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Dessert Dilemma

sarahjane222sarahjane222 member
Third Anniversary 25 Love Its 10 Comments Name Dropper
in Wedding Reception Forum
We decided early on that we didn't want a cake. We were just going to serve a plated dessert and that would be it until the late night dinner, as we've been to several weddings where the dessert is overkill (plated dessert and a dessert table and a candy bar...). It turns out that the plated dessert on its own will cost about $950, so we'd like to do something cheaper. 

Curious if you're doing a desert table yourself - as in all the baking yourself. We're having about 200 guests and it seems like a lot of people to bake for and I don't want to make my family do too much. Plus we've got a nice, classy theme going on that I don't want to ruin with a DIY looking dessert table. Should we just order a stupid cake even though we don't love cake or is there a way to do up a classy dessert table (all for less than $500!!!)? 
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Re: Dessert Dilemma

  • Lauderdale PinkLauderdale Pink member
    250 Love Its 500 Comments Second Anniversary First Answer
    Cupcakes?
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  • jacques27jacques27 member
    Knottie Warrior 1000 Comments 500 Love Its 5 Answers
    Well, for starters, I'm personally against you doing a DIY dessert table since you use the phrase "make my family".  If they offer, fine, but you shouldn't do it if it involves making your family work to do it when they never offered in the first place. 

    There are plenty of alternatives to cake you could have a bakery do.  Two separate friends  had cheesecake (one had a table of cheesecake and the other had an already sliced cheesecake at each table as part of her centerpiece).  Another friend had various pies.  Another friend had shooter glass desserts (I think one was a layered fruit crumble, another was a variation on smores with chocolate mousse and graham crackers, and I can't remember the third). 

    Is there a kind of cake you like that isn't a traditional wedding cake?  Maybe tres leches, sacher torte, or a flourless chocolate cake (since they always end up pretty fudge-like)?

    You could also have a bakery do an assortment of truffles and chocolate covered strawberries.  Or cream puffs.  Or you could do croquembouche, which is traditional for weddings in French culture.  You could have a bakery do an assortment of tartlets and petit fours, so those who do like cake still have the option of it.

    I don't promise that all of those options are definitely cheaper, but you do have options that lie somewhere between plated dessert and making your family work to make a dessert buffet.
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  • wrigleyvillewrigleyville member
    2500 Comments Fifth Anniversary 500 Love Its First Answer
    I am not a huge fan of cake, so we had cupcakes for those who wanted cake and an assortment of pies for us and others who also love pie. I got lots of compliments.

    My MOH and her H had cheesecakes at their wedding. They didn't require any decoration, so they were much cheaper than a wedding cake. They went with plain cheesecake and then had little bowls of topping set out.
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  • indianaalumindianaalum member
    500 Love Its 500 Comments First Anniversary Name Dropper
    Depending on your venue, they may not allow you to DIY desserts anyhow. That is worth checking.
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  • sarahjane222sarahjane222 member
    Third Anniversary 25 Love Its 10 Comments Name Dropper
    The venue definitely allows us to bring our own desserts and my FH's family offered to help with a dessert table - I just didn't want them to have to do it.

    Lots of great ideas here. Thanks!
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  • jenijoykjenijoyk member
    Tenth Anniversary 500 Love Its 500 Comments First Answer
    edited September 2014
    We are having a guy show up at 9 pm to start frying churros. We're also having a traditional cake (earlier, after dinner, so people can eat something while we bore them with toasts and spotlight dances). But, I think we could have gotten away with just doing churros if we really wanted to. He is charging us $300 for enough fresh churros for 150-160 guests.
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  • jenijoykjenijoyk member
    Tenth Anniversary 500 Love Its 500 Comments First Answer
    edited September 2014

    If you don't have a safe outdoor area for an entire churro-frying operation, you can also rent churro carts. They're frozen/warmed up churros (like at Disneyland) but still yummy.

    Haha, although I just saw that you were going for a classy upscale vibe. Are churros upscale? Maybe not from a Disneyesque cart. But they are fun!!!

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  • atlastmrsgatlastmrsg member
    500 Love Its 1000 Comments Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    I personally don't like DIY food projects. While restaurant/catering operation kitchens aren't guaranteed to be clean, I have more faith in them meeting food standards then the people at my church potluck, where for all I know, they left the mayo on the counter for a few hours and their cat licked the spoon.

    But if this is what you're going with, what about pies? One of my husband's friends did a wedding without cake by having all kinds of pies. There were lattice cherry pies, apple with crumble topping, other types that were decorated on top with crust that had been cut with cookie cutters and arranged like flowers, etc., and more gourmet pies like french silk. The pies were on tiered stands of different heights, so it filled the table well. Each had a placard so you knew what it was. I wish I had a photo, but anyway, you get the idea on Google. You'll see lots like this:

    http://www.brides.com/blogs/aisle-say/11Rustic-Meets-Urban-Brooklyn-Wedding-JoshuaZuckerman-reception-pie-display.jpg

    Also, there's always an un-cake or naked cake. If it's the fondant or buttercream overload that you don't like about cake, this works. So does crepes if you had multiple stations so your guests don' have to wait a long time.

    http://lifeinvelvet.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Naked-Wedding-Cake.jpg

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