Question about cake and dessert buffets....

sofakingmad

indianaalum said:

grumbledore said:

I think if you don't do a "cake cutting" then it's fine to have cake as part of the buffet.  However, I'd err on the side of having enough pieces of each dessert that if everyone wanted one, they could have one.  I could be crazy though.

I disagree. Yes, you should have enough CAKE for everyone to have a piece since that is the "cake cutting" but a dessert buffet has a variety of things so it would be a COMPLETE waste of food to have 100 of each type of dessert as clearly not every guest will eat every snack on there. Our venue had suggested 3-4 pieces per person so that everyone can get a couple to choose from, though they might not necessarily all choose the same item.  Westill had a TON left over doing that.

While I get what you are saying, you just never know if people are going to take a piece of cake AND something else.  People might take both and only eat one, but that leaves one less slice for someone else.

My friend had more cupcakes than people plus an entire dessert table with homemade goodies and there were tons of people who got nothing because people took more than one of everything.  

ETA:  Not that this matters, but since I mentioned how food was terrible at most weddings, this one that I'm referring to had the best food I've ever had at a wedding.  OMG, so amazing.  

indianaalum

afaber24 said:

Does that mean you need to have enough of every dessert on the buffet for every person? Cake for all, cookie for all, brownie for all, pie for all? 

We're planning a dessert buffet too. For 300 people I was planning 250 servings of cake, 150 servings of cheesecake, 100 servings of cupcakes, and 100 chocolate covered strawberries. But maybe I need 300 of each. Good thing I won't be dieting anymore. There will be tons left over if we do that!

NO, you do not need enough of every dessert for everyone on the buffet as it is an extra perk. That would be a ridiculous waste. You DO need enough to give everyone some variety though. My venue basically recommended to do 3-4 pieces per person, but we have about 10 different things laid out. We had a TON left over using that method.

This is what we did. We had a cake cutting and everyone was served cake at their table. And then we had the dessert buffet which had things like cream puffs, brownies, dipped strawberries, tiramisus, custard cups, etc.  where people could just go as they pleased for the remainder of the evening. With that, we had enough to serve 3-4 pieces to each person, but not every person would get the same thing as we had a TONS of options..

csuave

Will the cake be part of the buffet or served at tables?  I think that makes a difference.  The total food that you have may also factor into what is best for your situation.

We did not have a piece of cake for every person; below is my kind of long description of how it worked. 

We got a dessert package that we could use to make a dessert buffet.  For our 110 guest list it included: a three tier cake to serve about 60% of the guests, 6 cakes/tortes/fruit tarts/pies of our choice, 12 chocolate covered strawberries and a couple dozen cookies.  In this package the cake was intended to be on the buffet with the other dessert and not served to the tables.  They also offered a package where you could leave the desserts the same but upgrade to one piece of cake served at tables to each person.

We had a lot of food including: passed and stationary apps during cocktail hour, a five course meal with the main dish having a nice size portion, and a cookie bar that was open for the entire reception (common in Pittsburgh).  I was confident our wedding was not going to be like my cousin's wedding where I relied on dessert to help fill me up because I was hungry since the total food served was not that much.  In fact we got lots of compliments after about the quality and quantity of food.  For this reason we declined to upgrade to more cake and just went with the basic package.

Now the dessert buffet idea was new to me so I had no experience with how it is usually done.  I had concerns about getting the basic package and using the 6 other desserts for 6 different things because then people might be upset about a particular option running out quickly.  I also had some knowledge from lurking on the boards that you shouldn't "dangle and then not serve" and if you do cupcakes of different flavors go with about 1.5 per person.

This is what we did:

• We got the cake that was supposed to serve about 66 people and we did a cake cutting with it after being announced and walking into the reception.  It was then cut by the venue to be put on the buffet.
• We got 3 chocolate and 3 vanilla with cherry cheesecakes.  Each has 16 slices so we had 48 slices of each flavor cheesecake.
• We "exhanged" the strawberries for more cookies and added the cookies to the cookie bar.
• We printed menus for each place setting that said something like "Dessert: Your choice of white wedding cake, chocolate cheesecake or vanilla cheesecake with cherry topping will be available on a buffet at approximate 9:00.  No room left for dessert?  Take home boxes will be available."
• We had a gap between meal service and dessert buffet opening to allow people to digest and to kind of serve as a late night snack/signal to older people that it is time to leave.
• At 9:00 the DJ announced the dessert buffet was open.  Take home boxes were also placed on the buffet.  This buffet was in the same area as a self-serve coffee bar and the cookie bar (which now also had the take home boxes).

