If you're interested in knowing how this cake came together, see the photos below. Keep in mind this is how I do it, but there are a few ways to put a big cake together.
1. Bottom tier is 3 14" layers (vanilla and chocolate marble cake). Filling is vanilla creme. Below, it is stacked, filled and crumb coated with buttercream icing.
2. Big cakes are heavy and need dowels. I used 4 wooden dowels cut to size for support and 1 for the center, which helps keep the tiers from sliding.
3. Next I added a 10" cardboard cake round, for the next tier which is, coincidentally 2 layers of 10" marble cake.
4. Some people put their tiers together and then set them on the cake. I prefer to assemble them on the cake: bottom layer, icing "dam," filling, then next layer, and a crumb coating of buttercream.
5. I chose to use shake straws as support, 4 of them cut to size. They are strong enough to hold the 6" tier. Then I added a 6" cardboard cake round.
7. Next step was to frost the whole thing with buttercream.
8. Then I just smoothed it( I use the viva towel method, google it if you're curious) and decorated as below. I used the cornelli lace and dot techniques, burlap ribbon and live gerber daisies (complements of the bride). VOILA!