This is your day, which means there are no rules. None, that is, except every choice you make should express, celebrate – and, most of all, delight – you (and your betrothed). When it comes to the food you’ll serve, dessert tables are a fabulous way to free yourself of traditional constraints. Why have just one cake when you can have a whole smorgasbord of sweets?

A dessert table is a blank canvas, allowing you to serve as many different treats as you wish. You can even choose sweets that match or accent a color scheme, or underscore a theme. Your dessert table can also be a major décor enhancement. Dress it with flowers, foliage, balloons, velvet, candles – anything, really. Even use something other than a table as your “table” – like an antique hutch, stacks of hay bales and wooden crates, or an elegant dessert or bar cart.

As far as what to lay your table with, the sky’s the limit. Following are a few ideas.

Colorful

Macarons come in all the colors of the rainbow, so, if you have a color scheme, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to match it with macarons. Same goes for mochi, candy, cupcakes, and cake pops. If you want a display that says “soft and pretty,” try sweets in a variety of pastel colors, arranged by color on a tiered tray.

Rustic

Pies, mini pies, pie pops, tarts, cookies and milk, cinnamon rolls, s’mores, caramel apples and even waffles evoke a comfortable, homey, vintage feel. Bringing family recipes into the mix adds an extra touch of warmth. And the shapes, variations and possible arrangements of these desserts are endless, giving your creativity free reign.

Spike it!

Turn your dessert table into a dessert bar with an assortment of after-dinner noshes that feature the decidedly adult flavor of booze.

Wine and Fruit – From dessert wine with citrus to rosé with raspberries, gelees come in an array of flavor combinations and look colorful and sleek, like brilliant jewels. Other possibilities include delicate tarts made with wine-poached plums or pears, champagne-strawberry cake pops, and red wine truffles with dried cherries. Actual wine and fruit is also an option.

Stout and chocolate – Try individual cups of decadent stout chocolate mousse or pudding. Or fudgy chocolate stout cupcakes with cream cheese or Irish cream frosting.

Mix it Up – A bowl of crushed ice and a variety of syrups and liquors let guests make their own boozy snow cones. Gelatin shots in a variety of drink flavors and colors, s’mores pudding shots, aperol spritz cheesecake, manhattan truffles and cupcakes flavored with any mixed drink you can imagine are just a few more ideas.

The most important thing to know is that you are not in this alone. Chef's Catering is happy to help with catering your Rochester, NY party.