— 3 ways to serve dessert at a wedding

“Should we serve cake or pie or a variety of desserts at the wedding reception?”

One of the decisions that has to be made when planning a wedding is what kind of dessert to serve. It used to be that the dessert at a wedding was always cake. It was the focal point of the reception; tiers of white frosting supported by pillars, garnished with royal icing roses, and topped with figurines. I remember attending a wedding growing up where the only thing they served was cake and punch. At my wedding, my reception was basically just the cake, some punch, and a few finger food items, like dipped strawberries. My three sisters all had a traditional cake at their weddings, although the flavors varied.

Nowadays people are branching out into other forms of dessert for weddings. When you go on Pinterest, you will see all sorts of dessert tables for weddings, beautifully arranged and decorated. As the mother of the bride, it’s often our role to help our daughter choose what kind of cake or dessert to serve at her wedding.

To cake, or not to cake: that is the question.
Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to offer 
The height and beauty of traditional confection,
Or to spread out a table of pies and sweets 
To tantalize the tongue?
To eat; to enjoy.
‘Tis the culmination devoutly to be wished.

Here are three options with tips about how to provide a very sweet ending to the wedding day.

1. Budget-Friendly Potluck Dessert Table

Ask your family members and/or friends to each bring a favorite dessert to donate to the reception.

I helped serve at a wedding where they did this, and they had a nice variety of cakes, pies, cheesecake, cupcakes, brownies, and cookies. We helped to arrange them on the table with pretty platters and doilies. The bride and groom had a small cheesecake with strawberries displayed near the head table for them to cut and enjoy. It worked well and was very economical.

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

TIPS:

Use Signupgenius.com to make a signup form. You can put all the details in there and the invitees can see what other people are bringing to avoid duplication. This will also provide you a list of what’s coming so you can make label cards for the desserts in advance.

If your contributors have a pretty platter to display their dessert on, ask them to bring that as well. Ask that the cooks label their containers with their name, the dessert type, possible allergen contents, and if they want the dish returned.
Unless you have convenient refrigerator space at the reception site, request that they use recipes that do not require refrigeration. It’s convenient to be able to get all the desserts set up before the wedding. They could be on display for quite awhile, so it’s best if the items do not need refrigerating. If you have some that need to be kept cold, reserve a spot for them on the table, then bring them out when it’s time to serve dessert.

Have a few back-up cookies or desserts available in case some of the planned donations don’t show up.

Just in case any of your guests have gluten or dairy allergies, it’s good to have a couple of gluten-free and dairy-free options for them, and label them clearly.

Make a card to label each dessert. Index cards and a calligraphy marker work well. Or you can use fancy place cards.

Remember to bring cutting knives and serving utensils.

2. Variety of Cakes and Pies

Purchase a variety of ready-made cakes, cupcakes, and/or pies from a local grocery store, membership warehouse, or bakery to serve at the wedding. Some brides like to purchase all cupcakes in a variety of flavors and display them in tiers.

My first daughter wanted to do pies at her reception, so we did a tasting with a local baker, chose several kinds we liked, then ordered multiples to be picked up the day before the wedding. We also purchased a few round cakes from Wegmans grocery, well known for their delicious “Ultimate” cakes. The variety made a beautiful display on the dessert table. We had a tiered pie holder for the wedding pie for the bride and groom to cut.

TIPS:

Collect a variety of plates and pedestals to hold the cakes and pies. Ask your family members and friends if they have any you can borrow. Be sure to pack them carefully with plenty of packing paper in boxes so they are undamaged while being transported.

Get a special pedestal or tiered holder for the bride and groom’s cake or pie.

Acquire some doilies, candles, ivy and/or other decorations for the dessert table.

Make labels for each kind of pie or cake.

Keep duplicate cakes and pies in the kitchen to come out later when serving.

Wait until the last minute to add the whipped cream topping to the pies.

If you have a cake or pie topper, remember to bring it along and insert it. My daughter bought a really cute one, but couldn’t find it when we were setting up, so we had to do without. No one seemed to notice.

Be sure to tell you kitchen staff how big to cut the slices of pie or cake. Our staff cut the pie slices extremely thin, so we had a ton of pie left over! My fault for not being clear in the directions, haha!

Remember the serving utensils. It’s best to have one for each kind of dessert served.

3. Traditional Wedding Cake

Of course, many brides still want the traditional wedding cake. It’s a beautiful focal point at a reception, and can be almost as beautiful as the bride herself.

My second daughter chose to have a cake at her wedding, partly because her grandparents offered to pay for it, and partly because she wanted to keep things simple at the wedding. We had been leaning towards doing a potluck dessert table, but since we were doing many other DIY things for the wedding, she decided to accept her grandmother’s offer and go for a cake instead. It was probably the most delicious cake I’ve ever had! Many of our guests were asking where we got it. Kudos to Get Caked Bakery!

TIPS:

Grooms love to be involved with picking out the flavor of the cake. After all, if he might end up with a face full, he might as well enjoy the flavor! My daughter’s fiance picked out lemon cake, which had never occurred to me, but was a huge hit!

Let go of your own expectations about the decorations on the cake.
My daughter wanted lemons and raspberries to decorate the cake. This did not coordinate with the blue and purple theme of the wedding at all! I had been hoping for some pretty icing flowers. But it’s what she wanted, and I tried my best to ignore the drip from the raspberry running down the icing and not say, “I told you so.” She was happy with it, the groom enjoyed it, and that’s what matters. And it was delicious!

Preview the cake topper before the wedding day.
For my own wedding, I was originally going to have a fresh flower bouquet at the top of my wedding cake. My mother and I had picked one out at the florist when we ordered the bouquets. The week before the wedding, I decided to change it to silk flowers so I could have it as a keepsake. Well, I discovered on the wedding day that it looked awful. The florist had used brown dried baby’s breath mixed with silk flowers, and I was not happy with it at all. I was very embarrassed by how it looked. Lesson learned. Be sure you actually see and approve of the wedding cake topper before the big day!

Ask the baker to give you some of their business cards. That way if people ask you where you got the cake at the reception, you can have some in your handbag to give them. I had several people ask my who made my daughter’s delicious lemon cake with raspberries, and I wish I had thought about getting some cards to pass on.

Save some cake for the bride and groom to take home.
Traditionally, the top layer is saved for the bridal couple. At my sister’s wedding, her husband asked the bakery to wrap and freeze their top cake layer, and a year later, he presented it to my sister on their first anniversary. At my daughter’s reception, the bride and groom said to go ahead and cut it and just save a couple of pieces for them to have after the honeymoon. They had gotten a cake that was just big enough to feed the number of guests at the wedding.

Have someone experienced do the cake cutting.
We had the caterer who was serving the dinner also cut the cake for us. It was actually included in their standard package. All we had to do was provide the cake and serving ware.

Remember to decorate the cake table.
It’s optional, especially if the cake is beautiful on its own. But it can add a nice touch and tie in your theme to add a few decorations to the table, such as a table runner, ribbon, ivy, river stones, or a few flowers.
Don’t forget the wedding cake knife and server! My daughter and I ended up each buying a set!

Providing dessert for your guests at the wedding is a wonderful tradition and can be accommodated in different ways. I hope you find these tips helpful as you help your daughter make plans for her wedding.

“So…. Should we serve cake or pie or a variety of desserts at the wedding reception?”

What did you choose? Please feel free to share in the comments below.

Blessings,

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.