I don't want a cake... but what do I do!?

Oh God! I had the stupidest, biggest fight with my mother about having (or not having) a cake. I'm the same way, I didn't want one, or the additional expense tbh. We decided on a 1-tier cake with a donut display.

@Gillian I'm confused. Are you having a winter wedding? Your date is spring.

@Elizabeth It's March in northern New Hampshire... so it's still winter :-) ski lifts run through the first week of April, but our date isn't considered peak "ski season" so hotel prices dropped by over $100 a night, which is why we chose the 24th instead of earlier in March. But there will still be plenty of snow up there!

We also didn't want to waste money on a cake, so what we did instead was a cupcake tower. A friend's friend made it for us (I know people will advise against this but we personally had no issues). The total was $70.00 and we had over 100 cupcakes. Even with the cupcakes barely anyone ate any so it was a good decision overall. $70.00 might sound like a lot but I'm from Toronto, CA so the typical cost of a wedding cake here is at least a couple hundred. Although the s'mores idea sounds great as well so whatever works for you guys.

We spent months trying to figure this out. We scoured articles looking at ideas: donuts, cupcakes, croquembouche, churro towers, eclair towers, you name it. In fact, just this past Sunday was when we realized: we should really incorporate what WE like as the main attraction. That being said, we are having our favorite cheesecake shop make us a special cake (I think to date we've tried over 30 of the owner's cakes so far). We're going to use that as our cake to cut.

Then we're going to have a dessert table with pies from this company called ILIKEPIE. We will have a few large pies, small individual pies (that way we can even have gluten-free and vegan options to accommodate our guest's diet restrictions) and we were debating on a sheet cake for those who MUST HAVE CAKE! The original thought was no but after reading the comments, it's probably true some people will expect cake after seeing us cut ours (even though ours will be a cheesecake). I think we definitely will do that but we'll get sheet cake from Costco since they're pretty inexpensive and taste pretty good. We are also having an ice cream sandwich bar--cookies from Costco (we were going to hit up a local bakery but realized we need the strong, sturdy cookies they have. Plus, like the sheet cake, no one will know cause they won't see the packaging). Then we'll set it up so people can grab their cookies and a server will be able to serve them the ice cream scoop of choice. My FH was worried it was going to be messy but I spent A LOT of time reading on how other couples have achieved this, including contacting people on Pinterest who posted pics of them doing it. The key is having a server man the station--use one of the catering servers since they won't be serving food at that point (or standing behind trays of food if you do it buffet style). This way they can keep an eye on the stainless steel containers you would use to hold the ice cream (the containers keep ice cream for about an hour btw), which would then be nestled in a large container of ice--get a second runner to handle ice runs. We aren't putting up the sandwich bar till much later (I truly believe our wedding date will be the hottest day of the year, lol) but we haven't worked out the logistics of when exactly yet.

Whatever route you take, remember that there's always an elegant way to present it for memorable photos but definitely make it something you will want. A cookie table with a great assortment will make even the grouchiest person smile. Cause honestly, who doesn't love cookies?!

We considered doing a dessert bar instead.