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One of the bakers we spoke with was actually telling us about this recently. To get just a 2 or 3 tier cake that will feed 100 people and if we need more we could get a sheet cake, because they're much cheaper.
I see this being a very budget-savvy technique if you have a LARGE number of guests but don't want to spend 1000 bucks on a 8 tier cake big enough to feed 300 people.
We meet with a baker for a cake testing on Wednesday, next week, I'll definitely give you an update then:)
This is what we are doing. We are having 300 people at our wedding, so we are getting a 3-4 tier pretty cake and then sheet cakes from Costo in the back. They're in the back so nobody is going to see them anyways!
That's what we did - had a lovely 3-tier cake and then one supplemental sheet cake. They take it back for cutting anyway, so no one will even notice :)
We did this too. We had a 3-tiered cake for display, with the bottom 2 layers being styrofoam. We cut into the top tier for photos and kept it for ourselves and family. We then had 4-2 layer 9x13 sheetcakes that were cut up for our guests. We had 132 people and not everyone had a slice since there was a huge dessert buffet too, so we ended up with tons of cake left over!
@Summy00: Ooh thanks! :)
@hisgoosiegirl: or @ritsi_bitsi: Do you guys have any pictures? We are really considering it but I honestly don't even know what to do. Lol
@AmeliaBedelia: I don't think you've ever seen it because the sheet cakes are kept in back. All that is viewed by anyone other than the staff is the smaller tiered cake(s) on display out front. I imagine it would something like this. ( A link to the informative article I got it from follows.)
http://www.cheap-wedding-solutions.com/wedding-sheet-cake-ideas.html
@2ndtime: Oh, yes, I am more wondering what the "show cake" looks like and if people used styrofoam or just had a small circle tier cake, etc. Thank you for the link!
@2ndtime: No, no! I went and ETA'd my original post to clarify. I think my wording was strange. lol
Totally! Just display your wedding cake and have the caterers cut the sheet cake in the kitchen. No one will ever know. Just make it the same flavors even if they're not it's fine because my cake is multi flavored.
@Gerbera: Wait.... no one will ever know? If your "show" cake was a 5 tier round cake with fondant and designs, and I get served a standard-sized rectangular piece of sheet cake with buttercream, I would know. Even if you put fondant on, wouldn't it be obvious it's from a different cake?
Or am I over-thinking this a little too much?
@Gingersnap: I do think you're over-thinking it a tad. :) Most guests are just like "Oh, cake!" Lol. At least I am at weddings. Anyway...what about if you decorate the sheet cake in similar designs and use the same icing? Say, for instance, you have purple flowers and white swirls... You do the same on your sheet cake? I dk. Hm.
@Gingersnap: I didn't realize starting this thread would make me want cake.....dammit.
I really don't think I would notice, but I'm not a "details" person. If the cake is square tiers... would you still notice? Jw.
I will probably end up doing something like this as well. I really would like a 4 tier cake...but we will only be having aprox 100 guest. I think we will get 2 styrofoam tiers and 2 'real' tiers. I think it is a great idea! A lady I work with makes beautiful cakes on the side and she is only going to charge me around $150 to make this cake (without the feathers)..
All the wedding I have ever been to have had sheet cakes for the guest to eat. We had a 3 tiered and a 1/4 sheet cake and 1/2 sheet cake. The bakery scored the pieces on the sheet cakes for us so all the cake cutters had to do was follow the lines to cut them
@AmeliaBedelia: Yes they are styrofoam, but the top layer is actually cake so that you can cut into it for photos. All they do is decorate the styrofoam as if it was the cake. In the article it said they decorate the sheet cake with the same colors so that it will look like it came from the display cake.
@Gingersnap: Also many times the remove the fondant to cut and serve (because who wants to eat that) so even if you had a piece from the "real cake" it wouldnt necessarily look the same. Especially if you didnt get an edge piece.