At the end of the night we had a few cookies left as well as a decent amount of cake and cheesecake.  I took home as much as I could and froze it but there was still too much and quite a bit got left behind.  No one particular dessert had a disproportionate amount left over.  I suspect that if we did not have a cookie bar we still would have had some leftovers since we had 1.5 pieces of dessert per person and a lot of food before dessert. 

ETA: corrected cheesecake math

CamiSelene

 

csuave said:

Will the cake be part of the buffet or served at tables?  I think that makes a difference.  The total food that you have may also factor into what is best for your situation.

We did not have a piece of cake for every person; below is my kind of long description of how it worked. 

We got a dessert package that we could use to make a dessert buffet.  For our 110 guest list it included: a three tier cake to serve about 60% of the guests, 6 cakes/tortes/fruit tarts/pies of our choice, 12 chocolate covered strawberries and a couple dozen cookies.  In this package the cake was intended to be on the buffet with the other dessert and not served to the tables.  They also offered a package where you could leave the desserts the same but upgrade to one piece of cake served at tables to each person.

We had a lot of food including: passed and stationary apps during cocktail hour, a five course meal with the main dish having a nice size portion, and a cookie bar that was open for the entire reception (common in Pittsburgh).  I was confident our wedding was not going to be like my cousin's wedding where I relied on dessert to help fill me up because I was hungry since the total food served was not that much.  In fact we got lots of compliments after about the quality and quantity of food.  For this reason we declined to upgrade to more cake and just went with the basic package.

Now the dessert buffet idea was new to me so I had no experience with how it is usually done.  I had concerns about getting the basic package and using the 6 other desserts for 6 different things because then people might be upset about a particular option running out quickly.  I also had some knowledge from lurking on the boards that you shouldn't "dangle and then not serve" and if you do cupcakes of different flavors go with about 1.5 per person.

This is what we did:

• We got the cake that was supposed to serve about 66 people and we did a cake cutting with it after being announced and walking into the reception.  It was then cut by the venue to be put on the buffet.
• We got 3 chocolate and 3 vanilla with cherry cheesecakes.  Each has 12 slices so we had 48 slices of each flavor cheesecake.
• We "exhanged" the strawberries for more cookies and added the cookies to the cookie bar.
• We printed menus for each place setting that said something like "Dessert: Your choice of white wedding cake, chocolate cheesecake or vanilla cheesecake with cherry topping will be available on a buffet at approximate 9:00.  No room left for dessert?  Take home boxes will be available."
• We had a gap between meal service and dessert buffet opening to allow people to digest and to kind of serve as a late night snack/signal to older people that it is time to leave.
• At 9:00 the DJ announced the dessert buffet was open.  Take home boxes were also placed on the buffet.  This buffet was in the same area as a self-serve coffee bar and the cookie bar (which now also had the take home boxes).

At the end of the night we had a few cookies left as well as a decent amount of cake and cheesecake.  I took home as much as I could and froze it but there was still too much and quite a bit got left behind.  No one particular dessert had a disproportionate amount left over.  I suspect that if we did not have a cookie bar we still would have had some leftovers since we had 1.5 pieces of dessert per person and a lot of food before dessert. 

I kinda like that idea of doing the cake cutting right away after walking in so that it can be included in the dessert buffet that way. They told us they could include it in the buffet or serve it at the tables, it's basically whatever we want.

mysticl

AlexisA01 said:

Do guest really get mad that they get a different flavor of cake served to them?

The major issue is quality.  Our cake was Godiva chocolate.  It would have been rude for us to eat that while serving our guests a generic chocolate cake from the local grocery store.  

 My cousin had two flavors in her cake.  So obviously some of the guests had a different flavor than the bride and groom but everyone had the same quality of cake.  So it wasn't rude and it was thoughtful of them to give their guests a choice.  

Different flavors would be rude if the bride and groom splurged on some fancy flavor for just the two of them and then had a plain old white cake for the guests to save money.  

grumbledore

indianaalum said:

grumbledore said:

I think if you don't do a "cake cutting" then it's fine to have cake as part of the buffet.  However, I'd err on the side of having enough pieces of each dessert that if everyone wanted one, they could have one.  I could be crazy though.

I disagree. Yes, you should have enough CAKE for everyone to have a piece since that is the "cake cutting" but a dessert buffet has a variety of things so it would be a COMPLETE waste of food to have 100 of each type of dessert as clearly not every guest will eat every snack on there. Our venue had suggested 3-4 pieces per person so that everyone can get a couple to choose from, though they might not necessarily all choose the same item.  Westill had a TON left over doing that.

