Wedding cakes and desserts

Angela Martin2, get this sorted out ASAP.
I called the bakery lady three days ago to book us for June 30th, 2012, and she said we caught her at just the right time because things are getting crazy. She mentioned she can only handle about 1,000 guests per weekend or something like that, so she told us to come by during the Christmas season to hammer out all the details while the workload is lighter... 😁

Jason Jackson4 said:It really depends on where you’re ordering from, but honestly, the sooner the better just to make sure they have you on their radar. As for the pastry math, a good rule of thumb is usually one plate for every six people—basically, aim for about a pound of sweets for every six guests.

That much dessert??? I heard somewhere that you only need a pound for every twelve people...☕
Well, now you know.🤷

Nathan Cox25 said:

Hey everyone!!

I am seriously obsessed with these little cakes 🙂 But honestly, does anyone know if this is actually worth the money for a wedding with over 200 guests?

My mom and my future mother-in-law are currently busy perfecting their cookie recipes 🤣—to be honest, I couldn't care less about the technicalities... 😛
Drew Cook5 and I have already fallen for her, so she’ll definitely be part of the family 😁
, though much like you, I'm still stuck in a bit of a dilemma regarding exactly how many we should make... 🤷

So now I’m stuck in this total dilemma... because back home in the Midwest, I haven't seen anything even remotely like this at any wedding, and honestly? I think those little mini-cakes would be an absolute massive hit. And let's be real, we aren't going to have fewer than 200 people there... hm... though I guess I'll just split each one in half (one little cake for two people) hahaha 🤣

Carl Clark said:Angela Martin2, get this sorted out ASAP.
I called the bakery lady three days ago to book us for June 30th, 2012, and she said we caught her at just the right time because things are getting crazy. She mentioned she can only handle about 1,000 guests per weekend or something like that, so she told us to come by during the Christmas season to hammer out all the details while the workload is lighter... 😁

Oh, man... 😲
I need everything set for July 7th! Honestly didn't think I had to have this nailed down before May... 🤦

If I’ve got 30 adults coming, how many desserts should I grab? Was thinking maybe 6 lbs of assorted treats. It's not an all-night wedding thing, just a buffet style setup.

Also, how do bakeries usually handle transport? Do they have their own refrigerated delivery trucks or something?

Regarding the cake—if you're planning the catering—I’d suggest budgeting for about 4.5 ounces per person. It’s probably a safe bet to ensure nobody goes home disappointed.

Ice cream shops usually recommend serving around 3 to 4 ounces—which, honestly, feels like a bit of a joke—but I’ve always felt that 3 ounces just isn't enough. Now, 4 ounces might barely cut it if you're actually hungry, but I think aiming for closer to 5 ounces is probably the sweet spot. I mean, I'd hate to have someone staring at me, clearly wanting an extra scoop, only for me to have to awkwardly tell them, "Sorry, we're all out"—especially when I know we could have just served them a decent portion to begin with. It’s just better to be prepared, I guess.🤷

Carl Clark said:That much dessert??? I heard somewhere that you only need a pound for every twelve people...☕
Well, now you know.🤷

Trust me on this—you really need about two pounds per person if you're feeding a group of six. My mom has been hosting these kinds of gatherings for years, and she always swears by that ratio. That way, everyone gets a full plate, and there’s always enough left over. Some people go through it faster than others, but you always end up with plenty to either put together a nice platter for the next day or just send home with the rest of the family. Honestly, I’d much rather have an extra few pounds sitting in the fridge than look at a bunch of empty plates. That's just how I see it. 😉
I’m looking at having about 85 or 90 pounds of food ready to go for a crowd of roughly 250 people. I'll also need to prep an extra twenty pounds or so for the house, since we’re expecting a fair amount of folks dropping by both before the main event and the day after. 😁

Angela Martin2 said:Oh, man... 😲
I need everything set for July 7th! Honestly didn't think I had to have this nailed down before May... 🤦

If I’ve got 30 adults coming, how many desserts should I grab? Was thinking maybe 6 lbs of assorted treats. It's not an all-night wedding thing, just a buffet style setup.

Also, how do bakeries usually handle transport? Do they have their own refrigerated delivery trucks or something?

Sweetie, it looks like we’re celebrating on the exact same day! 🙂 Well, fingers crossed for both of us! 🙂
From my own experience, let me tell you: do not wait even a single extra day if you don't have to! I've been planning my wedding for two years now, and because of that, I managed to get absolutely everything I wanted. Everyone used to say I was being obsessive, but now they see that just six months before the big day, I don't have anything left to hunt for—everything is booked, everything is bought. You just have to do it early so you don't run into any closed doors when you need them most. 🙂

If I have 30 adult guests, how much cake should I order? I was thinking about getting about 13 pounds of assorted pastries. It won't be an all-night affair, and we're doing a buffet style.

Thirteen pounds is plenty for that many people!

