Just saw this video: http://www.howcast.com/videos/510678-How-to-Cut-a-Wedding-Cake-Wedding-Cake-Decorating

Do caterers really 'waste' the edges? So essentially one would have to factor in the 'waste' when deciding on tier sizes if one followed this tutorial. I've never seen it done this way before. I would kick a caterer in the backside if they wasted all that super awesome ganache under my fondant.

First thing I noticed was she ran her hands through her hair even before she touched the cake. I can't believe that she wasted about a quarter of the cake , and like you said about the ganache , that is the best part. 

Yeah, the hair touching just got worse with progressive videos. "wedding cake is expensive because it factors in the waste?" Um, how about not wasting the cake? #justsaying.

What is wrong with cutting the cake in half first so you can get three serves across to start with . 

I don't factor in waste . I just expect the caterer to be competent. 

Goodness... Waste?  That is crazy...  If I paid for the cake, I expect it to be served... I have never heard that there should be waste left over... On a round I understand that if one gets a bit off there could be a bit of waste, but not that much...

What about those people who love the icing?

All slices should look exactly the same?   No, people realize that cakes have outside edges, especially if they are round...

She threw away my favourite bits!!!

Yea that really is a bit silly to waste that much cake because "every slice should be exactly the same". Why not just tell the customer that a cake is going to cost x dollars, but you're really only going to serve half of the cake so they essentially wasted half of their money??! Insanity.

I have never of anything like this!  It's not what I tell my customers to expect and it sure doesn't reflect the cutting guide I leave with my cakes.  Just to be sure I just did a Google Image search on "round cake cutting guide".  Sure enough, not a single image (out of hundreds) indicated that you would turn the round into a square and then start cutting.  I think everyone should leave a comment on that video telling what bad information it is.  HowCast should remove that video immediately!
 

AThat's crazy she go for the easily way, she don't care for the waste

according to the "waste" concept, there would be dozens of servings lost on a 14, 16 or 20. It doesn't make any sense. And if it were an absolute truth, why haven't any cake celebrities clued us into that little secret? "Don't forget to multiply your servings by 125% to make up for square cutting..."

I was taught that caterers cut a smaller round cirlce in the middle of the cake (like a 10 inch round cake you would cut about an 8 inch circle) the cut the outside circle in slices.  So they won't be pie shaped slices they are more rectangular slices. Then slice the inner cirlce.  So if the cake starts as a larger round then you would cut multiple circles.   I hope this makes sense to everyone.  I have done it so it makes sense in my head....lol  I think the waste on this video is crazy and they are throwing out the best part.  The pieces with lots of frosting and not too much cake!

I have seen a couple caterers that thinly slice the fondant off, but never anything like that.

There are plenty of ways to cut a round cake without throwing 1/4 of it out!

I didn't watch this with the volume on, did she really not mention anything about cutting the remainder up, or did she refer to it as waste? 

AWho is she, anyway? That much waste would tick me off if I did wedding cakes.

A

Yes she refers to it as waste and that's one of the reasons why wedding cakes are so expensive and that the caterers could eat that left over wasted cake.

ARIDICULOUS!!

Wait... Did she say "Standard Industry Wedding" rofl 4 fingers wide, 2 fingers deep and 5"  high. Yikes.  

Ok, thanks. Not cool.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michelle-Doll-Cakes/121859154205?ref=ts&fref=ts

I asked her about this on her page. 

On my page, not hers, that wouldn't be very polite. 

AHehehe. I mean it too. I would be so mad!

As my kids would say, She doesn't know how to cake.

So i'm wondering now if she is having a big 'head scratching' moment and wondering what else she does is completely wrong.  Kinda like how Joey realized that not all tailors measure the inseam *that* way.   No, my video-tutorial friend, not all caterers are cutting off the edges and eating the couple's wedding cake scraps just to get uniform slices!  Yikes! 

AI would never waste that much cake! Wedding cakes are expensive because of the work involved; not because of the "waste" involved!

By the by, did anyone else notice that the cake itself is not level and kinda wonky?

I did my best to be respectful, I did. But if you make a tutorial and put it out there, you should expect questions.

It's still there, it's in the comments under the first post you see on her page, the video for decorating a wedding cake.

I cringed a little inside every time she referred to the scrap and waste cake.  What a nutty thing to do.  And for her to say the industry standard size is 4 fingers by 2, I figure that is about 1 1/2 by 3 inches.  Again, no.  Should link her to Indy's cutting method which works like a charm, ends up with pretty regular sizes and no waste or scrap. Good heavens the waste with even bigger tiers.  Half would be in the garbage.