DH and I were able to get it in and out of the van fairly easily. At the venue, we used a rolling cart they had. We traveled about 30 minutes and even railroad tracks. It was perfect! I will use SPS now for any tiered cakes in my future!!

I've delivered a 5-tiered cake (6-8-10-12-14) an hour. It was fully decorated with gumpaste leaves and flowers. I expected to have some repair or replacement due to breakage, but not a single one moved. I had an assistant to help me lift it of course. I swear by SPS!

I love SPS. The furthest I have driven was 12 hours with a 3 tier.

I've only had one instance when SPS failed me. It was only because I completely forgot to use carpet tape inbetween the cardboard layer and the plate layer. What happened was that my tier bounced up from the little nub and then slid forward (super extra bouncy roads). I thankfully was watching and managed to save the cake tier. It's only happened once, and believe me, I will never forget to tape inbetween the two layers.