Dedicated to all those with a sweet tooth: creative ideas for decorating a candy bar at a wedding

Meaning

An elegantly decorated buffet table on which fruits, juices, sweets, cakes, marmalade and other sweets are presented is called a candy bar.
At the wedding ceremony it performs several functions:

• lifts the mood of guests;
• creates a festive atmosphere;
• emphasizes the stylistic orientation of the celebration;
• decorates the interior;
• becomes an original photo zone.

Treats can easily be turned into nice gifts for guests if you invite them to pick up the sweets they like before leaving.
Advice ! It’s worth preparing small packaging boxes in advance so that each guest takes a piece of the holiday with them.

French style

Where else, if not in France, have so many delicious sweets been invented? Croissants, macaroons (ground almonds between cookie halves coated with colorful icing), chocolate truffles, tarts, souffles, creme brulee, blamange and savarin - the list goes on and on. Delight your guests with a la carte and buffet desserts from the most romantic country in the world.

Filling – recommendations and photos

Having finally decided that a sweet table will be set at the wedding, the newlyweds must decide on its contents. It is better to opt for light desserts that are convenient to eat without the risk of staining your holiday outfit.

Here is just a small list of the most popular types of filling.

Strawberries in chocolate

A relevant option would be for a summer wedding, when the strawberry ripening season begins. This will help save your wedding budget. In addition to strawberries, cherries, tangerines, oranges, grapes, and bananas are used.

Using fruits and toothpicks, they create elegant canapés or simply lay out sweets on special napkins. Before serving, decorate with powdered sugar or coconut.

Chocolate fountain

A striking detail of the candy bar will be a chocolate fountain. Having an amazing taste, it also looks very impressive on the table. Fruit dishes are placed around for guests to dip pieces of apple, banana, kiwi, strawberry or tangerine into melted chocolate.

You can rent a fountain or use fondue instead - a special heat-resistant container in which chocolate or cheese is melted.

Other sweets

• Fruits in caramel. Various types of fruit are drizzled with soft caramel and served on small skewers or toothpicks. This dessert will definitely not leave anyone indifferent;
• Cupcakes with airy cream, fondant and delicious filling. It is better to choose options with different fillings: nuts, raisins, berries or chocolate chips;
• Cake pops are sponge cakes in the form of balls. Top the cake pops with caramel and sprinkle with powdered sugar, chocolate chips or coconut flakes;
• Macarons are French cookies with almonds and filling. The layer can be anything: chocolate, nuts, berries or fruits;
• Oriental sweets baklava, Turkish delight, jalebi, halva, sherbet and karakot are an ideal choice for an oriental-style wedding;
• Candied fruits and dried fruits - healthy and tasty treats will appeal to both children and adults;
• Marshmallows are candies that resemble marshmallows or marshmallows. To decorate the table, place it in a heap on a beautiful dish and sprinkle with chocolate chips.

Menu for the sweet table

At the very beginning, it is important to think about what kind of children's birthday treats you will serve on the table. Delicious recipe! Turkish national meat dish

Delicious recipe! Turkish national meat dish

Options for possible dishes:

• Cake is the most anticipated dish for children. Of course, not a single children's sweet table can do without it. Think in advance about decorating the cake, as well as candles.
• Cupcakes are also popular now.
• Cookie. It can be either purchased or made with your own hands or by the hands of the birthday person.
• Waffles and wafer rolls.
• Cakes.
• Candies.
• Ice cream, pre-portioned. Serve the ice cream with a variety of sweet sauces, berries and pieces of chocolate - children will be delighted with the opportunity to choose the toppings themselves and decorate their portion.
• Marshmallow.
• Marmalade.
• Various types of chocolate.
• Fruits (apples, bananas, oranges, grapes, kiwi, pineapple, strawberries and others).
• Drinks (lemonade, juices, cocktails).

Even on a sweet table for children, small quantities of meat, fish, eggs, and vegetables will be appropriate.

In addition to sweets, birthday food for children can be like this:

• meat cutlets or chops;
• sausage;
• meat kebab;
• carefully cooked fish fillet;
• boiled funny decorated chicken or quail eggs;
• tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes;
• cheese;
• sandwiches;
• pizza.

Beverages

The candy bar is usually supplemented with non-alcoholic and low-alcohol punches, fruit drinks, fresh juices and juices : orange, apple, cherry, pomegranate. An excellent option would be compote made from fresh berries and fruits.

Interesting! To support the wedding style, drinks and sweets are chosen in appropriate colors. You can also change the color of foods using harmless food dyes.