We had a 175 guests but we got a 3 tier cake that had 75 slices, I was thinking of getting more sheet cake in the back but the 3 tiers was more than enough and they save the top tier for us. The fact is that people arent going to eat large slices of cake, so it depends on how big the servings are.
@AmeliaBedelia: This was our display cake (bottom 2 tiers are styrofoam, and the top tier is red velvet). We didn't get any pictures of the sheetcakes though. This was all made by my SIL!!
@misskittykakes: Very pretty designs on that cake!
@Sassygrn: That sounds like something we might do. You mean they made it "look" like it was a piece of the tiered cake by the way it was cut? That's cool if so! Very thought out.
@2ndtime: Thanks for your help. :) That article is very helpful as well. I wonder what bakeries will charge to decorate styrofoam? Lol.
@ritsi_bitsi: She did a GREAT job! That is awesome. Thank you for the pic!
All the bakeries I contacted didn't charge much less for the fake ones than the ones made of real cake,so I didn't see the savings.
I've read about people doing it but have never seen it in person. We served full sized large slices and I think people would notice the difference in the shape alone. I would.
@smyley: I'll definitely be checking on prices to see if it is even worth it, but at this point, I may do it even if it only saves me $20. We had a severe budget "blah" moment this week and I am trying to find ANYTHING that can save us a few dollars.
Most weddings I've been to have sheet cakes. Fondant doesn't taste very good, and the sheet cakes are easier to cut. For us, we didn't even have them in the back, we brought them out with the late night snack and had to cut them ourselves (or else pay a ton to have a chef cut them and serve them on a mirror).
We used our tiered cake (served 60) for the cake cutting, the BBQ the next day and froze the top layer for our anniversary.
When we got our quote on cake they actually suggested doing this, and they said if we decided on doing any color icing accents on the main cake, she would add some to the sheet too so that once cut up, they wouldn't seem different. We are definitely doing this if we don't do cupcakes.
@AB Bride: Cool! Do you have any pics?
I have thought about just doing a small one or two tiered cake and then having a square cake that is decorated similarly, and having them all out there. Hm.
We are definitely considering this. I want a really big pretty show cake.. three or four tiers, but we'll prob only have around 100 guests. We'll most likely have two tiers be styrofoam and have sheet cakes (decorated similarly) in the back for serving. Another reason for this is that neither of us wants fondant.. for eating anyway, LoL. I think it will be beautiful on the show cake, though.
@MsFoxxy: Yeah we have similar thoughts/preferences. Fondant is gross but it sure is pretty. ;) haha.
The last wedding that I was at they did this. I would have never known bc the sheet cakes were in the back but we are friends and she told me. We thought about doing this but arent bc we arent haveing that many guests anyways... 112 so between the wedding cake and the grooms cake the there will be enough to go around.
I would like to warn you that "show" cakes can be just as expensive as actual cakes. This is because the main cost in wedding cakes isn't baking, its the decorating. This was explained to me by our baker when we did our cake consult. Also, most cateres actuall take the main cake to the back to cut and serve anyway (have you ever been to a weddig where you saw servers cutting the cake? I havent). If you are going for a dramatic look for your "show" cake, but still want to have a sheet cake, here are my suggestions (via my baker, the pro):
Good Luck!!!!!
I'm actually annoyed about my cake. It's one of the few things that didn't go right that day. I did feel better though knowing that I didn't pay for all large tiered cake and that I did go with the sheet cakes!
Everything tasted great, I just paid a lot from a very reputable bakery that did a shoddy job of my decorated, tiered cake. 
I don't have any pictures myself, my Dad took pictures to deal with the bakery though.
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So on the budget threads, I see a lot of suggestions to have a smaller cake and then supplement it with sheet cakes of the same flavor in the back. I've never seen this, so I was wondering if anyone has done it or has seen it and has pictures to share? Thanks bees. :)
ETA: I'm referring to what the smaller cake looks like, if styrofoam was used as "bottom tiers," etc. Thanks!