12 Eye-Catching Ideas for Dessert Buffets

An Illinois bar mitzvah on March 12 had a Candy Land theme. Designer Event Chicago planned the event, as well as the design and concept for a sweets table—actually part of an entire sweets room—over which colorful candies dangled from multicolored ribbons of varying lengths. HMR Designs handled decor.

The Boston Children's Museum’s 2013 gala included a rather meta dessert table: The entire display took the form of a giant cake, decorated with paper flowers, and set with desserts such as cake pops, mini whoopie pies, mini Twinkies, and chocolate-dipped strawberries.

Patina assumed catering duties for the Recording Academy’s massive “Grammy Celebration,” the official after-party for the Grammy awards in Los Angeles in February. At the Candy Land-inspired event, the caterer’s dessert station offered sweets like blue chocolate popcorn, Pop Rocks shooters, and liquid chocolate s’mores—plus cotton candy trees, where guests could pluck their treats right from the branches.

At an in-office preview for its clients' wares during the holidays in 2015, Los Angeles-based PR agency BWR offered a metallic dessert bar decorated with the word “Joy” in marquee-style letters.

Last year in Chicago, Restoration Hardware hosted an opening event with a dessert bar that consisted of vintage-style candies presented in apothecary jars and on glass cake plates.

To celebrate its 10th anniversary, Sterling Engagements hosted a party in Los Angeles in 2015, where vast catering options throughout the residential venue included a milk-and-cookies dessert bar.

In 2012, Tori Spelling and J.C. Penney celebrated the launch of the star’s line for kids, Little Maven, in Los Angeles. The glamping-style event included a sweets table where the dessert offerings sat upon rustic wood slabs.

In 2013, the New York City Opera staged the United States premiere of the opera Anna Nicole. The dessert table got a boudoir-inspired look, with a menu was written on mirrors in lipstick. Candy overflowed from jewelry boxes and glass jars, and Lucite displays offered pink cotton candy presented in paper cones.

In 2012, Toronto Public Library Foundation hosted its annual Book Lover's Ball. The evening invited guests to dine with big-name authors, and appropriately also included desserts inspired by literature. Books decorated the dessert tables, with typewriters, globes, and glasses adding to the literary look.

A 2012 launch in Los Angeles for Sh*t Girls Say played up the content from the book. To that end, speech bubbles decorated a candy buffet with messages like, “Can you do me a huge favor?” and “Shut up.” Brightly colored gerbera daisies also decorated the setup.

The Meridian International Center celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2010 with its annual black-tie Meridian Ball in Washington. There, the dessert table had black-and-white trompe l'oeil look. It included candelabras, arrangements of monochromatic roses, and—of course—copious desserts.

At the National Urban League’s annual conference in 2010, a Target-sponsored welcome reception included a sweets table dominated by red—the on-brand color for the mass retailer. Candies included Swedish Fish, red and black jellybeans, and red-and-white Starlight peppermints.