DIY: Candy Buffets

I love, love, love candy buffets. I mean, who doesn't like candy? Except maybe diabetics and people with fake teeth. But other than those exceptions, I choose to believe that everyone likes candy. Especially me. Plus, if you combine candy with a cool display and cute little take-out containers you will have people drooling their way into your reception.

So, clearly, we're having a candy buffet. So far, I've got the take-out boxes covered and I've already explained the process to find those here. As for glass containers to hold/display the candy, word on the street is that yard sales are an excellent source t it's not exactly yard sale season here, so I'll have to wait until summer to buy those.


Most recently though, I've been wondering exactly how much candy I'm going to be needing. Foolishly, I took to the internet to answer this question. Which is where I found this gem:

"buffets work best when you plan by the eye, not the numbers .... take five to 10 types of candy, and buy 15 to 20 pounds each, whether you actually need that much or not ... If you have a large table overflowing with candy, you have presence. The biggest disappointment I hear is that the candy buffet didn't look substantial."

10 types? 15-20 pounds of each? If my math is right, that means 150-200 pounds of candy. And at anywhere from $1 to 6 per pound of candy, I'd end up spending way more than I wanted to. Suddenly, my inexpensive and easy idea for guest favors has turned into a monster of a concept. Um, can you say 'not an option'? Because I can.


Thankfully, my research didn't stop there. I found this article which gives some excellent tips. Encouragement to use affordable containers, candy bought in bulk and not overdoing the candy buying sounds more my style. Plus, a helpful tip for those who want the wow factor on a budget, she recommends using several small containers as opposed to 2 or 3 giant ones.


Now I just need to decide on a color. Or not. While I like the aesthetic effect of candy which is the same color across the board, if the candy ends up being all the same or gross tasting, what's the point of following a color theme? Plus, we never settled upon 1 or 2 colors for our wedding in general. There will be no blue/red, no brown/pale blue, no pink/orange themes happening on June 26th. We're free spirits. And that's what our candy buffet will be too. I love not having to follow rules.

For more great inspiration, check out The Knot's collection of photos. I know, endorsing The Knot, what am I thinking? Just be forewarned, avoid the articles and stick with the photos. Even some of their candy buffets are a little elaborate for me, but they're still a good source of inspiration once they're dialed down slightly.

DIY: favoring our guests

You know how you get engaged and you make all sorts of plans immediately? And then two months later you change your mind entirely? And then 3 months from then you change it again? And again? And again? And then one more time?

Okay, so there's more decisive people in the world than me. But this was the situation in our case. I was so excited about the wedding that immediately started searching the internet for everything from escort cards, to the invitations to the dress. And every couple of months (or weeks in some cases) I would change my mind entirely. It was a pathetic process. Thankfully, one idea has stuck from day one: our guest favors.

This was one of the first photos I'd ever come across in my searching and I fell in love with the idea immediately.

What could be better than take-out boxes? So cute. So fun for the guests to fill their own. So cheap. Right? Um, no. Wrong. They are not cheap. Especially the kind in this photo. Okay, once again, in terms of wedding favors that the WIC tries to sell us, they are probably one of the cheapest options. But, personally, there was no way I was going to spend $5 on a set of 6 tiny take-out boxes. Unfortunately other than finding containers at outrageous prices, my online searching proved fruitless.

So I was depressed. For about 2 days. And then, in a random trip to one of the dollar stores in my area, I found take-out boxes -- exactly the same as those being sold online for up to $1.99 each -- in a set of 3 for $1. They weren't perfect since I had originally wanted all frosted white while these ones were frosted white, pink and blue. Not perfect, but they will do. When I thought about the alternative of not having them I decided to compromise. So I bought out the store's entire stock with a sense of relief.

In order to pretty them up, I've DIY designed some stickers using the artwork from our invitations and put our names in the center with the date of the wedding. I put in an order with an Etsy seller, SassyCat which was really easy. All I did was send her the design and she sent me back a proof and they should arrive in a few weeks (and although I haven't gotten the final product yet, I would recommend her since my communication with her was excellent so far).

For the less crafty bride, you can even order a custom design from this sellers and then order the labels elsewhere. Or some sellers -- like this one -- will put your name and date on one of their pre-made designs.

We're thrilled with this concept because it makes our dollar store, generic take-out boxes something more personal. Plus, our cost savings on the containers means our guests can fill them with tons of goodies from our candy buffet. More on that one later.

The Dreaded Guest List

Before we got engaged and before the idea of planning a wedding even entered into my mind, I remember hearing about how brutal the creation of the guest list can be. Of course, being the naive optimist I am, I thought "Yeah, right, that won't be us. It might get a little heated but no biggie. This is the least of our worries when it comes to the wedding."

Boy, was I wrong.

So, so, very wrong. Apparently everything I'd hear before hand was entirely applicable to our situation. As a couple, Mr. FP and I bicker a lot. But it's rarely about anything big. Nothing too life altering. So when we started screaming at each other the guest count, I knew we were in trouble. Sometimes, I almost wish that we were having a gigantic wedding with endless funds so we could just invite everyone we each wanted to and never have to talk about it again.

But that was impossible. And not what we really wanted. From day one, I knew I wanted a small wedding with only the people who were the most important to us. Mr. FP, however, (following in the foot steps of his parents who had 300+ people at their wedding) thought we could invite the whole world. So we devised a system in order to trim the list a bit. We decided to make an A list of must haves, a B list of people who we wanted there and a C list in case we win the lottery. The A list remained pretty constant throughout the whole process and in the B list we went through and asked ourselves some questions "Have we talked to this person in the last 2 years? Does this person know we're even in a serious relationship? (And most importantly...) Would it make or break our wedding day to have/not have this person present?"

Thankfully, this worked quite well. Of course, we had the typical resistance from family members and parents who thought we should be inviting more people. For Mr. FP's family, I think it was more difficult to accept the idea of a small wedding because they are such a large family. And my parents kept wanting to invite people that they/I was close to at one point in life with little to no contact since. And while I understand that a wedding is about more than a couple and that the parents involved are celebrating that day also, it makes no sense to me to invite people Mr. FP and I are not close with. I'm lucky enough to have a man who agrees with me on this point, so it was much easier to ignore the opinions of others. And that's what we did.

We've settled on somewhere between 70-80 people and we're leaving some room open just in case. But since the ceremony/reception is being hosted at my family's cottage and the reception is held under tents, we only have so much room. Which is another good reason to keep it small.

If keeping it small means we get to have a meaningful connection with every guest at our wedding and spend quality time with each and every person on the wedding day, then it seems worth the hassle to me.