A tower of cheese wheels still gives you a cake to cut together. Later in the night, it turns into supper. If you’ve decided cheese is your cake, here’s how to get the size, the stack and the serving right.

How much cheese do you need?

Think in grams per guest rather than wheels. Whitestone Cheese in Oamaru suggests 50 to 60g each if the tower sits alongside a sweet cake or dessert, or comes out as a pre-dinner nibble. If it’s the star of the show and guests graze through the evening, allow up to 100g each.

For 100 guests, that’s roughly 5 to 6kg in a supporting role and up to 10kg for a tower that does all the work. It pays to err on the generous side. Leftovers come in handy if you’re hosting a gathering the next day, or if you’d simply like something to pick at once it’s all over.

Choosing and stacking your wheels

Build it like a conventional cake, with the bigger, heavier rounds at the base and smaller ones as you go up. A tall blue makes a solid foundation, and a small brie sits nicely on top. Smaller blocks of cheese tucked around a layer fill the gaps, and half rounds can work for a smaller wedding.

Tasting first makes the choice easier. Gibbston Valley Cheese, near Queenstown, posts sample boxes anywhere in New Zealand for a small fee. The NZ Specialist Cheesemakers Association’s Cheese Lovers NZ site also lists specialist cheese stores around the country, many of them run by cheesemakers, with staff who can help you choose.

Decorating is up to you. Flowers, dried fruit, foliage or ribbon all work, and you can do it yourselves or hand it to your florist or caterer. Cake stands between the layers add height if you’d like a taller tower.

If any of your guests are pregnant, it’s worth a thought when you choose. New Zealand Food Safety’s pregnancy guide says not to eat soft cheeses such as brie, camembert and blue unless they’re cooked, while hard cheeses like cheddar and parmesan are fine. A firm wheel or two in the stack means everyone can share in it.

Cutting, serving and keeping it cool

Cut the top tier together for the photos, then let your caterer or venue team take over. A cheese wire cuts whole wheels into neat portions and is safer than a knife. On the platters, give each cheese its own knife.

Cheese tastes best at room temperature, but it keeps best in the fridge. Your caterer might build the tower close to cutting time, then top up the supper platters from the chiller as the night goes on.

Warm days need a little more care. Keep cheeses in a chilly bin with ice packs until they’re needed. The hotter the weather, the shorter the time food stays safe, so get leftovers chilled within 2 hours.

If cheese isn’t quite your thing, a tiered pavlova keeps the cake-cutting moment with a Kiwi favourite. A stack of savoury pies from your local bakery is another relaxed option for an evening crowd. Or you might keep a small cutting cake for the photos and serve something else entirely to your guests.

However you build it, a cake made of things you both love to eat will feel like yours. That’s the part your guests will remember.