How do bakeries handle transportation? Do they have their own delivery trucks with refrigeration?

It really depends on the bakery; you’ll have to ask them directly. Some will deliver and then leave everything in the fridge at the venue where you're hosting. But I've also heard of cases where they couldn't make the delivery because they had too many weddings scheduled for that same Saturday, and you ended up having to go pick it up yourself...

Jason Jackson4 said:Trust me on this—you really need about two pounds per person if you're feeding a group of six. My mom has been hosting these kinds of gatherings for years, and she always swears by that ratio. That way, everyone gets a full plate, and there’s always enough left over. Some people go through it faster than others, but you always end up with plenty to either put together a nice platter for the next day or just send home with the rest of the family. Honestly, I’d much rather have an extra few pounds sitting in the fridge than look at a bunch of empty plates. That's just how I see it. 😉
I’m looking at having about 85 or 90 pounds of food ready to go for a crowd of roughly 250 people. I'll also need to prep an extra twenty pounds or so for the house, since we’re expecting a fair amount of folks dropping by both before the main event and the day after. 😁

So, get my math there—about one pound for every twelve people.
We were thinking around 175 pounds of desserts for 250 guests—enough for the reception hall, the treats at my place and my partner's, and little gift bags for everyone to take home.
(I guess math isn't exactly my strongest suit... 😉)
As for cakes, we were planning on eight standard ones plus the wedding cake—is that enough?

Maybe we won't actually need that much dessert, I'll see once I sit down with the caterer, but for now, that's the plan.

I think you've had enough—eight cakes is definitely overkill.
If you grab five plus one for the wedding party, you'll still have plenty left over to pass around. 😁

Has anyone here had any experience working with Monica from the Ivanovac area near Cleveland?

Carl Clark said:So, get my math there—about one pound for every twelve people.
We were thinking around 175 pounds of desserts for 250 guests—enough for the reception hall, the treats at my place and my partner's, and little gift bags for everyone to take home.
(I guess math isn't exactly my strongest suit... 😉)
As for cakes, we were planning on eight standard ones plus the wedding cake—is that enough?

Maybe we won't actually need that much dessert, I'll see once I sit down with the caterer, but for now, that's the plan.

Here's how I see it—maybe 40-45 kg for the reception hall, about 10 kg each for the houses, leaving us with 15 kg to pack up. Now, I'm not sure about your packaging plan... if you're using those little clear plastic containers—you can fit maybe 400g in each (if they're the kind I'm thinking of) times about 150 people, which equals roughly 6 kg.
That's just a rough estimate, so keep playing with the numbers....🤷

Carl Clark said:So, get my math there—about one pound for every twelve people.
We were thinking around 175 pounds of desserts for 250 guests—enough for the reception hall, the treats at my place and my partner's, and little gift bags for everyone to take home.
(I guess math isn't exactly my strongest suit... 😉)
As for cakes, we were planning on eight standard ones plus the wedding cake—is that enough?

Maybe we won't actually need that much dessert, I'll see once I sit down with the caterer, but for now, that's the plan.

It’s all pretty subjective, really. It depends on how big those cakes actually are... you really need to check with your baker.
My advice? Ask them straight up: how many servings does one cake actually yield? They should have a standard answer for that. Once you know, do the math, but always, *always* buffer it by adding an extra 10 to 15 slices. Never aim for the exact number! You don't want to run out.
For my guest list, I'm planning on doing a large rectangular sheet cake—it's huge—and then grabbing an additional side cake just to cover about 60 people...

Ladies, since we’re already talking about desserts—I won't dive into the cookie situation, because my mother-in-law thinks everything should be served in massive quantities and she'll happily polish off half the batch herself—so I’d rather stay out of that particular fray and just let her have her way. 😂
But I am curious about the wedding cake situation; given that she’s planning on those mini-cakes, how many do you think would actually be necessary? Honestly, I don't believe there needs to be one for every single guest—not everyone is looking for a slice of cake anyway 🤷 (personally, I've never been one to ask for it
).

Hm, everyone’s probably going to want a piece—people tend to flock to anything that feels a bit out of the ordinary.
Anyway, just aim to have that top cake yield about 15-20 slices if you can; it'll help keep the total number of small cakes down. Better to have too much than to run out.

Christian Cruz41 said:Has anyone here had any experience working with Monica from the Ivanovac area near Cleveland?

Just saw this—we actually had their cookies from some local fair once, they were decent. Never tried the cakes.

Nathan Cox25, what kind of numbers are we looking at for roughly 300 guests? 🤷

I wouldn't take that risk if I were you. You’ve got 280 pieces plus the main one you're slicing up—they'll be special enough that everyone is going to want a taste.
At my last event, we went with the classic setup and everyone dug in. We actually had leftovers because we catered for 180 people but only 137 showed up.

Hopefully I’ve landed in the right spot with this question, since we're talking sweets. Ladies, does anyone know where I can find cheap candy and colorful lollipops? This sort of thing?