One of the best ways for you, as a new wedding planner, to learn about current trends in weddings is to learn from experts in the wedding and event industry. If you can’t work with them side-by-side, attend industry conferences and seminars, read blogs written by experienced professionals, and read industry and wedding magazines.
A current trend today is the dessert bar or buffet table, it’s appearing along side the traditional wedding cake and even replacing it at some weddings. In the Summer 2012 issue of Martha Stewart Weddings magazine, Amy Atlas, dessert stylist, event planner, and author of, “Sweet Designs: Bake It, Craft It, Style It,” shared ideas on how to make a dessert bar work for a wedding, even if the bride is on a tight budget.
Here are 3 of her tips that you can use when you have a bride considering a dessert bar:
1) Choose six to eight items and make sure your bride has plenty of each choice available
As with any type of buffet, your bride needs to order good-sized quantities of each choice because she doesn’t know how much guests will eat.
And don’t offer more than eight choices. I’ve always found that many guests try at least one of every item so the more options, the more your bride will need to spend on the desserts.
2) Have a range of flavors
Your bride will want to appeal to a variety of tastes and, if necessary, accommodate food allergies.
Amy suggests tying the different types of desserts together by seeing to it that the food, presentation, and signage have a uniform look.
3) Make the sweets look abundant, even if the bride is on a budget
Set the desserts on a small table and set their platters at different heights. Fill gaps with bowls of inexpensive choices such as marshmallows, frosted cupcakes, and rice crispy treats.
Amy echoed a sentiment I heard when I first started my career as a planner. That sentiment is that dessert is a very important part of every wedding and event because it is the last thing a guest receives so it is what they remember most about the event. If your bride serves a bad cake or doesn’t have enough, the guests will remember, and talk about it and little else, whenever her wedding comes up in conversation.
Read more about dessert bars in the magazine.