At our dessert station, there will be 3 different options, so I'd think there would be one of each for each guest.  Probably leftovers but our church can take them for the next day.

alphabridesmaid

mysticl said:

AlexisA01 said:

Do guest really get mad that they get a different flavor of cake served to them?

The major issue is quality.  Our cake was Godiva chocolate.  It would have been rude for us to eat that while serving our guests a generic chocolate cake from the local grocery store.  

 My cousin had two flavors in her cake.  So obviously some of the guests had a different flavor than the bride and groom but everyone had the same quality of cake.  So it wasn't rude and it was thoughtful of them to give their guests a choice.  

Different flavors would be rude if the bride and groom splurged on some fancy flavor for just the two of them and then had a plain old white cake for the guests to save money.  

This ^^. I don't think what you did, @photokitty, was rude because you didn't have the fancy white chocolate raspberry for just you and VIPs and give everyone else generic white sheet cake. You had a plain cake for the cutting but didn't skimp on a nice fancy cake for your guests. I can see actual tacky brides ordering a super decadent cake for the cutting and then serving her guests some premade cake because it's HER day and she deserves the best. You are not this tacky bride and you did nothing wrong

Jen4948

AlexisA01 said:

Do guest really get mad that they get a different flavor of cake served to them?

I think that at best they get confused and at worst, yes, they really get mad, especially if their flavor is plain vanilla and the couple get triple fudge chocolate decadence or something.

So I'd play it safe and avoid the appearance of serving different things to guests than the couple.

Fairyjen1

Do people even notice what flavor the cutting cake is? The last wedding I went to they had a small cake to cut, then had sheet cakes in two different flavors to serve. extremely generous portions I might add. I didn't even notice if the cutting cake matched the flavors of the served sheet cakes. Then again I haven't met many cakes I didn't like so I'd probably be pretty happy with any cake, as long as it's in generous portions. I am always disappointed when I go to an event and get a thin tiny sliver of cake! I realize that's my issue and not the hosts. 

Inkdancer

Fairyjen1 said:

Do people even notice what flavor the cutting cake is? The last wedding I went to they had a small cake to cut, then had sheet cakes in two different flavors to serve. extremely generous portions I might add. I didn't even notice if the cutting cake matched the flavors of the served sheet cakes. Then again I haven't met many cakes I didn't like so I'd probably be pretty happy with any cake, as long as it's in generous portions. I am always disappointed when I go to an event and get a thin tiny sliver of cake! I realize that's my issue and not the hosts. 

I think the issue here is quality. Let's say the cutting cake is a fancy, well baked and decorated cake. Then a guest goes to get a slice and it's obviously grocery store sheet cake that says "congardulashuns noolywids"-- then we have a problem. You should cut and eat the same quality of cake that you are giving to your guests.

ETA: sentences are good.

s-aries8990

Inkdancer said:

Fairyjen1 said:

Do people even notice what flavor the cutting cake is? The last wedding I went to they had a small cake to cut, then had sheet cakes in two different flavors to serve. extremely generous portions I might add. I didn't even notice if the cutting cake matched the flavors of the served sheet cakes. Then again I haven't met many cakes I didn't like so I'd probably be pretty happy with any cake, as long as it's in generous portions. I am always disappointed when I go to an event and get a thin tiny sliver of cake! I realize that's my issue and not the hosts. 

I think the issue here is quality. Let's say the cutting cake is a fancy, well baked and decorated cake. Then a guest goes to get a slice and it's obviously grocery store sheet cake that says "congardulashuns noolywids"-- then we have a problem. You should cut and eat the same quality of cake that you are giving to your guests.

ETA: sentences are good.

Yup. That's why I suggested the same "bakery." Don't cut a high-quality fancy cake and serve your guest shitty cake. It should all be the same quality with the flavor of your cake available, even if not every guest gets a piece of your flavor.

sofakingmad

Inkdancer said:

Fairyjen1 said:

Do people even notice what flavor the cutting cake is? The last wedding I went to they had a small cake to cut, then had sheet cakes in two different flavors to serve. extremely generous portions I might add. I didn't even notice if the cutting cake matched the flavors of the served sheet cakes. Then again I haven't met many cakes I didn't like so I'd probably be pretty happy with any cake, as long as it's in generous portions. I am always disappointed when I go to an event and get a thin tiny sliver of cake! I realize that's my issue and not the hosts. 

