DIY dessert table question.

I can't speak to who can set it up, but our bakery mentioned putting signs on the dessert table that simply say "please wait until we cut the cake!" Otherwise, you're right, people may start digging in. Good luck!

That's a good idea! I wasn't sure if that would seem rude but I guess not.

Here is my opinion please don't be offended. Does it really matter if someone has a brownie? It's not like they're going to eat your wedding cake.

Yeah... I know. Lol I'm not offended at all!! That's what asking for opinion s is about

Another thought.. because my mind is racing with them now. Lol

If we do set it up beforehand it would be sitting out for hours. Ceremony a d reception at the same place, Ceremony starts at 4:00 with dinner beginning at 6:00, cake probably won't be until 8?

I might be rethinking, just want it to all go well.

I don't think you should try to self cater a dessert bar. You have bigger things to worry about in the days ahead of your wedding.

I know.. I've been getting alot of "you are crazy! " but I am a baker, I have done wedding cakes before and I'm pretty good at my baking/prepping timelines.. I think I can do it. I just feel like desserts are what I'm known for and having that personal touch on our wedding day will make it even more special..

It wouldn't hurt to ask the caterer (or is there a venue coordinator you could ask?) I work as a catering director and I do it for brides who ask. I had a wedding a couple of months ago that had a cupcake and cookie display. Guests started taking stuff right away and didn't wait for them to cut the cake. We could barely keep the table stocked, and had to space things out so the table still looked full when they took cake cutting photos. I would definitely recommend a sign and setting it up before the reception if it will be on display in the room.

I think that a sign like Nikki suggested is a good idea, I thought about doing that myself. But then I decided to ask my caterer if she would be willing to help manage the desserts (even though she isn't providing them), and she said that her staff could manage the pie buffet for a small fee (I think $100). That was well worth it to me, so that none of my family members have to worry about it. I'm just going to ask her to keep the serving utensils in the kitchen tent until it's time to cut and serve, so that no one decides to self-serve! Luckily pie isn't a particularly easy self-serve item unless you have the right utensils, so I don't think we'll have any problems with that

You should ask your caterer if they would be willing to set it up for you. Both my mom and FMIL made cookies for our dessert table and our caterer was very happy to plate it and put it out at the right time. Some people did help themselves to cookies before we did the cake cutting but it didn't bother me in the least.

We are having a cookie table along with our wedding cake. Our caterer told us they would set it up, but we have to pay to have an additional person there to do it.

Great. Thanks for all the wonderful advice! Guess we will start with the caterer and see if he'll do it. If not then friends it is! Although.. I might have to run down there to set the wedding cake up myself between hair and make up :-p

We had a dessert table with desserts made by me, my mom, my sister, my best friend and my aunt. Also on the table were 4 cakes made by the bakery who made our small 2-tier wedding cake that was on a separate table. Our DOP set the entire thing up based on a drawing I did of what I wanted it to look like. We made it as simple as possible and each person who made something had to bring it on the dishes they would be served on, so she just had to put everything out. We reused the floral 'pew markers' off the chairs after the ceremony to add some flowers among the desserts.

The table was set up prior to the reception so we chose items that would 'keep' for a little while and no one touched the table until we cut our cake. At that point, the staff at our venue (as instructed) took the other cakes out back, cut them and brought them back out to the table (cut but intact) for people to help themselves.

It was a HUGE hit. There was actually a line of people to get dessert at one point which I found hilarious because we had a coffee station too so people could just graze on dessert for two hours but no one wanted to wait. As soon as it was open, they lined right up and then went back for seconds!