How much weight on a cake?

Question

Hi everyone. I'm in a bit of a conundrum. My hubby and I are having a vow renewal. Since our original wedding was me in the dress we wore on our first date and him in jeans and a white dress shirt in front of the Justice of the Peace, we decided to make this one the "dream wedding".
Just today, we found some of the perfect items for our reception and gave up hope on others. One piece we gave up on was the cake topper. But I wanted one desperately, so I found a commissionable sculptor and decided on the material I wanted it done in. But I need to know if it will weigh too much for the cake to withstand.
The sculpture I want will be a two figure one, myself in a large "ball gown" with an extremely long veil. The cake will be 5 layers (feeding 300, plus the top layer used in tradition of eating it one year later) with buttercream fondant. I'll add links to the cake and one sculpture in the same material.

Here is the cake, it is the top one on the right. Oh, and we're taking the flowers off the top for the sculpture-
http://fancycakesbyleslie.com/html/cakes.html

Here is the sculpture made from the desired material. Be aware, the subject is nude-
http://www.heidimaiers.com/HTMGalleries/carla.htm

Answer 1

Congratulations!
Both myself and my daughter are getting married next year so we've been doing lots of research on these things.

I don't see any problem with your sculpture as long as the cake-maker knows about the topper and provides the proper support. They can hollow out the centre of your top layer and insert a stand inside, so the sculpture isn't actually sitting on cake - and place a base (like a sturdy cardboard plate) under the top cake rather than have it sit directly on the cake beneath. In fact, it's not unusual for the bakers to use supports inside all the cake layers to support the overall weight.

So you'll have a "ring" cake to eat on your anniversary - looks like it will be worth it! Good fortune to you both!

Answer 2

You can always add a cardboard top, just beneath the icing, on the top layer to support something heavy (like your sculptures).

I think the bigger concern is the scale of your sculptures to the cake. You really want the cake to stand out - as the cakes that I viewed at the link you provided do. I think your idea of the sculpture is a nice one, but I might make the figures smaller, say 4 - 5" tall at the most.

Just a thought.

By the way, congratulations!

Answer 3

Use a thin rod that goes down through the middle of the cake to the platter, and holds up the sculpture.

Answer 4

Make it smaller - and show your cake designer what you plan so that she can come up with an inner structure to support the topper.

Answer 5

This is sound very good to me. The answer is “ Not too much” I guess.