Dessert Bar Decor?

I say save your money on the setup. And do it yourself. it's not rocket science and it will mean so much more because you have set it up yourself. You are only paying for the labor of the setup. why not pull together your girls and have them help you with it or designate somebody else to do it. You could plan it out how you wanted to look. There are so many ideas on Pinterest

Stands pricing can add up pretty quick if you get multiple and nice ones, i would research how much it would cost for you to get all those items v.s. how much they are charging. Signs and flowers i don't think would be too much.

I suppose the best thing is to compare your baker’s price with the amount it would cost for you to buy all of the items yourself. Also, who would be setting it up and then taking it away at the end of the night? For peace of mind and to avoid making guests do work, I always select to go with the professionals.

Just read the contract. We'd also responsible for returning any rental items. Ours is a destination wedding. We know the area,so no big deal. But I'd rather not have to drive 45 minutes out of town to return things.

Look on Pinterest there r pleny ideas on having an sweet treats table you can do it all yourself and it'll be free (setup).

To be honest with you I don’t see why you can’t decorate a table and just order the deserts. Even the desert prices seem high for what they are... Cookies, brownies and Rice Krispie treats???

I would check also around for our dessert vendors to see if prices are lower

View Quoted Comment
So glad you mentioned that. We did two tastings and preferred this baker. But I just went back to the other baker's price list and her desserts are almost half the price. Just sent her an email lol

I agree with others that the dessert prices seem a little high to me -- $2 per cookie???? What the heck! Also, I'd consider how much time and effort it will take to set up all the desserts. Doing a big cupcake tower can take a LONG time to place all the cupcakes (I've done it...). I don't know what all you're considering, but if you're going to DIY the set up, I'd try to find someone NOT in the wedding party (and NOT a parent) who is willing to be responsible for doing this -- it can take a fair amount of time to unbox everything and place it so it looks nice, and it has to be done pretty last minute. Honestly? The set up fees don't seem that unreasonable to me, depending on how many desserts you'll have, but the cost per dessert item seems high for cookies/brownies/pretzel rods.

Is there someone who could do the display item returns for you? A DOC, parent, or bridal party member?

EDT: I just did the math on the higher-end items ($85 for 25 pieces), and they are $3.40 a piece. Daughter had a beautiful wedding cake (with frosting custom made to meet her specific requirements) for less than $4 a slice (in a relatively high cost area) and the venue cut and served it for free. I don't know what your budget or goals are, but I could easily see your desserts being at least $6-10 per person (2-3 options per person, which I think is a downside of multiple options -- people take more than one), not including any set up.

View Quoted Comment

Good point about the cupcake tower. In reviewing another baker, this does seem pretty high. I think I'd rather pay the fee for the setup so as to not have to be bothered than to pay this much for the desserts. I assumed these prices were pretty standard. I'm nearing the end of my planning and just wanted to get it done. Glad I posted here! Waiting to hear back now from another baker in town. Her website says delivery and set up fee is $45. That's not bad at all in comparison, and her desserts are almost half price.

I did all my own decor and setup of our dessert table. Super easy. Printed out signs and put them in frames and bought the vases, candle holders, silver platters and all the pieces to make the donut towers etc from Dollar Tree!

My FH and I are doing our own dessert table. We are surrounding our cake with the desserts so we do not need another table. We are also decorating it ourselves with signs and the stands, as well as making the desserts; well my FSIL's and I are making the desserts haha. If we went with a company it was going to cost us close to $1,000 for everything and we are expecting to pay a couple of hundred by doing it all ourselves.

You can save your money and designate someone to be in charge of making sure the desserts get set up properly. Good luck!