How Sweet It Is: Building the Candy Buffet of Your Dreams
So — you've caught the candy buffet bug.You're not alone. More and more brides want to see a tower of sweets at their reception.
Motives differ: some like how buffets allow guests to hunt and pick according to their personal sweet tooth.
Others like the fairytale flavor. Candyland, Babes in Toyland, Willy Wonka: some of our earliest dreams of abbondanza involve forests where gumdrops hang from trees, chocolate runs in rivers and pillars are peppermint sticks.
- The Secret to Sweetness
- Seducing the Eye
- An Aesthetic Equation
- Like a Kid in a Candy Store? Here's What to Buy
- The Theme's the Thing
- Retro Revivals
- Amplifying Your Style
- Fashion a Feast for the Eye
- Regal Crystal
- Affordable Alternatives
- Pro Planners' Tricks for Better Buffets
- Don't Forget the Take-Away
- It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (for Candy)
- Comments (1221)
And if that makes you nervous, rest assured you have company. Because a candy buffet isn't free. Like any other "wow" aspect of a wedding, it's part of your overall investment. And while the waitstaff might pass the hors d'oeuvres and the venue lay out the linens, you could be on your own when it's time to design the candy buffet.
But not to worry: here are some tips from the pros for translating that bountiful delight in your head into a mouth-watering reality at your wedding.
The Secret to Sweetness
Scan all those photos of candy buffets throughout the web, and you'll quickly spot two things.One, buffets are monstrously popular. And two, while some are a feast for the eyes, others seem to fall short of the heights their planners must have hoped for.
So what's the secret?
Here's number one: buying enough candy. Sounds simplistic, but it's key.
Seducing the Eye
"The first thing I tell brides — you really can't do candy as a hard commodity. It's more a decoration," says Jon Prince, president of online candy giant CandyFavorites.com."I talk to hundreds of brides. They'll say, 'I'm having 200 guests, and I want to give each guest 3 ounces, so I guess I need about 37 pounds of candy.' Sounds reasonable, and 3 ounces might be enough to actually satisfy your guests, but visually? It won't be enough to make a presence."
Prince suggests that instead of seeing candy by the numbers, brides take an aesthetic approach. "You choose the flowers because they're beautiful," he says. "The candy buffet should be too."
And unlike flowers, Prince adds, candy serves double duty as an edible item. "Still, you have to budget the candy buffet into your wedding expenses. It doesn't work well as an afterthought."
An Aesthetic Equation
But what about the wedding planners who suggest buying a pound of candy per person?Prince says buffets work best when you plan by the eye, not the numbers.
"To make it look gorgeous, I'd start with the table, not the guest count. I'd take five to 10 types of candy, and buy 15 to 20 pounds each, whether you actually need that much or not."
He adds, "When it comes to candy, the more the merrier. 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."
Like a Kid in a Candy Store? Here's What to Buy
Okay, so now you have a handle on those numbers. But between the heaping bins at upscale food markets and the galaxies of candy choices online, which temptations do you choose?There aren't any hard-and-fast rules, says Prince.
Not really, he says. Instead, it's the season's colors and personal themes that are driving brides' choices.
The Theme's the Thing
To illustrate, Prince describes an all-white Miami wedding where the couple set up 20 to 30 pounds each of white candies, placing the unwrapped varieties in jars, martini glasses and other interesting containers, and piling custom-wrapped mint rolls in front. "It looked fantastic," he says.Mark Kingsdorf of The Queen of Hearts Wedding Consultants concurs: it's the themes that shape candy buffets. "And like everything else in weddings, candy buffets are getting more and more personalized, with more and more variations.
Retro Revivals
"Of course, 'Everything old is new again,'" he adds. "So you see things like retro candy buffets. At one wedding we did the candy bracelets and necklaces on the elastic cords; the little waxed bottles filled by sugar water."There are very few themes you can't do with candy. Beach weddings are fun, with all those boardwalk choices: saltwater taffy, caramel apples, fudge, peanut brittle."
Amplifying Your Style
"I like to focus," explains Prince, "but the focus can be anything. Candies you personally like, or a theme, or a texture. If you're having an all-white wedding, you'll want an all-white candy buffet. If you're having a destination wedding in an exotic location, you could choose dramatic, Caribbean types: Island Punch Jelly Belly beans."In the end, you want 'presence.' Mies van de Rohe once said 'Less is more,' but he definitely wasn't talking about candy buffets."
Fashion a Feast for the Eye
You're set. You've narrowed down your choices... and you've got the goods. Now how do you add those visual touches that turn your buffet from "aww" to "jaw-dropping"?Regal Crystal
For starters: choose cool containers. "One of the more striking displays I've seen put the candy in William Yeoward and Baccarat," says Prince."Basically — and this is a good idea — the couple matched their candy containers to their floral vases."
