Planning for your wedding can be quite a challenge.
You need to choose the perfect outfit for you and your partner, think about who you’re going to invite, where you’ll be holding the wedding, and how catering will be handled.
Speaking of catering, food is a huge part of any wedding. Usually, you’d focus more on planning out the appetizers and the main course but you shouldn’t skim over dessert.
Dessert might be a small part of the wedding meal, but you still need to choose the right wedding dessert table catering menu that will match your wedding perfectly. So let’s explore how you can construct an ideal (and tasty) dessert menu for your wedding.
1. Figure Out Your Wedding’s Theme and Style
The wedding dessert table catering menu you choose should reflect the theme or style of your wedding. For example, if you’re planning on having an outdoor wedding, you could include traditional outdoor desserts, like fruit pies, cookies, and brownies.
For more elegant wedding themes, consider opting for a dessert bar with desserts like cake and ice cream. If you’re not sure about how to match your dessert choices to the wedding theme, try asking your caterer—they have plenty of experience catering for all kinds of weddings so they should be able to help you.
2. Consider Allergies and Dietary Restrictions
Many desserts come with common allergens, like peanuts, as toppings—this could be problematic when you have guests with allergies, especially when they’re small children.
Ask your caterer if they have dessert options that don’t include common allergens or label any desserts with allergens to prevent guests from accidentally eating them. Also, ask your caterer to keep desserts with allergens out of the reach of small children as they might not be able to read the warning labels and could grab the desserts by accident.
If you’re expecting vegan guests, make sure to include desserts that don’t include any animal products, like eggs and milk.
3. Include Hometown Traditions
If you and your significant other come from two different parts of the country or world, see if the caterer offers dessert items that are popular in you and your partner’s hometowns.
Also, if you and your partner are a part of a specific culture, consider adding menu items that are popular in your culture.
4. Think of the Season
Pick desserts to include in your wedding dessert menu that align with the season. For example, pumpkin pie can be a great choice for fall and winter weddings while blackberry pies are great for spring and early summer weddings.
5. Offer Buffet-Style and Plated Options
Dessert buffets are a very popular option for weddings with over 50% of couples choosing buffet-style meals for their weddings, but plated desserts can work too, especially for more formal weddings. With a dessert buffet, you can treat your guests to a large variety of dessert options, while the plated dessert style lets you have one main dessert.
The plated dessert option may be cheaper than having a dessert buffet if you’re on a tight budget. Also, you could have a combination of a plated dessert option and a dessert buffet. You could treat your guests to a main plated dessert and a buffet full of smaller desserts.
6. Avoid Skimping on Presentation
Presentation is very important when it comes to any dish, including desserts. They shouldn’t just taste great but should look good too. Studies have also shown that 46% of Gen Zers have at least one picture of dessert on their phone—this shows how the visual appeal of a dessert can get people interested in it.
Also, the way the desserts are arranged on the dessert table must look professional. If you’re working with a professional catering company, check their website (if they have one) to see how they present their desserts.
Additionally, little elements like flowers, ribbons, and candles can be a great touch to any wedding dessert menu.
7. Give Your Guests To-Go Boxes
Sometimes, there might be a lot of leftover desserts after the wedding. To prevent any food wastage, you can give to-go boxes to your guests so that they can take leftover desserts home if they want to.
If your catering company has a lunch box menu, they may be able to supply the boxes for a price.
What are some good wedding menu options?
1. Sheet Cake
Sheet cake is a great dessert option if you’re expecting a large number of guests. At most, sheet cake can feed around 60 people.
2. Specialty Cakes
These cakes are more sophisticated than sheet cakes and are a great choice for elegant-themed weddings. Some good specialty cakes include red velvet cake, Oreo cake, and almond torte cake.
3. Cookies and Cupcakes
If you’re expecting children at the wedding, cookies and cupcakes are wonderful dessert options for kids. They’re easy to eat and won’t cause a big mess, and you can even give them out as wedding favors.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are some commonly asked questions about dessert table menus:
1. Will the wedding dessert catering menu also include the wedding cake?
This depends on the caterer. Some caterers may not include the wedding cake in their main dessert menu but may prepare it for you on demand.
2. How many dessert selections should I include in my wedding dessert menu?
Ideally, you should include 3-5 different dessert options. You can include more than 5 but this could overwhelm your guests and some desserts may go to waste.
3. Is it okay to have just one dessert option?
Yes, this is completely fine. Having just one dessert option can be very budget-friendly. But if you expect a large number of guests, having at least 2 dessert options will be ideal.
Get the best wedding dessert table catering menu
With the help of a reputable catering company, you can access a great wedding dessert table catering menu. These companies have dessert catering menus that you may be able to customize to fit your budget and your wedding’s theme.
So speak to a catering company in Pittsburgh today to get the best out of your wedding dessert catering!
