Wedding planning always includes dessert. The traditional option of course is the extravagant tiered cake. However, not everyone wants to eat cake or pay for it. Dessert alternatives to the traditional cake can often be more elegant and cost effective. Choosing to stray away from a tiered cake opens the door to variety in flavor and style, and it can also allow for creativity and unique ideas to generate.
Every bride wants to please and impress her guests. One way to do so is to think outside the box for dessert. Offering an assortment of miniature desserts for example is one way to go. From miniature tarts and pies to milkshakes, dipped fruit, cookies, candy, cream puffs, or truffles, you can easily please any palate.
Milkshakes
By offering a variety of small portion options, guests can sample a range of flavors. Also, after a meal with many courses, most guests do not have room for a piece of cake, but a small cupcake might be just right.
Another way to amaze guests is to make dessert a show by offering a dessert station with a chef on hand. Watching someone create a dessert just for them will ensure they get just what they want and in a fun way. Who wouldn't want to watch someone prepare bananas foster or torch some creme brulee?
Unleash their inner child and let guests create their own dessert masterpiece by offering a sundae bar. Versatility through flavors and toppings give guests control over what they eat. With a cake there is only one option, but with a sundae bar the possibilities are endless, not to mention fun.
Have a favorite country? Use that as a personal touch for dessert inspiration. If you love France and everything French, create a spread of all French mini desserts. Offering fruit tarts, chocolates, elcairs, napoleons, meringues, and tiramisu will make your guests feel like they walked into a French bakery. By giving your guests a unique experience, they will enjoy themselves more. Creative ideas like this will also make wedding planning more fun.
Don't have a sweet tooth? No problem. Tart sorbets, after dinner liqueurs, fruit displays, and cheese boards are other options that will surprise your guests and give them something to remember. These can be added to displays with other desserts, or stick with a theme of non-sweet after dinner treats.
For those concerned that a spread of options is not as aesthetically pleasing as a monstrous cake, never underestimate the power of presentation. Use a martini glass to serve chocolate mousse with a mint garnish and a colored sugar rim. Have your caterer decorate each piece of dessert. Try a monogram on a cookie. There are endless options to make individual desserts more elegant than a cake.
To save money and take out a step of wedding planning, make the dessert function as your centerpieces. Place a small cake in the center of each table, have them match or offer different varieties at each table. If you are having a backyard wedding use s'mores as a centerpiece and dessert. Have a (safe) flame in the center and provide all the fixings when it is time for dessert. Or go for chocolate fondue. What better than a vat of chocolate for guests to drool over all night? If you have a little extra to spend try a French Croquembouche at each table; this is a sure way to impress every guest.
To make it personal, if you have a friend or relative who has a special dessert recipe, ask them to bake that as an option. Homemade desserts will be cheaper or free depending on who is baking. Plus, they will add a touch of charm. Having a family recipe as dessert is another way to make the reception more meaningful. However, if you are having a three hundred person bash, the baker might not be up for the task.
Ease your wedding planning and go with a fun small-scale dessert. It will eliminate the pressure to pick the one perfect cake, because you can offer tons of options with miniatures. Not to mention the fiscal savings that will come. The price of anything, including a cake, spikes when the word "wedding" is mentioned, so less traditional options like mini tarts are likely to cost less. An individual option will eliminate any charges for cake cutting that most venues tack on. Lastly, one more perk to an individual dessert is it can be made into the wedding favor. Double up here to save money. Guests who are full from dinner might appreciate a small midnight snack later, and what better way to snack then with a perfect size dessert?
A Big Cake Isn't Always Better When Planning a Wedding
Molly Danziger is a writer for My Wedding Workbook, the next-generation online wedding planning software that's free, easy-to-use and helps brides-to-be manage every detail for every-wedding related event, from your engagement party and bridal shower to your ceremony, reception and honeymoon.