If you’re like me, you would opt for a bowl of chips and salsa over cake any day! The savory tooth totally trumps the sweet tooth for me. But, I figured serving a bowl of chips and salsa wouldn’t be well received by my wedding guests, most of whom were probably secretly there for the sweet ending. I could have fallen back on the traditional cake option to appease our guests, but I just couldn’t stomach, no pun intended, serving a traditional 3-tiered, flower-cascaded, fondant-covered cake at my wedding. So what are some alternative options to give your guest the sweet finish at the end of the night? There are so many different options you could choose from, but here are some of my personal favorites.
1. Donut You Love Me?
How fun would a gigantic donut board be for your guests? It’s such a fun way to showcase your desserts at the end of the night and serves as a conversation point as well. A donut wall is not only enticing but is built-in décor that’s edible as well! You can serve a variety of donuts, sprinkled, glazed, powdered—you name it! As an added bonus, you will have most of your guests’ preferences covered— think of those picky eaters and those who may have allergies. At the end of the night, you can have small bags for donuts ‘to go,’ which can also serve as your wedding favor. Two birds with one stone? Who else doesn’t go crazy for efficiency?!
2. Pie A La Mode!
OK— for some, pies sound like something you expect when you go visit grandma over the summer and you’ve just finished picking pails full of blueberries. However, I am here to say that the pie has truly evolved and can hold up to a cake any day of the week! You can get creative with flavors, looks, and styles. If your venue allows, how fun would it be to have your family members come together and have a pie-off, creating their own spin on their favorite pies? Ok— this may not be for everyone, but if you have some bakers in the family I’d highly suggest it. After all, they will cook what they would actually want to eat!
3. Cheese(cake)
OK— hear me out on this new trend coming to America. The CHEESEcake! No, not the overly rich, delicately, smooth cake that typically sits atop a crumbly pie crust, but actual cheese… shaped like a cake. I’m a bit envious that I did not think of this for my own wedding! I am the queen of assembling cheese and charcuterie plates and assembling a wedding cake cheese platter just makes me giddy. Picture a wheel of delicious brie arranged like a three-tiered wedding cake, with grapes cascading down the side and accented with florals. I would bet your guests would be both amused and satiated with this savory wedding send-off.
4. The mini cake; the CUPCAKE!
Cupcakes are always a great option as they satiate those who salivate over cake, and they cover a wide variety of flavors and preferences. The fun elements of cupcakes are their diversity and how you can artfully arrange them to really entice your guests to journey over to the dessert table. Using elements of height with different shapes will help highlight and elevate your display of cupcakes. You can use fun little signs to tell your guests what yummy treats they are about to pop in their mouths. Fun fact about cupcakes— take the base, cut it in half, and place the bottom half of the cupcake on top of the icing part and you’ve got a cupcake sandy!
5. You Scream, I Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream!
Yes— think of those fun days when it was completely acceptable to order an ice cream sundae with extra whip and red cherries perched atop like a sweet, edible bow. Ice cream, like all of the options above, can be so versatile and catered to each guest’s preference. You can have a self-serve station with all the assorted toppings you could think of, or you can have a soft-serve ice cream machine that free-flows ice cream to your guests’ hearts and stomachs are full! Think cones, bowls, sprinkles, cherries, pretty much anything that can crumble atop a cool treat. An icy treat to top off the night!
At the end of the day, your wedding should be about you as a couple and highlight your character and charm. Desserts at the end of the evening are a perfect way to showcase your uniqueness and differentiate your wedding from all the rest! So keep your eyes, and stomachs open to the many different alternatives to that traditional cake we have all been accustomed to seeing at weddings.