In summer, cold drinks are placed on the table, for example, fresh juices with ice and cocktails made from milk and fruit with syrup, and for a winter wedding, hot chocolate, fruit tea and coffee are suitable.

Frozen treats

Nowadays, frozen treats are popular not only in the summer, but also in the winter months. And, if for us such a phrase evokes, rather, a single association - ice cream, then for Italians it is a whole range of different desserts.

Affogato

Affogato is a dessert that consists of a scoop of ice cream in hot espresso. Its name literally translates as “drowned.” Affogato is very popular in the cold season as an alternative to gelato. It is decorated with chocolate chips, berries, whipped cream, fruits, and cookies. There are versions of “drowned” in yogurt and in alcoholic drinks.

Granita

Granita is a delicacy made from flavored ice with sugar. It differs from fruit gelato in having a coarser crystalline structure. The main components of granita are water, sugar and flavorings. The share of sugar in dessert is 20-25%. Granita is flavored with natural ingredients (fruits, nuts, chocolate, berries). The classic version has a lemon flavor. Traditionally, the delicacy is served in transparent glasses accompanied by fresh pastries. Granita with brioche (granita câ brioscia) is a typical breakfast of the inhabitants of Sicily.

Gelato

Gelato is an Italian classic ice cream. For creamy varieties, the basis is milk with cream, for sorbets - water. Sugar is an integral component of any dessert.

In gelato, it not only adds flavor, but also lowers the freezing point and increases viscosity. Only natural ingredients (chocolate, fruits, berries, etc.) are used as flavorings in ice cream. If classic gelato does not contain egg yolks, then stabilizers and emulsifiers are used, but in minute quantities. Before final freezing, the mass is beaten with air, the content of which in the product ranges from 35 (for artigianale varieties) to 70-100% (for industrial versions). You can enjoy real Italian gelato by visiting a special establishment - a gelateria.

Semifredo

Semifreddo is a cold Italian dessert whose name translates as “semi-frozen.” Unlike gelato, it contains both the yolk and white of a chicken egg. Thus, the treat can be considered a mixture of ice cream and meringue. Semifreddo contains about 50% air, which is why it is sensitive to temperature changes and quickly loses volume in heat. The classic option for serving dessert is on a layer of sponge cake or in a “skullcap” made from it.

Spumoni

Spumoni - multi-layer ice cream with candied fruits and nuts. Each layer has its own aroma. Often these are layers with fruit, nut and vanilla flavors. Spumoni is especially popular in the USA, Canada and Argentina.

Cook or order?

Wedding treats are bought at a pastry shop or prepared with your own hands. You can buy pasta, cookies, cupcakes and profiteroles at your favorite restaurant. You should not buy them in the supermarket, as sweets often contain harmful ingredients.

Each option has pros and cons:

Sweets from the restaurant

The advantage is that at an average price you can buy desserts from a professional chef, and you don’t have to worry about serving and decorating. Often, dishes and service are included in the price of the order.

Disadvantages of this solution: rather limited selection and limited design options.

With your own hands

Having prepared desserts for your wedding yourself, you don’t need to worry about the quality of the products. Guests will be delighted with the treats the bride has prepared for them.

There is only one negative point - you will have to spend the entire pre-wedding day cooking.

At the confectioner's

Using the services of confectioners, the newlyweds receive a beautifully decorated and delicious candy bar. All wishes regarding theme and color will be exactly fulfilled.

The high cost is the main disadvantage when ordering a sweet table in a pastry shop. You will also have to take care of transporting sweets to the banquet venue and choosing a table, dishes and accessories.

Idea! You can use the “hodgepodge” option: the bride prepares one main dish, and the rest of the sweets are ordered in a restaurant or from a pastry chef.

Where to locate the candy bar

You can place the dessert area:

1. Near the main tables with food and drinks, if the event takes place in the form of a buffet. In this case, guests will not forget about the wedding sweets.
2. Closer to the entrance if a traditional banquet is planned.
3. In a separate area where guests can communicate with each other away from the festive noise. A veranda or a small room is well suited for this purpose.

When looking for a place for a dessert table, avoid sunlit areas and display food only before the party begins. Until then, they need to be stored in the refrigerator.

Attention! Do not order perishable products. They may not live to see the end of the event.

Accommodation

It is not at all necessary to use special surfaces to place the candy bar. In this matter, everything depends only on the imagination of the newlyweds and the style of the wedding.