Affordable Alternatives
Don't have quite that much fine crystal waiting in the wings? Here's a budget-friendly alternative from Kingsdorf. "Find some interesting containers: different shapes, different heights. Personally, I've used a dozen different containers from Ikea, and the most expensive one was about $10."He adds that clear containers are best, to show off the contents, and that container mouths should be wide enough for the scoops.
Pro Planners' Tricks for Better Buffets
"To make the whole look pop, raise some of those containers on the table." Kingsdorf explains an old catering trick is to take a catering rack or a milk crate — "the kind that restaurants and supermarkets get their milk delivered in" — turn it upside down on the table, and cover with a cloth."A nice bunching fabric gives you spill and texture. Put some of your containers on top of that."
The final touch? A floral arrangement. Or more cheaply, some complementary pillar candles in your wedding colors.
Don't Forget the Take-Away
Kingsdorf adds that your most personal touch could be the candy bags. "At one of the weddings I did recently, the couple went to a dollar store and got a bunch of takeout containers in red, one of their colors. "They personalized each container with a little sticker, which was inexpensive and very cute. Anyone could do the same thing: use a tag or little rubber stamp, or stickers."Just find a way to add that custom touch."
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (for Candy)
So why are candy buffets so sizzling hot these days, anyway?Simple: they're a huge hit with guests. "Favors can be a tough choice," points out Kingsdorf. "Depending on your guests, you might find yourself picking up a ton of personalized CDs or bottle stoppers at the end of the night. But when it's edible, people eat it ... or take it home. I think a lot of brides are cueing into that."
Prince adds, "It's just a trend people are enjoying right now.
"But when you really dig down," he muses, "it's not about the product at all. It's about nostalgia.
"In a lot of weddings, two people are taking a major step toward adulthood. The candy buffet lets them connect back to any fond memories they have of childhood.
"Candy is powerfully reminiscent," he concludes.
I am puzzled at where on earth you guys are finding these scoops!! The clear ones are beautiful. You think these would be easy to find but I haven’t seen any but the ones at Michael’s by Wilton and those are never in stock!
I had metal scoops but i know that scoops-scoops.com has the clear ones also. I bought my scoops off of that website and tongs also they were great and shipped out very fast. I would def recommend them. They werent expensive either and i know that they have different size scoopers on there.
What size scoops did you use?
I was wondering where everyone gets the “words” that they have on their candy tables? Like the celebrate, love, sweet, kisses….things like that.
Hi Jenn,
Michael’s sells alot of them, in a range of different size. You can paint them to whatever colors you’d like. Walmart also sells them in their craft isle.
Thanks for the info, I have looked at one michaels and didnt see much there, maybe i should try another one.
I got my words at a place that sells crafts. It was like a very cheap sort of dollar store. We then just bought brown paint and painted them. If you want then you can put them on sticks or just lean them. They came out amazing looking! and were cheap too.
Okay, ladies, I had been planning for a year for my daughter’s Sweet 16 broadway candy buffet. I am sending you a couple of pictures of the buffet and one of the centerpieces. On the sides of the centerpieces, I took wine glasses and put chocolate covered pretzels in them so that the kids wouldn’t touch the candy table. Around the candy table, I roped off the area (making it look like a theatre) and the kids didn’t touch a thing – bless their little souls. The huge “floral” centerpiece in the middle is homemade with melted candy and made into the shape of different flowers. Enjoy!
I am doing a party in May with 80 kids (13 y/o) and 150 adults. my greatest concern is that the kids will grab so much the adults will not get any. Did you have any problems? Any tips for me? Can you suggest quantities? I am planning about 12 different candies. All wrapped. Either I have 15 pound of the candie ex. tootsie rolls, or I make sure I have one piece/person ie., reeses pb cup.
Thanks
Hi Ladies!
Congratulations to newlyweds and to the soon to be brides. I’m getting married in October 17. Our colors are chocolate brown and a mint green (thinking of fall colors)…and we are thinking of having a candy buffet. We have talked to someone who could do a candy buffet, but my fiance and I have decided that perhaps we could do it ourselves. I have read a few fall wedding comments, do any of you have any other ideas of color candies for my wedding? Thank you!!!! 
