Reasons to go with a dessert table over a giant wedding cake:

If you and your fiancé prefer other sweets more than cake
If you want to personalize the wedding to reflect his and hers favorites
It will look gooooood in photos.
It’s something unique for your guests to experience (we’ve all had wedding cake a million times)
It can be less expensive than cake
You want your guests to be able to serve themselves

What I think would be hard about dessert tables is that there is no set rule about how much dessert you’ll need for your guests. According to Wedding Party App, if you’re serving all small desserts (cookies, candies, etc.) you should allocate about 2-3 per person and 5-6 different options.

My guess is that you would want to up that depending on your guest list. For example, my friends in their twenties would go ham on a dessert table (as they also would do with alcohol), so I would likely budget an extra 1-2 desserts for everyone 25 or younger.

It’s also dependent upon the size of your deserts, because if you offer pies or cupcakes, they might be less likely to grab multiples of those.

Alright, let’s talk about what a good dessert table should consist of:

1. Dessert (duh): Your dessert choices are really up to you. Here are some ways to help you make decisions:

Base it on your theme or wedding style (French theme= macarons, rustic theme= mini pies)
Base it on his and hers favorites (his= key lime pie, hers= Nutella, chocolate chip cookies)
Base it on kind of dessert (full DIY candy bar, ice cream sundae station, etc.)

2. Table: One of my favorite aspects of some of the more unique dessert tables I’ve seen is what they set it up on. Often it’s a small, rustic table from your rental company or a bar provided by the venue. Sometimes, you’ll see people using things like vintage dressers they cleaned and repainted. If you wanted to, you could get really creative here. Here are a few ideas I came across:

Thrifted dresser using the open drawers to display more stuff
Thrifted desk with a shelf that allows for two different layers of desserts
Bar space from the venue itself/whatever is available there
A structure similar to a lemonade stand
A small rustic, trailer thing
A normal fold out table dressed up with beautiful linens

3. Service dishes and silverware: Again, I would get creative with this based on your theme and dessert choices. Definitely make sure to rent or buy the appropriate serving ware you need so there aren’t a million fingers on everyone’s dessert.

Thrifted dresser drawer shelves on top of a table (for cookies)
Mason jars of all sizes (for candy)
Use cake stands or any serving platter with multiple layers
Use small palette boxes to create different heights on the table
Use baskets
Serve with pegs on a wall or palette (we’ve all seen those fab donut walls)
Serve already divided in individual portions (i.e. bags or little containers or mini jars of pudding)
Other things to think about: tongs, scooping utensils, spoons, cake cutter, ice or cooling pads, heating pads, etc.

4. Labels: If you’re planning on having several different options for your dessert bar, I would recommend labeling them. Definitely be sure to address anything that could affect someone with allergies (i.e. cookies with nuts) and add a small gluten-free/vegan option if there are more than one guests with either food stipulation. Here are some labeling options:

Ask your calligrapher to do that on place cards or label sheets
DIY labels by purchasing these and either printing on them with a good font or writing it yourself
Purchase them from Etsy:

HOW TO MAKE THE MOST DELICIOUS WEDDING DESSERT TABLE | The Internet's Maid of Honor

Black slate dessert labels by Louie & Lefty

5. Plates and silverware for guests: This is always tricky, because you don’t actually know how many people will want or will remember to go for the dessert. I would ask your rental company and/or wedding planner what they think. For serving cake at our wedding, I believe we just opted for the full final guest count, just in case. Definitely order more silverware in case someone drops a fork on the dance floor. Oh, and napkins. You’ll likely need paper ones in addition to your linen reception meal napkins. Those would’ve been long cleared by dessert time.

Cute napkin options from Etsy
- “Love is sweet” with wedding hashtag
- “It was always you”

6. Extra décor, florals, etc: I would certainly think about an additional floral arrangement or two for the dessert table. It’s going to be a main focal point at the reception, so that will help tie it in well. There are also several punny signs you can DIY or buy for cheap and put in frames. Finally, don’t forget about the wall your table is against (if applicable). You will definitely want to dress that up with bunting or laser-cut calligraphy signage. Below are some options for décor I found: