Every wedding deserves a sweet ending. Instead of ending the reception with a boring cup of coffee, why not have a dessert buffet? It’s a very trendy trend, and for good reason – guests love it!
I once attended a wedding that included a dessert buffet. The couple had the classic wedding cake, with the special moment when the bride and groom cut the cake. A little later, the doors to an adjacent room opened, and a magical dessert fairyland appeared before our eyes (if you didn’t guess, I’m a sweet tooth!). It was an incredible surprise and definitely wowed the guests.
So what should you include in your dessert buffet? Well, the options are almost endless; it mainly depends on your budget and space. If you have a relatively small area for the buffet, put out a collection of beautiful treats. Options could include petit fours, icing sugar cookies (with your monogram, of course), and clear glass cylinders filled with candy. Custom M & Ms are really cute, and you might as well have other favorites like red licorice twists and gummy bears. You can also use the display as your wedding gift by placing pretty sachets for guests to fill with candy and take home. Make the bags special by adding a sticker that says something like “Thank you for coming to our wedding. Enjoy a sweet treat for later. With love, Susie and Mark.”
Some couples decide to make the dessert bar big. A great way to do this is to have stations like the ones people make for food. Have one with a variety of cookies, one with candies, and so on. Other delicious treats to include are brownies, cupcakes, truffles, and seasonal cakes. Chocolate dipped strawberries are always a great idea. When deciding on your desserts, think about which sweets go well with coffee or champagne, which is what your guests are likely to drink.
Speaking of drinks, it is a great idea to install a mini bar station next to the dessert buffet. Serve freshly brewed cappuccino and espresso, along with regular and decaf coffee. Offer guests liqueurs like Bailey’s Irish Cream or Kaluha to spice up their drinks. Next to the coffee station, you can put champagne trays, because it goes so well with those chocolate covered strawberries, yum!
To make your dessert buffet truly impressive, add special stations like a funnel cake machine, an ice cream bar, fresh sweet apples, and everyone’s favorite, the chocolate fountain. For those who don’t crave sweets (do they exist?), Hire a popcorn cart. Your guests will be in heaven!
You will want to coordinate the dessert buffet with the rest of your wedding, especially if it is in a separate room. For example, at the wedding I attended, the bride wore crystal bridal jewelry, so she had silver and white centerpieces with Swarovski crystal briolettes on the dinner tables and in the dessert room. It was a fabulous effect, and tying the decoration to her crystal bridal jewelry made the whole wedding look very neat. If you don’t have the budget to decorate another space, you might consider having servers bring in dessert carts instead of setting up another display.
Everyone wants their wedding to be memorable and unique. One way to ensure that is to end on a high note. Surprising your guests with a delicious dessert buffet is a great way to end a festive celebration and thank them for coming. It will make your wedding one they will never forget.