Hi Alma,
I am also getting married on October 17, and my colors are chocolate brown, burgundy, and burnt orange. We are using reese’s pieces for the orange and brown colors, and ordering m&m’s in burgundy. I also wanted to let you know that a good candy for the green might be those green spearmint leaves, that are kinda like a gummy with sugar. I have found almost all the candy we would like to get for our wedding on one websitte and it beats the prices of everywhere else I have looked. I have been working on our candy buffet, getting things together like the containers and picking out the candy for a couple of months now. I dont remember the website right off hand i’ll have to look through my papers, but if you would like it i would be more than happy to give it to you.
Hope you find the information you are looking for and that you have a wonderful wedding.
Jennifer
Did you ever figure out what site was the cheapest to order your candy? My daughter (whose name is Jennifer, too!) is doing the same thing for her wedding; however, her color is an aqua/teal color. If possible, can you please pass us the name of the company you are buying most of your candy! Thanks so much!
I was hoping you could give me the email address for the best priced candy company for the candy buffet I am putting together for my wedding? Thank you!
Alma,
There are those andes mints that come in mint green wrappers. THey are really yummy and i know they sell them on some candy websites. After doing research, i found the cheapest of the candy websites was metrocandy. I actually got all my candy at sams club and bjs and after doing the research found them to be cheaper then any of the websites. Im not sure if you have any of those stores by you but costco prob has also. You can also use tootsie rolls, reeses peanut butter cups, chocolate covered raisins, carmels, skittles, etc. If you go to some of the candy websites they have the candy seperated by colors. Hope this helps a little.
thanks for including my “candy buffet photo” (the pink m+m’s in the white candy cups)
–I just added a photo to my flickr of a take-away box from the candy buffet i am working on for a social function that may be of interest to some of you:
….a few more more photos, so you can see the steps.
Bagging the candy + adding labels.
These are displayed in an old seed packet display box, that has a slanted interior, so it keeps the bags propped up.
Custom stamps were made and then stamped on the small red border labels–could easily personalize this with the bride + groom’s names. Staz-On ink will work on any surface–metal, plastic, fabric, wood, etc.
Paper flowers could be added to the bag tops or some other embellishment–to cover up the staple.
We also made take-away boxes for the function, that will hold a selection of 4 bags of candy.
More photos will appear on my flickr as we get closer to the event.
Thanks!
where did you buy the long narrow clear bags, cute !
Please respond,
Kathy
Candy Couture Pink
Im getting married next Saturday and im so excited! I decided to do a candy buffet after seeing this website. I thought it was a great idea, noticed that alot of people love it, and thought it would be something different. We put the candy buffet together to see how its gonna look and i cant be any happier with the way it turned out! i love it! I took a couple of pictures of the way i have it set up so i can give it to my catering hall so they can set it up for me. I did alot of research on the supplies and the candy. Im attaching some of the pics that i took and when i have my wedding i will be glad to post the final table:)
Two more pics
Hey everyone so i had my wedding this past weekend and the candy buffet was a major hit! I cant tell you how great it looked. The pics above i thought looked great but it turned out to be much better at the wedding! They have us 16 ft worth of table and it wasnt too big. The tables were completely filled with stuff. The majority of the candy went but we had some left so i guess i judged right. I didnt go overboard though and i had about 200 people at my wedding. I had approximately 10-15 pounds of everything. I pretty much just bought 2-3 bags of everything from sams and bjs. I will post the pics when i get them. I def recommend it though. People didnt stop talking about how amazing it was. This is what i did instead of favors. I think it was actually better!
Mandy,
Will you post pics of your final candy buffet from the actual wedding? I’d love to see it.
Also, are there any more pics out there?
Where should I go for candy? Vases? Glass dishes? Scoops?
I just came back from Marshalls and they had the most beautiful glass dishes for $4.99 – $6.99. Square, round, tall, many different types. Now — where do I get the scoops??? This is so fun! Our colors are teal and I found Snickers miniatures in the Easter candy that are teal!
I think this time of year you can find lots of aqua/teal stuff…freeze it…I did and things were fine for the wedding. I froze stuff for about 3 months. If you have all wrapped stuff you not need scoops. i ended up taking mine back and didn’t use them at all…I took a poll and we decided I ddint’ need them. How many are you having?? I have a bunch of the candy sticks left over from my wedding that I would sell for a good price. I got mine at Cracker Barrel for 10 cents each. you can email me at deborah@move2nampa.com if you want…Keep in mind that if you get any of the hershey minatures you can wrap them in your color or white with your color of writing. I wrapped a ton of Nestle crunhs’s!!! Very easy to do!!! I have a bunch of blue small lollipops as well cotton candy and blueberry….
Just a few ideas…I found that a lot of different colors of “blue” still worked with the turqoise theme adn blended well with silver….
good luck!!!
Hi everyone!