I think the issue here is quality. Let's say the cutting cake is a fancy, well baked and decorated cake. Then a guest goes to get a slice and it's obviously grocery store sheet cake that says "congardulashuns noolywids"-- then we have a problem. You should cut and eat the same quality of cake that you are giving to your guests.

ETA: sentences are good.

LOL

Maggie0829

Fairyjen1 said:

Do people even notice what flavor the cutting cake is? The last wedding I went to they had a small cake to cut, then had sheet cakes in two different flavors to serve. extremely generous portions I might add. I didn't even notice if the cutting cake matched the flavors of the served sheet cakes. Then again I haven't met many cakes I didn't like so I'd probably be pretty happy with any cake, as long as it's in generous portions. I am always disappointed when I go to an event and get a thin tiny sliver of cake! I realize that's my issue and not the hosts. 

This.  I very rarely watch the cake cutting because I find it boring and I certainly don't scrutinize what the cake is made of.  I guess I just trust that what I am being served is the same flavor/flavors of what was cut.  And if I was served a square piece of cake instead of a layered cake then I would assume that the bride and groom are serving the same flavor of their small wedding cake but in sheet cake form.

PrettyGirlLost

Inkdancer said:

DragonBlood13 said:

Etiquette says that if you cut cake, you must serve cake to everyone.

I love cake, just not wedding cake.

But personally, I'm normally much more interested in booze after dinner and the cake just sits at my place setting until the servers take it away and probably throw it away.

Why not wedding cake? (Unless it's that you don't like fondant. I get that. Fondant tastes like butts dipped in sugar.)

You don't eat the fondant!  You remove it and eat the cake and icing it was covering.

photokitty

PrettyGirlLost said:

Inkdancer said:

DragonBlood13 said:

Etiquette says that if you cut cake, you must serve cake to everyone.

I love cake, just not wedding cake.

But personally, I'm normally much more interested in booze after dinner and the cake just sits at my place setting until the servers take it away and probably throw it away.

Why not wedding cake? (Unless it's that you don't like fondant. I get that. Fondant tastes like butts dipped in sugar.)

You don't eat the fondant!  You remove it and eat the cake and icing it was covering.

This^^ Every time I do this at a wedding people are shocked. Most people don't realize they don't have to eat the "sugar butt" coating. They are so realized to realize that while it is technically edible, it's not really meant to be eaten :-p

grumbledore

I dislike cake with things that aren't meant to be eaten on it.

Inkdancer

grumbledore said:

I dislike cake with things that aren't meant to be eaten on it.

This!! Why would you put something on a cake that looks like food and tastes like food (albeit nasty food) if it's not food?

mysticl

Inkdancer said:

grumbledore said:

I dislike cake with things that aren't meant to be eaten on it.

This!! Why would you put something on a cake that looks like food and tastes like food (albeit nasty food) if it's not food?

My baker did buttercream frosting but smoothed it out so it looked like fondant.  

Inkdancer

mysticl said:

Inkdancer said:

grumbledore said:

I dislike cake with things that aren't meant to be eaten on it.

This!! Why would you put something on a cake that looks like food and tastes like food (albeit nasty food) if it's not food?

My baker did buttercream frosting but smoothed it out so it looked like fondant.  

That's what we're getting too!

photokitty

I really don't understand who these people are who think a perfectly smooth cake is more important than a perfectly tasty cake…

taste>appearance

artbyallie

Y'all need to eat some real fondant. Homemade, not from a tub. Our cakes (groom's at the rehearsal dinner and the wedding cake) had delicious fondant.

KRD2014

our nieces and daughters of a few close friends are making everything that we will serve on our dessert buffet -- cupcakes, pies and cookies. for our cake cutting/feeding each other a bite routine, FMIL is making us a small 8" B&G cake that we will share with wedding party if they want it. there will be enough of everything else for all the guests.

tammym1001

Inkdancer said:

grumbledore said:

I dislike cake with things that aren't meant to be eaten on it.

This!! Why would you put something on a cake that looks like food and tastes like food (albeit nasty food) if it's not food?

Fondant is meant to be eaten. I've actually had some really good tasting fondant and some that isn't. It depends on the baker and what they use. People peel the fondant off because they don't like the taste or texture of it, but that isn't what you're "supposed" to do. I don't like fruit fillings in cakes so I just eat around it, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't have been in the cake. It just means I don't like fruit fillings much like some people don't like fondant so they choose to eat around it.

rajahmd

KRD2014 said:

our nieces and daughters of a few close friends are making everything that we will serve on our dessert buffet -- cupcakes, pies and cookies. for our cake cutting/feeding each other a bite routine, FMIL is making us a small 8" B&G cake that we will share with wedding party if they want it. there will be enough of everything else for all the guests.