• For a themed wedding, vintage tables, dressing tables, and decorative shelves are used. Even an antique piano can be used at a retro-style wedding;
• For a wedding in a rustic style, a wooden table decorated with beautiful carvings is suitable;
• Pallets and old boxes are useful for an eco-style wedding;
• To decorate in Provence style, treats can be placed on shelves covered with linen tablecloths and the composition can be decorated with fresh flowers. Another placement option is elegant trays and plates with floral patterns.

The candy bar will be an excellent decoration for both a wedding with a European buffet and a celebration with a banquet.

Vintage

Any decorative material is suitable for decorating a candy bar, as long as it is elegant: fabric, multi-colored or plain paper, balloons, ribbons and fabric. Instead of a tablecloth, you can use a covering that matches the theme of the wedding.

A vintage-style candy table will certainly stand out and attract attention. It is impossible to remain indifferent to the numerous bottles, vases and glasses filled with a variety of sweets.

To attract attention, the candy bar can be equipped with a colorful sign made in an old-style ornate font. Boutonnieres and tiered vases placed on the shelves of an old, shabby chest of drawers will add a rustic ease to the celebration.

Background

The main purpose of the background is to highlight the candy bar from the general interior. It is better to place the sweet table near the wall so that it does not interfere with the dancing guests. The wall near the bar is decorated with ribbons, tinsel, and balloons. To make the background for a candy bar effective and attract attention, it is important to respect the boundaries. Its width should not exceed the width of the table. Height – no more than a meter.

Popular background materials:

• paper pompoms;
• themed photo wallpaper;
• a poster for warm wishes from guests to the newlyweds;
• collage of photographs of the bride and groom;
• a piece of fabric in a neutral color or with original prints: polka dots, stripes or chevron;
• garland made of corrugated paper or satin ribbons.

How to make a minibar with your own hands: tools and materials

To make a cabinet for alcohol, you need to choose the right material. For assembly, you may need treated wood, such as ash, oak, cherry, walnut and Karelian birch. A friend or boss will be delighted with such a gift, since a cabinet made of natural material is durable and stylish in design. You can even make a bar in the living room from old boards, if you go over them with sandpaper and varnish.

To make a home bar with your own hands, you need to prepare the following tools:

• varnish for covering boards;
• metal corners;
• solid wood boards with a thickness of at least 20 mm;
• plywood sheets;
• wooden block 30×30 mm²;
• fastening parts.

When choosing wood, you need to give preference to those bars that do not have chips or nicks.

How to make a home minibar in a suitcase

The easiest way to choose a home bar for drinks is to look at the furniture options shown in the photo. To store alcohol in a beautiful cabinet, you don’t have to buy it; you can make it yourself, following the instructions.

To ensure the assembly goes smoothly, you need to try. Some errors can be corrected during the manufacturing process of the product.

Home minibar from a canister

Before you make a bar from a canister, you need to find a suitable blank. The most difficult task in manufacturing is cutting the canister. To do this, use a circular saw. Then the product is processed so that the cuts are not sharp.

You can make a minibar from a canister with your own hands if you have the following tools and materials:

• large canister, at least 20 liters;
• wood screws;
• rubber compressor;
• rivets, hinges and latches;
• one thin plywood;
• glue for processing windshields;
• paint in a can;
• colorless primer for processing the structure;
• incisors;
• a circular saw;
• bits and drills.

A minibar made from a canister is not the easiest option, so you should start creating a product only after a little training, or if you have experience in metal cutting.

Decor

Creating a candy bar is an exciting creative process that requires good taste and creativity.

Individuality is added to the candy bar with the help of special labels for drinks, invented names and phrases, stickers on dishes, signs with the initials of the bride and groom. You can order the decoration of a candy bar in a specialized studio, where professional decorators will happily take on the preparation of the holiday. But it’s much more interesting to do everything yourself if you have free time.

When using a candy bar as a photo zone, you need to take care of the props for shooting. It’s easy to make yourself: cut out huge mustaches, lips, bowler hats or glasses from cardboard and secure them on long skewers. Bright lollipops will also be a fun addition to the photo.

To decorate a sweet table with your own hands, you need to purchase:

• a beautiful tablecloth with embroidery or pattern;
• a set of glassware and cutlery;
• sweets;
• multi-tiered stands;
• skewers or toothpicks;
• decorative decorations: ribbons, garlands to match the main color of the wedding.

Outdoors

It is better to place the table with food in the shade of trees or in a tent. This will help preserve the appearance and taste of the treats in case of sudden changes in weather conditions.