I’m doing a candy buffet for my daughter’s wedding in April. I was wondering if anyone would let me know what size scoops (OUNCES) they used. I don’t want anything too big or too small. Also, I was thinking about using scoops with tags on them for the seating arrangements. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks, MOM
I love the small scoop idea for each guest! I got 4 oz. scoops for the candy buffet.
thanks Shelly!
janet
I am having a wedding in July. My colors are bright pink, light pink, and yellow. I went to Walmart, Walgreens, and Sams and found so many different kinds of pink candy with it being Valentine’s day! I also found the bags of M&Ms with different shades of pink for the Susan Koman foundation. Also they have pink ring pops…which I dont think they sell the colors individually. This is so much cheaper then buying them online! Trust me I looked! Also wait till after Valentines day and some stores will have them for 50-75% off!
how big should the take away candy bags be????
My wedding is in May and my colors are pink, silver, and black. Can anyone tell me where they are getting their candy? Any ideas for candy in those colors? How much should it cost for a wedding party of 150?
Shelley, My daughter’s wedding is in July and I am finding a lot of pink candy right now. Dove has chocolate hearts wrapped in pink foil and silver foil. It is 2 bags for $5.00 at Walmart, but check Walgreens this week because they may have a better deal. Hershey has raspberry creme filled chocolate bars wrapped in pink foil and they also have caramel filled kisses in pink foil. There are heart shaped suckers at Walmart that are 2 for $1.00 and some of them are pink and white. They also have bundles of 4 small suckers with some pink that are $1.00 per bundle. The Valentine M&Ms are pink, white, and red, but I think there are two shades of pink in each bag. You may come out better buying the specialty bags with just pink, but they usually are pricey. There are pink boxes of Nerds in bags of 36 out now also. Check Sam’s club for pink sour punch straws and pink air heads or Laffy Taffy.
For silver you can always use Hershey kisses. I think there are silver coated Jordan almonds as well. There are probably some other chocolate wrapped in chocolate if you check the Dove and Hershey candies. Check the Good and Plenty candy as well. It may have black in it in addition to the pink and white. You can always use black jelly beans and licorice.
Check the web site for candywarehouse. They have a lot of candy and you can search by color. I am looking at several different sites for pricing. Some are a lot cheaper on certain items than other sites are. Look at metrocandy, bulkfoods, bestbuycandy, groovycandies, and rauscountrystore.
Good luck and don’t forget to post pictures!
I meant chocolate candy wrapped in silver, not chocolate! And I looked at Good and Plenty and it is only pink and white, but there are a lot of black candies on the candywarehouse website.
Thanks Tina!! Do you think its safe to get candy now? I am scared it will be stale by May???
Shelly, this website has guidelines for candy shelflife: http://www.candyfavorites.com/shop/shelf-life.php
I am looking at the candy expiration date on the bags. All of them so far have had an expiration date of at least next September. If not, I am passing them by. Some are as far out as 2010. I am storing them in a large bin in a cool area of the house. Since your wedding is in May, you should be OK with candy purchased now as long as you store it right.
I am not worried about the suckers or Nerds, but I am a little concerned about the chocolate. I plan to wait a little while longer before I order the candy I will purchase online. Right now I am just trying to find pink candy, and Valentine’s candy works!
Amy’s wedding coordinator suggested we freeze the M&M’s. She has had good luck with them, but the website I mentioned above says they have a shelf-life of 13 months anyway.
Tina M
Tina,
Sam’s club has pink M&M’s…Breast Cancer Ribbon bags… 56oz. for $5. It is a great deal. Just thought you may want some since its pink.
Shelly, I found some pink suckers at Walmart today in their Easter candy. They are $1.00 each and are huge! They have them in pink, as well as blue and green. They may have other colors too, but they were still putting it out when I was there this afternoon.
They also have bags of all pink Hershey kisses and Reese peanut butter cups ( as well as all green and all blue). The bags are small (7 oz?) and are around $3.50 if I am remembering right. There are bagas of pink jelly beans also. Just thought this might help you out!
Tina M.
For our wedding favors, we did a Chocolate Candy Buffet! It was a great hit! Except that by the time we got into the cocktail hour of the reception around 6:30pm (which started at 6:00pm), the candy was pretty much gone! So my suggestion is to buy at least half more than you think you need and keep under the table for someone to fill the jars as they get low.