Please don't do this. If you aren't serving your guests cake, it's rude to have cake for yourselves (and just as rude to only share it with your wedding party). Either feed each other something from the buffet (you could even cut a cupcake in half" or cut a pie) or have enough cake for everyone.

huskypuppy14

RajahBMFD said:

our nieces and daughters of a few close friends are making everything that we will serve on our dessert buffet -- cupcakes, pies and cookies. for our cake cutting/feeding each other a bite routine, FMIL is making us a small 8" B&G cake that we will share with wedding party if they want it. there will be enough of everything else for all the guests.

Please don't do this. If you aren't serving your guests cake, it's rude to have cake for yourselves (and just as rude to only share it with your wedding party). Either feed each other something from the buffet (you could even cut a cupcake in half" or cut a pie) or have enough cake for everyone.

This! If I see a cake cutting, I expect a piece of cake.

mysticl

RajahBMFD said:

our nieces and daughters of a few close friends are making everything that we will serve on our dessert buffet -- cupcakes, pies and cookies. for our cake cutting/feeding each other a bite routine, FMIL is making us a small 8" B&G cake that we will share with wedding party if they want it. there will be enough of everything else for all the guests.

Please don't do this. If you aren't serving your guests cake, it's rude to have cake for yourselves (and just as rude to only share it with your wedding party). Either feed each other something from the buffet (you could even cut a cupcake in half" or cut a pie) or have enough cake for everyone.

In fact this entire thread is basically dedicated to not doing this.  

KRD2014

mysticl said:

RajahBMFD said:

our nieces and daughters of a few close friends are making everything that we will serve on our dessert buffet -- cupcakes, pies and cookies. for our cake cutting/feeding each other a bite routine, FMIL is making us a small 8" B&G cake that we will share with wedding party if they want it. there will be enough of everything else for all the guests.

Please don't do this. If you aren't serving your guests cake, it's rude to have cake for yourselves (and just as rude to only share it with your wedding party). Either feed each other something from the buffet (you could even cut a cupcake in half" or cut a pie) or have enough cake for everyone.

In fact this entire thread is basically dedicated to not doing this.  

thanks for the feedback. what if we were to "cut" a cupcake? maybe save the cake FMIL is so happy to make us for later in the evening when everyone has left? this is her favorite thing in the world to do... she's bringing special pans from out of state just to make our bridal cake. she's been practicing frosting techniques for months. i'm not going to tell her and FI that she can't make it. it will break her heart.

KRD2014

KRD2014 said:

mysticl said:

RajahBMFD said:

our nieces and daughters of a few close friends are making everything that we will serve on our dessert buffet -- cupcakes, pies and cookies. for our cake cutting/feeding each other a bite routine, FMIL is making us a small 8" B&G cake that we will share with wedding party if they want it. there will be enough of everything else for all the guests.

Please don't do this. If you aren't serving your guests cake, it's rude to have cake for yourselves (and just as rude to only share it with your wedding party). Either feed each other something from the buffet (you could even cut a cupcake in half" or cut a pie) or have enough cake for everyone.

In fact this entire thread is basically dedicated to not doing this.  

thanks for the feedback. what if we were to "cut" a cupcake? maybe save the cake FMIL is so happy to make us for later in the evening when everyone has left? this is her favorite thing in the world to do... she's bringing special pans from out of state just to make our bridal cake. she's been practicing frosting techniques for months. i'm not going to tell her and FI that she can't make it. it will break her heart.

also, what if the cupcakes are the same flavor cake and frosting as the bridal cake? ... i believe that was going to be the plan, just several friends helping make them.

KRD2014

^^ we were aiming for something like this: (pic below)

(i thought this was commonly done these days; a small cake with matching cupcakes for everyone)

 

rajahmd

KRD2014 said:

^^ we were aiming for something like this: (pic below)

(i thought this was commonly done these days; a small cake with matching cupcakes for everyone)

 

I was under the impression that is was a dessert buffet, which to me implied that there wasn't enough for everyone.

I think if you do this, the same person has to make the cake and or cupcakes, or at least all the cupcakes. Otherwise you risk some people getting better made cupcakes than others. And the cupcakes have to be the same quality as your cake (frosting and all), otherwise it could feel like you're saving a superior product for yourselves and feeding an inferior product to your guests.