Weddingbee boards

Ok.  I know there's lots of variations in how many slices of cake can be cut from a layer.  I'm trying to decide how much cake to order.

The first bakery I consulted told me a 6" layer feeds 14, an 8" feeds 25, a 10" feeds 39, a 12" feeds 48, a 14" feeds 77, a 16" feeds 100, and an 18" feeds 127.  So, if wanted to serve 200 people, I'd get a 6", 8", 10", 12", and 14" and it would be 203 servings times the price per serving.

The second bakery I consulted told me a 6" layer feeds 6, but an 8" feeds 10, a 10" feeds 15, a 12" feeds 35, a 14" feeds 50, a 16" feeds 75, and an 18" feeds 100.  So, if I got the same 5 layers, I'd only have 116 servings times the price per serving, but I'd have the same amount of cake.

Both bakeries were going to have 2 layers cakes.  The second bakery's cost is $1 more per serving, but the total cost for the same sized layers would be $101 less.  I think the second bakery has better tasting cake and will deliver for free.

So, what I need help with is:  how many layers (and which sizes) do you think I should get to serve about 200?

Where bakers and caterers get those numbers from seemingly small cake tiers is that they cut the slices paper thin. What would be considered a regular birthday cake slice that people can actually taste will be cut at least 3 times to make the cake go further. That is why they say that a cake that at any other event will serve 30 people (using multiple tiers obviously) while at a wedding will serve 150. If you want the slices bigger, tell the baker and whomever will be cutting the cake. Unless the baker uses their own serving guideline, they and the catering staff who cuts the cake use the standard Wilton chart which is on the small side so you can see how tiny they are. If you having a friend cut the cake, they will cut them more realistically but you may run out of cake.

While there is a trend going on at the moment saying that it's cheaper to serve sheet cakes instead of your display cake (which is usually fake if both are used together), that is not the case with every baker. Many of them actually don't get how a baker can make a living by shortchanging what they do. In any other industry, if you double the labor, you double the price that the customer pays, otherwise you go home with no pay. There really is twice as much labor involved because they have to use real icing on the fake display cake as well as bake, ice and assemble the sheet cakes.

thanks for the comments--

I'm having a round cake with two layers per tier.  I'm going to have the catering staff at my venue cut & serve the cake, but I have a friend (who suggested the second bakery) oversee the cutting.  The second bakery told me the slices were fairly generous.  I'm ok with paying the higher price, but don't want to have tons of cake left over or run out!

Any other experiences?

@naangel55, Did you have a full sheet to supplement your tiered cake?  Your cake was beautiful . . . was your cake stand 2" bigger than your biggest tier?