Dessert tables have become one of the hottest trends for any celebration and of course a wedding is a great way to dazzle your guest with a beautifully arranged table of "yummines"
We get a lot of requests for dessert table items such as tartlets, french macarons, mini cakes, etc and with that come the questions of how to display it? what pieces to use? where could i find those? what should I offer? how many? and more...
There are many resources in the "Cyber" world these days and some of my favorite are the super talented table designer Amy Atlas a pioneer on the subject, and Melody from My sweet and Sauce who recently wrote a piece on dessert tables for Ruffled Blog with some great ideas, to name a couple.
If something i have learned from following the work of great designers and what I learned working in the pastry field from many years is to be a bit methodical, follow patterns, themes, color schemes and have a good flow.
- Follow a theme:
* What are you celebrating? we are going to stick with weddings since we are more involved with them
* What is the theme of your wedding? Look at the rest of the design elements used around the wedding, center pieces, flowers, the venue itself, linens, etc; and incorporate them on your dessert table. If you think about it this is a vital piece of your overall design, it stands alone for everyone to see and you want to make sure it doesn't look like the dark spot remembered for all the wrong reasons.


* Where do i find the display pieces? Now that you have a theme you can begin to think what pieces would look best. I have found great pieces for tables on thrift stores, good will, Ross, TJ Maxx, for very inexpensive that I would keep using for entertaining at home. It takes a little work and research which makes the finds that much more especial and sustainable, instead of paying for rental which you don't get to keep. For rustic style weddings I go to wood shops, garden stores and even home improvement centers... i didn't say it will be as easy as 1,2,3 but it will save you money and will give you gratification.



* What to offer? This is a very subjective question after all each person's taste is different,what i can tell you is order items that represent you and items that will please your crowd. The choices are endless from mini cakes, cupcakes, tartlets, cookies, caramel apples, to candies. What i always tell my clients is to include the theme here as well, for example going back to the rustic wedding I love caramel apples, s'mores cookies, earthy colored macarons, apple tartlets or mini pies...etc
Of course you can add some more elegant desserts like these mousse shot glasses and the theme goes to Rustic-Chic

* How many? Now this question is all dependent on whether you are having a wedding cake as part of your table, or having both, or if your wedding is a mid afternoon celebration and all you would like to have is dessert - I was invited to a party like it once, small short reception with only dessert and cake, they had a good amount of both (if there was some other course) the only issue was that was all being offered and as time went by the guest got really hungry and it wasn't enough.
What I tell our clients is to make a list of all you are offering your guest and then decide on the dessert table.

Some tips are:
- The more items you have on the dessert table the more curiosity you will create and therefore the more you should order. I always suggest no more then 5 items if you have a wedding cake as part of the count and budget 2-3 per person, example: you have 130 guests coming to the wedding and your cake will feed about 80 plus about 150 dessert pieces. I wouldn't consider candy as a dessert serving, I think of it as an added bonus.

- If you don't have a cake to serve your guest then budget about 5-7 pieces per person, of course this also varies based on the size of each dessert
- Have a variety of small and a bit bigger servings this gives options to your guest for those that might just want a couple of small pieces to end the dinner


Budget:
This is a big one if you have a restricted budget and can't compromise then gather help! We all have a cousin, aunt, grandma, mom or friend who loves to bake or has a signature cookie or dessert, ask if they will be willing to make a batch for you; I know it seems like a hassle but I am telling you this because some clients I have worked with have brought that to my attention which made me think what a great idea. You can give them credit by having signs next to the goodies with their name "Sallie's famous cheesecake bites" your guest will see it as a very special touch and will be a topic of conversation without having to mention your budget.

Dessert tables are fun and the process of putting them together is just as fun as enjoying the final display, Enjoy!