In summer, sweets are covered with transparent glass lids so as not to attract insects.

Natural materials are used for decoration : leaves, twigs and flowers for decoration, and wooden planks as stands for plates.

What to bet on?

Candy bar is a sweet table. But you can use far from the only piece of furniture as a surface for candy dishes and cake. The following can also be used:

• Bookcases and shelves
• Decorative coffee tables
• Stairs
• Dressers and vintage dressing tables
• Barrels or haystack (rustic, eco)

Dishes

For such an important event, you should not use ordinary dishes. Each element must be original. To save space on a small table, use multi-tiered fruit dishes. It is best to choose unbreakable plates and dishes. To allow guests to better view the desserts offered, transparent vases and glassware are used.

Advice! If there are children at the wedding, the treats are laid out on multi-tiered dishes, but in such a way that the children can reach the sweets without knocking over the table.

The stems of the glasses are decorated with bows, ribbons and lace braid, and dessert spoons are served wrapped in beautiful napkins.

To make the treats look more interesting, small candies, dragees or marshmallows are placed in layers in tall transparent vases on legs. Dishes are also chosen based on the style of the wedding , and it does not matter whether the plates and glasses have the same shape. The main thing is that the serving as a whole looks organic.

Evaluate the space

Consider the available space and size of the dessert table. Will guests be able to access all the treats from all sides of the table or will it be backed up against a wall? Cover the table with empty containers to get an idea of ​​how much space they take up and how much candy you really need to fill the containers without buying too much. Be prepared that not all the sweets you planned will fit on the table. If you see that there is not enough room for a certain dessert, change the menu. For example, if a stand of lollipops doesn’t fit into the space, replace them with individually wrapped bulk candies in a tall vase. Divide the table into 3 horizontal zones and use appropriate height containers in each zone. Different heights of dessert stands will make the composition visually complete and compact. Instead of special bookcases, use stacks of wide books or boxes, hiding them under a cloth or tablecloth. Plan the arrangement so that bowls with bulk sweets are in front or on the sides, and tall shelves with cakes are in the back.

Accessories

You can decorate a wedding celebration in the following styles: retro, ethnic, country, marine, rustic, classic, while sticking to either one main shade or adding decorative elements of different colors (but no more than three).

Ideas for unusual accessories:

• for each delicacy they come up with a separate name and write it on special cards (they are ordered from a printing house or a sample is printed from the Internet);
• Large wicker baskets are often used as original dishes;
• several well-composed bouquets and chaotically scattered flower petals will decorate any candy bar, and original herbal wreaths are suitable for a rustic-style wedding;
• you can arrange elegant figurines or cute soft toys;
• fabric drapery for the candy bar wall is decorated with paper butterflies or ribbons.

Don't forget about candles. You can pour coffee beans into glasses and place candles inside. Or buy elegant candlesticks and arrange them beautifully on the table.

Candies

The candy category includes various sugar products, including pralines and candied nuts. Of course, Italy has a huge assortment of sweets, but in this section we will present only the most popular ones.

Gianduiotti

Gianduiotti are chocolates in the shape of an inverted boat, consisting of cocoa, milk, sugar and Piedmontese hazelnuts. Gianduiotti chocolate is known for its high quality and is included in the list of traditional food products of Italy. On sale you can find both whole bars and individually wrapped chocolates. They are recommended to be consumed with sparkling rose or dessert wine, chilled to 9 degrees.

Confetto

Confetto – traditional sweets for family celebrations. Most often these are almonds coated with sugar. There are options with hazelnuts, pistachios and chocolate. In Italy, confetti of different colors is used for different celebrations. For example, for a wedding or first communion - white, for graduation - red, on the occasion of the birth of a child - pink and blue, for mourning events - black. Abruzzo and Campania produce a large share of Italian confetti.

Liquidation

Liquirizia – candies flavored with licorice root extract. They are shaped like tubes, snowflakes, spirals, etc. In addition to taste, this delicacy is good for health. Thanks to licorice, it soothes sore throats, reduces coughs, and helps treat ulcers.

How to calculate the number of sweets?

To make the candy bar look varied, 7-10 types of sweets , 2-3 kg of each, are enough. The fewer different types of sweets, the more volume there should be. Pay attention to the size of the sweets. If the dessert is large (cakes, eclairs, cupcakes, desserts in cups), it is enough to count 1 piece per person. Smaller desserts (cake pops, macaroons, cookies) - 2 pieces per guest. Fruits and sweets can be purchased based on the calculation: 100 gr. per person, nuts – 50 gr. per person.