Making a wedding cake, part 1

Recently I was asked to make a wedding cake for my friends, Chris and Beth (hey guys!). I hope they don't mind me writing about it here! I thought it might be interesting to other people to see just what goes into making a big, layered cake, and it might also turn out to be a great outlet for me to record what I learned to be a better baker in the future.

I went to get the ingredients last night, so the plan is to do all the baking tonight and tomorrow night, do the icing and initial setup Friday, and final assembly and decorations Saturday. It's going to be a hectic week!

The main thing I had to figure out before getting started was how to schedule the baking. I only have a few pans, so I'll need to reuse them. I first wrote down everything I needed to mix and bake:



Next, I wrote down each batch I would need to bake, and what pan would be needed. I moved the batches around until I came up with a schedule that would allow each cake to cool while a different pan was being used.

The main thing I have to figure out in the next two days is the cake board situation. I think some people make a base out of plywood, but I think that might be more than is needed here. I'm planning to transport the layers separately anyway, and just assemble on site a few hours before the reception, so I might just double layer the regular cardboard cake boards. It's going to be two very busy nights, but it will be fun, too!

Edit: I forgot when I wrote this that I will actually be doing a 9x9 middle layer of vanilla, not 8x8. So the schedule is a little different, but the concept is the same! The cake will be a 12-9-6 three tiered cake, for even proportions.