Here’s what we did for our fall wedding…We went with a Chocolate Candy Theme. On each table we put about 5 cards around the tables that said “Thank you for sharing our special day! Please visit our Chocolate Candy Buffet!”… We had about 180 guests , 9 large candy jars filled with- Fall colored M&M’s in two jars, Fall colored Hershey Kisses with personalized stickers on the bottom that we ordered on Ebay, Hershey Nuggets which were wrapped in personalized wrappers that we ordered on Ebay, Fall Twix, Chocolate Almond clusters, Chocolate covered raisins, Fall Reeses Cups, and I made personalized chocolates in Fall leaves candy molds and baseball candy molds which represented both of us and tied those off individually with personalized ribbon with our names and date. We got the Fall M&M’s, Twix, Resses, & Kisses from Target during the candy sale before Halloween… The Hershey nuggets, Almond clusters, and Raisins we got from Costco.
We had chocolate brown colored Chinese take out boxes with a personalized sticker on the box for the guests to put the candy in.
I would encourage everyone to do it! But be prepared and buy more candy than you think you will need. Hope this was helpful! Congrats & Good luck!
Here are a few pictures of the jars/candy we used.
These are all beautiful.. my daughter is getting married in Sept 09 – Theme black and white damask with Red Flowers – she wants a candy bar – what we are looking for are cute sayings to go with each candy jar – ex. hugs and kisses from the new Mr. and Mrs. – Mint to be etc – any ideas would be greatly appreciated
hi
i’m wondering what everyone is using for take away bags, and has anyone found anything that is divided for take aways
Patsy:
Check out Orientaltrading.com – they have VERY cheap take away bags – they also have just plain colored paper ones that the bride can costumize on their own w/ their own monogram or scrapbooking stuff. Also I google a lot and have found a lot of different websites that have celofan (spelling?) bags and you can go to an arts and craft store and pick up coordinateing ribbons so that the guest can tie the bags when they are done. I am doing that for my candy “bar”
Just wondering how this whole candy table gets set up. Will most places do it for you??? Should I set it up before hand and show them a picture of how I want it?? Or do I need to give the job to someone I know?
Jaime:
Ask your wedding venue if they will do it for you! At my venue I only have two hours prior to my reception to get everything set-up. The venue told me that I can do it, I can have a friend/ family member do it, or I can put a design on paper detailing how I want it set up. I am going to do a little sketch of how I want it and then check it out before the ceremony in case I want to move anything around. One less thing you have to worry about!
Thanks Amanda!!!
PS:
Make sure you have enough candy to last so every guest can bring something home! I am filling up the jars prior to the reception and then stashing extra candy underneath the table (hidden by the tablecloth) in which the waitstaff will refill throughout the night if anything strts to get low – just check w/ the venue to make sure this is possible.
What does everyone use to let their guests know what the candy buffet is for? Do you put a sign or something up? If so can anyone give me some ideas on how to word one? We are still 9 months from our wedding, but i’ve started getting things together and I am soo excited to do a candy buffet. I have found some adorable jars.
I also wanted to let everyone know that you might want to check out http://www.craigslist.com in your area for anyone that might have some jars. I found a lady in my area that had just gotten married and had a buffet and was selling all of her containers for alot cheaper than buying them new, and they had just been used that one time for her wedding.
Hi.This is Patty from http://SimplyCandyBuffets.com in Illinois. For weddings we usually use any where from 15-20 different candies. Photo’s below in Purple/Cream. I use a sterling silver frame that says “Hugs & Kisses from the new Mr. and Mrs. Love is Sweet…Please take some treats” and prop the frame on the table. I always recommend the Candy Buffet be on display during the ENTIRE reception! It is usually the talk of the evening and creates excitement and conversation about when it is going to open to your guests. With the amount of work, time and cost…….it derfinitely should be “EYE CANDY” for all your gues to see.
Patty, how do you keep guests from sampling the candy buffet until it is open? What do you do to let them know it is closed and will open say, after dinner, the same time or just after dessert is served.
Hi Sue…….thanks for the question. There are a few ways to keep your guests from sampling the Candy Buffet before dessert. First, don’t put out the take away bags/containers until after dinner, or the better idea, allow either the person introducing the Bridal party to mention, “That the Scrumptious Candy Buffet will be open for all of our guests to enjoy after dinner, during dessert” or if you’re not having wedding party introductions, have the Best man make a quick announcement when he makes the First Toast. It’s a pretty simple solution yet keeps your Candy Buffet beautiful yet intact until you’re ready!
I am putting the bags and ribbon for the candy bar on the table next to each place setting w/ a little card for what they are for. This will eliminate guests going up to the bar and grabbing multiple bags to bring home (so that every guest has a chance to fill up)
Patty, I am in the process of buying chocolate candies for my daughter’s wedding candy buffet. I plan on having about 17 or 18 kinds of candy, but only 4 or 5 kinds of chocolate except for M&M’s. We are planning on at least 200 people. How much of each type chocolate should I buy? I have about 20 lbs each of peanut and plain M&M’s, but don’t know how much of the other to buy. I plan on having
milk chocolate Dove hearts, Hershey raspberry Bliss, Hershey caramel filled kisses, Hershey hugs, and Reese peanut butter cups. I appreciate any advice you can give me!
