Sunday, July 25, 2010

Dessert Table

I read somewhere that a standard wedding cake can go anywhere from $2-$8 a person and that couples typically allocate about $500 for the cake alone.  I'm not much into wedding cakes myself (at least based on the ones I've tried).

Without a doubt, I know I'd want to have a small, single-tier cake (maybe double-tier at the largest) for my wedding as part of a great dessert table with all the great desserts the groom and I have enjoyed over the years.  Benefits of a dessert table:
  • It accommodates to many different tastes for the guests.  Some people will want the traditional cake dessert, but maybe some will be too full from dinner and will opt for fruit or candy.  Or cookies.  Or jello.  Or pies (hell, I could probably do a pie table alone and still be able to satisfy guests' tastes).
  • It can be really affordable, depending on the desserts you decide to go with.  I imagine more candies and cookies will keep the price lower.  A 8" guava cake from Aki's Bakery would probably feed about 12 people (depending how you slice it), and that's $30 ($2.50pp).  Gourmet macaroons costs about $2 a cookie (ouch!), but the costs might be lower if you order in bulk; Trader Joe's supposedly has some frozen macaroons that are actually pretty decent and are $5 for a dozen.  Pies go for about $8-$12 a pie, with each pie feeding maybe 8-12 people ($1-$1.50pp!).  DIY-desserts are the cheapest (boxed brownies on sale for $1 can yield 2 dozen brownies (less than 5 cents a serving!). 
  • The dessert table doubles as decor!  If taken the time to set it up nicely, a dessert table could look really stunning.




Okay, so this last one is just mostly about the cake.  I'm not too keen on the actual design of this, but I do love the strawberries!  Feeding each other strawberries instead of cake would be more fun. :)


A list of desserts that could be included (pending budgetary allowances of course):
  • Candies: chocolates, gummies, and sour candies
  • Fruits (in-season is best)
    • Chocolate-dipped
    • Tart form
    • Parfait form (parfait bar?  Awesome!)
  • Pies (chocolate pie, strawberry pie, apple pies with an a la mode option, custard pie)
  • Cupcakes (banana cupcakes, s'mores cupcakes??)
  • S'mores
  • Small ice cream sundae bar (good for a summertime wedding); alternatively, maybe a halo-halo bar!
  • Hot chocolate (good for a wintertime wedding)
  • Guava cake, banana cake (cupcake forms are also acceptable)
  • Doughnuts (could rent a mini-doughnut maker machine and give them out in pairs like "wedding ring" favors)
  • Pudding?  Banana pudding, rice pudding
  • Brownies
  • Cookies (those Japanese cookies that the mister loves so much, classic chocolate chip, baklava)
  • Cheesecake
And there's probably a ton more I haven't thought of yet.  I'm sure there could be a game made out of this like an Iron-Chef style contest among tables to see who could make the tastiest dessert. :P

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