My niece is getting married July 29 at Michigan City, Indiana. I am giving them a wedding cake as our wedding gift. The cake will be 3 tiers (6" white, 10" chocolate, 14" white) decorated with the petal effect icing and sunflower and white rose gumpaste flowers. The ceremony is a beach wedding with the reception following at the Senior Center. I have just been informed by the bride that they have the Senior Center at a special Sunday rate and it is only available from 2-8 including setup and tear down. The wedding is at 1:30 and they intend to setup for the reception while pictures are being taken.

My question is this. We live an hour and a half away. What do I do with the cake during this time? With this time frame, I will need to have the cake stacked and decorated (petal effect) before we arrive (I was thinking about assembling and decorating there but know that is out of the question) and add the finishing touches once I get it set up. How will this cake travel with the petal effect icing? Should I use SPS or bubble straws and dowels? I am a little nervous about the SPS system as I can never seem to get the posts to the right height and I have a small gap between the lower cake and the plate above. Also my husband thinks that we should place the cake in a box and put dry ice around it until we start setting it up. Any thoughts?

#1 i am singing the praises of the SPS right now because my last two deliveries without it bombed.

i also had a gap because i measured wrong, but i planned the border to cover any openings.


why not take your 3 tiers in insulated boxes and stack once you get there? what you need is a cardboard box lined with styrofoam.

what i did recently, for a wedding in the desert, was take each tier on its cardboard round and box it in a bakery box with a small strip of that rubber shelf liner to keep it from sliding.

then i just slipped the bakery box into a box lined with styrofoam sheets. you could also use coolers if you have some big enough.

I don't have any suggestions on transporting necessarily, but I will say that the cake probably isn't going to be the first thing the guests will be eating and nobody says that the cake has to be set up the moment the first guest arrives. The cake has to make an appearance in time to be served.

Provided you get the cake to the reception site, I would ask for a separate room in which to prepare the display, and then move it into the reception site when finished with setup. Guests might already be in the room but...

So many cake shows have cakes making dramatic entrances.

I agree with your husband. I have used this method on many occasions. Pack your cake (in its respective boxes) in the larger cardboard boxes. If you can't find insulated boxes its still ok. I don't use them, I place the dry ice in a plastic bag to fit. Lay it in the bottom of the cardboard box, Put packing material of some sort around it to keep it from moving around. I place a cake board or styrofoam board to fit the diameter of the box on top of all that, then place my cake(s) on top. Close up the box and place the entire box and contects in an oversize plastic bag to fit.

It acts like a mini fridge and the cake will keep cold for up to 8 hrs. Works like a charm.

In this case definately use the SPS system. You'll be too far away and no time frame to fix things that get bumped.

I always had gaps with SPS also but now when I measure the plastic rod, I mark my line about 1/8 to 1/4 in below the level of the buttercream then I cut my rods with a hand held electric hand saw that I brought just for SPS rods. When I stack my cake, the top tier fits snugly over the bottom tier and no more gap! It's ready to go! HTH,
Fedra

Update and thank you for all your help.

This cake was a great success and loved by all.

We found dry ice in Goshen about an hour away at a Miejers store (good thing is that we are getting a Miejers in Warsaw were I live so this is good to know) and my husband made a styrofoam box to to encase the box the fully stacked and iced cake was in. We had the cake in the box for about 2 hours before we we able to set it up for the reception. I transported the cake and gumpaste flower separately and added the flowers on site.

Here it is. Once again thanks for all the help and support given on this cake.

Absolutely gorgeous!!!!!!

Came out stunning.

Wow, that cake is beautiful! I love it, so perfect for an outdoor wedding! Glad you got it worked out!

Cake is gorgeous. Love the flowers.

Wow it came out great! Lovely cake.

Oh my gosh. I am so touched. When I logged in tonight I found out that this cake is number 2 on the Favorites of the day.

Thank you everyone for all your wonderful comments. I am totally speechless.

Thanks again.

You deserve it, its a wonderful cake!