Tina M
heh brides, here is a pretty lil’ wedding. i love the way the candy jars are mixed in with the centerpieces. love it.
The wedding is just around the corner…January 3rd. I am doing all the last minute things now! whew!!! tired thinking of it! LOL We are doing a snowflake winter wonderland theme and I was wanting some sort of thank you phrase to use on both the candy containers and also our favors. We are using snow/water globes with our pictures as the main thank you favor. Any ideas would be great! Also I am planning on adding ribbon to jazz up my containers but how do you label everything?? I got some metal and vellum tags at JoAnns or is there a simpler way??? Maybe placecards??? I am open to all sorts of ideas! Another question…what do some of you plan on using for risers??? I don’t want the table to look too flat…
Thanks in advance!!!
O.K. Girls I have about 8 bubble vases that I want to sell as well as a few candy buffet jars if anyone is interested please e-mail me at ElizabethC2001@hotmail.com. I would prefer someone who lives in the Houston TX area so I can just pack them and take them without having to worry about shipping. Please let me know. Thanks.
I am getting married next October and we are doing a fall theme to our wedding, our colors are going to be orange, burgandy and chocolate brown. Does anyone have any suggestions on what kind of candy we should use for our candy buffet? Also where does everyone purchase their candy from? I was thinking about Costco or Sams, but if anyone knows of a website or other place that is good I would appreciate the info.
I would totally use Halloween candy, like candy corn, reese’s peanut butter cups, etc. I wouldn’t necessarily order the “gross” candy, but there’s plenty of halloween-themed candy that would work!
What about using the foil covered chocolates in different shapes (leaf) that they sell in the fall? They come in brown, bronze, orange, red, etc. you could seperate & use what you need.
I’ve never seen those, where would I get the leaf shaped ones? That would be an awesome additon.
Jenn, check these out:
* fall chocolate leaves
Wow, thanks for the link, those are really cute. I think we might get some. I have another question for everyone, What is the biggest candy buffet anyone has done? How many different kinds of candy? We have a list of candy that we would like but I think it would be WAAY too much and we are having problems trying to narrow it down.
Hi Guys! My wedding is May 16th, and I have a peacock themed wedding. The colors are mostly jewel toned. I have 8 big apothecary jars. I have a few questions. How much candy do you think I will need (There is about 400 guests (I know it is huge), and should I put the bags on everyones table setting or should i have them taken out by the candy jar…Im not sure…Im doing the candy buffet my self..I’ve never seen one done so any advice would be great! Thanks guys!
I got married this past Saturday and I have some pictures from the candy buffet. I will post our photographer’s pictures when we receive them. Thank you everyone for helping us. All of our guests loved the idea and loved it. I kept hearing about it all night.
Here are some additional pictures of my buffet.
This is Holli from Everyday Hollidays. This is adorable. I love “over the top” and this is overthetop!! Great job! I’ll bet your guests loved it.
Thank you Holli. It turned out much better than I thought it was. Of course I didn’t think I had enough of anything. I’m still trying to find that one picture that shows the entire table well. People are still talking about the candy buffet and they absolutely loved it. It was the talk of the reception. The place we had our reception said they had seen buffets before but nothing like that. So that made me feel good. It was so much fun! Thanks again.
Hey jennifer, my name is sarah i am planning a wedding this coming september and we are having a candy buffet as well.Yours is GREAT! I was wondering where you got your vases? I exspecially like the big bubble one with the m&m’s in it!.
Hi, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that you responded to mine. Anyway, I got the bubble one from Ross’s. I just happned to walk by and see it. They were on sale and I thought it would be cool for M&Ms. A lot of my vases I just kept going to Ross’s TJMaxx and places like that. When I saw one, I purchased it. I bought the really big ones at TJMaxx on sale and all in all they cost me between 5 – 10 dollars.
Please let me know if you have any questions. What state are you in?
thanks jennifer! i live in ohio and i did find a few at tjmax and marshells. would you be interest in selling any of yours?
Jennifer!!! Your candy buffet is super cute!! I an getting married in august 2009 and I would like to do a candy buffet. Can you tell me what your “over the top” buffet cost? Candy price mostly. Also where did you get the wording? “C-a-n-d-y B-u-f-f-e-t” and “kisses” so creative!!!
Thanks!! PS my colors is purple with hints of pink and green so any suggestions would be aewsome!
