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Wedding Cake Delivery
~Practical Suggestions~

From the Feb.1999 ICES Newsletter, article by Robbi Broussard

Do Your Homework
Know where you are going.
Double & triple check delivery time.
Get the phone # of the contact person at the Hotel or Hall to verify when the table will be ready.
Ask the contact person if there is a loading dock or service elevator, or ask for the best entrance to use.
Are there several different banquet rooms at this location? If so, which room will YOU be delivering to?
Will the cake be sitting in front of a window? Will the heat of the sun be a problem?
Will the air conditioning be on?

Fresh Flowers
Fresh flowers are very popular for cake decoration. Some decorators may object or refuse to use them. Try to make sure you know which flowers are non-toxic. Make it well-known that under NO circumstances are the floral stems to be inserted directly into the cake icing! Floral picks must be used, or waxed/parchment paper pieces between the top of the tiers & the florals.  
It's also helpful to find out ahead of time who will be putting the fresh flowers on the cake. Some florists don't like to get near the cake; others don't want anyone handling their flowers. Just be aware that if YOU are going to arrange them, the flowers need to be there before you; or if the florist will be arranging them, you will need to have the cake there before the flowers. There should also be plenty of greenery & flowers available, so the cake does not look like an 'afterthought'.
If you can get the florists name & phone number, you can deal directly with them yourself.

Top Ornament
Try to get the Bride to bring a fragile ornament to the reception herself (less chance of you breaking it).
Some ornaments are heavy, some are 'tippy'. You may want to have the top cake doweled for supporting the ornament, or stick a dowel down thru the ornament into the cake. You can also use florist's clay to secure them to clear, wide pedestals for more stability.
The Bride may prefer that her ornament not be placed directly onto the icing. a spare foam meat tray in your repair kit prepares you for this situation. The ornament can be placed on the foam, traced around the base, and the foam cut out to match. The foam is placed on the cake, and the ornament on top of it.

Fountains
Inform the Bride beforehand that the table will need to be near an outlet. It's not uncommon to get to a site & find that the cord won't reach. Take extension cords & duct tape to secure it to the floor, just in case.. You may want to wrap & tie the cord around the table leg so that if someone does happen to trip or pull the cord, the cake won't be pulled off the table.
Bring a bottle of distilled water to fill the fountain.
If using colored water, bring a small plastic container filled with liquid color diluted with water. Paste colors can clog the fountain.
Clean your fountains with denture cleansing tablets.
Be sure to check the fountain for correct functioning before you leave home!

Center Column Stand Tips
Cut a hole in the cake board before putting the cake on the plate.
Make sure the hole in the board is at least 1/2" wider than the hole in the plate.
Egg-crate foam works great for delivering cakes on this stand.

Design Considerations
The first step in cake delivery is getting it OUT the door. be sure there won't be problems getting a large base thru the door. In the case of using several cakes as the base, where they might be too large to fit through a door, set each cake on a separate board. Position the cakes on the boards so that when they are put together, they will touch in the center. Stack the remained of the cakes during the setup at the hall.
Will there be only one person delivering the cake? Try to make the individual tiers light enough for one person to carry. You may want to encourage cakes that are separated by columns or have several satellite cakes. If the cake is to be stacked, consider not stacking them until delivered to the reception site.
When you get really busy, you might need help delivering. If the help doesn't know much about decorating, try sending them on the easy setups with stands that require no dowels or columns.

Cake Delivery Emergency Kit
See this page for a list of items you may need to take along... 

Transporting
It's better to have cakes in a large, dark, flat trunk than in the cab of a car with many windows.
Use a nonskid rubber mat or egg-crate foam pad to protect cakes.
You may want to consider a "Cake in Delivery" sign.
Allow plenty of travel time.
If it's hot and you do not have a refrigerated van, keep the cake away from or cover the windows, transport a cooled cake, turn your vehicle's air conditioning on before loading, and use insulated boxes if available.
A large insulated box or cover can be made by duct-taping or gluing together sheets of foil-backed insulation foam from the hardware store.

At the Reception Site
Scout out the site before you carry anything in.
Check the table for level & stability.
Secure your vehicle at the curb.
A collapsible delivery cart can come in handy, especially when you have many layers to deliver, one very heavy layer, or a long way to walk.

Setup
The easiest setups are those with freestanding cake stands that do not require leveling of dowels.
The next easiest are the single separator plate systems, where the pillars push into the cake below.
For stacked cakes, do not have the weight of any one tier on top of another. For support, use one of the plates from the stand (the type that uses the twisted clear pillars) that is the same size or slightly smaller than the cake to sit upon it, and four 5/8" dowels. Use a saw to cut the dowels to length & a food grater as sandpaper to get the correct diameter so the dowels will fit into the openings of the plate. Press the plate with the dowels into the lower tier before adding the next tier. This system helps prevent the "Leaning tower of Pisa" effect.

Equipment Deposit
If you want your plates returned, don't place the cake directly on the plate. Use a cardboard circle below the cake- it protects the plate from the serving knife; and if there is leftover cake the board can be removed, thus making your plates available for return.
Some bakeries charge a flat equipment deposit.
You may want to charge the replacement value (ask for a separate check) & tell the Bride that you will give the check back when/if the items are returned. You will want to set a time frame, and specify that they should be clean. If they are returned with missing pieces, or very late, you can tell the Bride that you will cash the check, remove any charges, and return the difference to her.
You can put your name & phone # on your plates, to help their return home.
Leave a bag or box at the reception, along with a list of items to be returned to you.

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