Wedding Candy Buffets

Do you know what is the number one item that is thrown in the garbage after a wedding is over? No, it's not the gift wrap from the presents (although that probably comes in a close second). It's wedding cake. Personally, it's my favorite part of a wedding, but many wedding guests do not like wedding cake, or do not like the flavor of wedding cake the bride and groom has chosen. Dessert bars can be expensive too, but candy bars are affordable and wedding guests loves them.

Go to wholesale warehouses such as Costco, BJs or Sam's Club and stock up on a variety of candies. Buy or rent pretty punch bowls and spoons to display the candy in. Guests can scoop out as much or as little of their favorites candies to munch on after dinner or the meal is served. Place cellophane candy bags on the candy buffet with cut ribbons so guests can take their favorites candy treats home with them too. Or bag up the left overs for you and your groom to munch on during your honeymoon travels.

I can almost guarantee no candy will wind up in the trash, but sadly a lot of wedding cake does!

Wedding Cake: Good Investment or Waste of Money?

My favorite part of the wedding is always the wedding cake--not necessarily watching the bride and groom struggle to cut it (because they never now how to do it), but the eating part of it. I'm the exception to the rule though because when I was a wedding planner, I saw most of the cake slices end up in the trash rather than the bellies of the guests.

Why?

Believe it or not, many people do not like cake. Even if they like cake, they may not like the flavor of the cake you've chosen. So why spend hundreds of dollars on a sugary delight that is only going to be delighting the trash can?

Two ways to save the wedding cake (and your money)

1. Have the bakery or cake designer create a beautiful cake--making only the bottom layer real, making the other layers fake. You only cut into the bottom part anyway. Since your cake is taken into the kitchen to be cut and put on plates for guests, nobody will be the wiser.

Buy sheet cakes to be sliced and served to the guests. With a sheet cake costing in the neighborhood of $20, you can literally save hundreds of dollars that can be put toward covering the cost of some other wedding aspect.

2. Forget the cake and choose a dessert bar. Again, many guests do not like cake, so why not give them the option of choosing their own dessert. You can buy a variety of cakes, pies, and pastries from your local bakery, and simply by removing the word wedding from your vocabulary, you'll spend a lot less than if you opt for the wedding cake.