Hi Stefanie,
Honestly, I spent way too much on it and I have tons of candy and popcorn left over. The candy wasn’t all that expensive really. I’ll go back through my records and let you know exactly what I spent. I had approximately 150 people at the wedding. And I have a bin left over that I can’t even lift full of candy.
I got all of the wording and letters at Michael’s. I painted the Candy Buffet lettering myself based on my “circle” theme.
Let me think on your colors. If you want to send me an email, I can respond with all of my prices, where I bought them and everything else. My email address is windpooh2@verizon.net
Thanks
Jennifer
Hi Jennifer,
I saw the pics of ur candy buffet and i think its amazing. Im getting married in Feb 2009 and bought my vases and some decorations so far. I was wondering if you can email me and respond with the prices also and also where you bought all of your candy. I would be sooooo happy if mine turns out looking anything like urs did. My email is smalwndr22@aol.com. THanks
WOW! Your candy buffet was beautiful. Where did you get the scoopers?
Hi All!!
Thanks SO much for the great ideas!! I have read several comments/questions on how to ‘introduce’ the candy buffet at the reception……at the suggestion of my planner (who, by the way, was sent straight from heaven!!) we are planning to “hide” the buffet behind one of those draped/decorated changing screens until after the meal is served…..hopefully this will keep the candy jars filled a little longer!
We hid the buffet until after the dinner. It worked out really well and people were so surprised and thrilled with all the candy (the photos of my buffet are on this site already for some reason…they are the bottom three photos) We also rented a cotton candy machine. But we had an entire candy-themed wedding. It was awesome and everyone loved it. Good luck with yours!
Hi All!
I got married last weekend and it was awesome! We had a fantastic Blue & Green Candy buffet. The pro pics aren’t ready yet but I have the pics of the trial run I did the week before. This website was a huge help!
I am now trying to SELL the containers!
Almost all were purchased new and all have only been used once.
Prices vary depending on size and original price but basically I was thinking along the lines of $1 to $3 for small, $4 to $6 for medium and $7 to $12 for large. When asking for specific prices, please refer to specific item in the below photos.
If you are planning on buying several containers, make an offer or we can agree on a discounted price.
(P.S. I have further pics of individual containers available if needed.)
Email me for any further questions: riotgirl1267@yahoo.com
I am in the NW IN are, near Chicago. Pick up would be best but I can ship as well. Above prices do NOT include shipping.
Can’t wait to hear from you girls! Thanks for all your ideas and advice while I was planning!
Hi all
Im look for jars or anything that I can put candy in, Im having a baby shower for my daughter and want to have a candy buffet there. This is something that no one has done yet so I want to be the first
Here are some pictures to our candy buffet.
Where did you get these letters? They are adorable..the perfect touch!
I bought them at Michaels. I painted them and put sticky rhinestones I found at Michaels also
Our wedding 20/09/2008
Hello
I have never posted here but I used this site to help plan the candy buffet for my Michigan wedding back in May. I found this site bookmarked in my wedding section under favorites and I am trying to clear some of those out now that the wedding was over. Since others helped me so much I thought I would post to possibly others.
We had such GREAT success with our candy buffet. We still get compliments on it and people say they are telling friends how awesome it was! We set it up the day before (all the sealed candy) and then my mom set up the unsealed candy before the reception began. We had one of my friends play “candy hostess” and kept re-filling things through the night as need be. I didn’t mean for it to be open before dinner, but people went right to it and filled their containers. We used the Chinese containers from Paper mart and I made my own labels. I also used ribbon and tired a bow on the handle. One of the places we got candy from was in MI at a cute little mom and pop store (I like to support these), Rau’s Country Store. They were great to work with and had a lot of candy I was looking for. They carry a lot of nostalgia candy. We used them for taffy, swizzle sticks, stick candy and gummies. They even cute me a deal since I was ordering so much. Otherwise I used Sam’s club and got Valentine candy as my colors were pink orange and green.
I actually got a lot of my containers shopping thrift stores with my mom. TGMAXX and Michael’s also had a great selection. We put labels out with what candy was so that people knew if they were getting something sour or really sweet and people really appreciated that. My scoops came from a Kitchen Outlet store (I don’t remember the name). Hope this helps!
Would you be willing to sell your candy jars??
Hi! This is Patty from SimplyCandyBuffets in Illinois! Last weekend we did a large wedding in purple and ivory and thought I would share the photo’s. Hope you enjoy!
Oh My Goodness!!!! Patty this is breathtaking!! Absolutely Amazing! Its perfect to be honest and an example of just what I was looking for!! The table used for the buffet, was it a 10 or 12 ft table, and how many jars did you use? Also, I noticed that all of the jars have tags, do they just have the bride and grooms name on them. And I also noticed you have a little sign up for “hugs and kisses from the mr and mrs” Luv it! where there any other signs you had up? Oh and how did this couple introduce their candy table, like some others, I am using the candy as their favors. I am so nervous about my candy buffet table, in case you couldnt tell with all the questions. Thank you soo much Patty for all that you have contributed to this page!!
Thank you Kristin!
It was beautiful! If we’re not using a round table, we always use a 9 foot table. This event was at a Country Club but most Venues use three, 3 foot square tables put together with the tablescapes/linens on top. We always get 2 linens so we can put risers and elevate the candy on different levels. I think for this one, I used 21 different containers. And yes, every scoop and jar is ribboned and customized to the event. Candy Buffets are so hot right now, we do 3-4 Buffets every week between Bar Mitzvahs, Holiday Parties, Corporate Events, Weddings, Rehearsal dinners, Showers, and Birthday Parties. The biggest mistake I see people make when they do their own is they have too large a table! People tend to think a longer table is more accessible for their guests. That is not true. Even weddings we do for 300-350, we still use a 9 foot table and crowd it with sweets and treats so it really has that “Wow” factor when your guests arrive. When is the table opened? When dessert is served! Most people want the table to be a take home favor. Though the Candy Buffet is visable duing the entire event, usually the DJ or announcer will announce in the beginning of the wedding, that though the Candy Buffet may look like some serious eye candy (LOL) it will be opened when dessert is served. We ususally don’t put the take away bags out untill then. People are oooh and aweing it all evening. I guarantee you, if it is done right, your guests will be talking about it long after your event is over! Hope that helps Kristin. Good Luck!
Hi Patty,
I am just getting into the candy buffet business down in Miami, FL and was wondering if you could help with a few questions! Do you provide your own table and linens or does the venue help you with those? How do you know how much candy you need for a certain amount of people? And what size baggies do you use? Thanks in advance, any help would be greatly appreciated!!!
Patty that is awesome….do you have any pics. of your Halloween parties? If so, please forward those to me @ trryser@aol.com. or post them to this thread. I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE it.
For all of you needing pink M&M’s, I was at Sam’s Club yesterday and they had 56 oz. bags of pink Susan Koman M&M’s. They had peanut and regular. I think the price was $7.88 per bag. My daughter’s wedding planner says you can freeze them and they stay fresh. Does anyone know anything about how long you can freeze them? I had planned on buying some around Valentine’s day, but I really only need the pink ones, not the red.
I am doing a baby shower, and the theme is all white. It will be for around 60 guests. Can someone please suggest how many different kinds of candy I should get and which ones? Also where can I get great vases for the display?
Thank you!
Hi Emily, if you haven’t already, take a good look at google images for white candy buffets, there are many beautiful pics there full of display ideas for an all-white. OK, you said white, but look at the layering in the black and white buffet pic there and imagine how lovely that would look with very light baby pastels against white.
With white it is really important to mix up your containers and levels and add lots of visual interest that way since you won’t have bright colors to catch the eye. Also silver candies can look really nice in all-white buffets.
You can find the old fashioned round jars with glass lids and the candy jars with silver lids at Walmart in the kitchen section with cannisters (at least that is where they are at the ones in my area). If you want some pretty, daintier looking pieces try TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and Tuesday Mornings. They have good prices on their pieces and you never know what you’ll find there! I am still looking for different containers and have found several that are interesting at Walmart in the vase and floral department areas. They seem to be reasonably priced as compared to other stores. I haven’t looked at Michael’s yet, by several people have said they found the martini glasses reasonable there. Good luck!
Emily,
I am in the process of planning my Feb ’09 wedding and am doing a candy bar…I have picked up numerous designs of vases and bowls from various places. Check The Christmas Tree Shop, the Dollar Store, Walmart, Target, Michaels, Ac Moore, Marshalls…you will find all varieties at cheap prices. Look on the sale racks too. Sometimes they have great containers as well. For an added effect, I am wrapping ribbon that matches my colors around the dishes. I am also putting cookies on the table. There is so much that you can do with this idea!
Happy planning.
Nicole
Hi, I really love candy buffets and want to get into the business. Can someone help with where do I start? I like the old fashioned glass jars, but have had trouble finding them. any help would be greatly appreciated!
Google Apothecary jars and you will get tons of searches. You can also go to Marshall’s, TJ Max, Michaels, Macys to get good deals on nice jars.
I am doing a CandyLand Party for my 8 year old daughter and have found nice jars at all the listed stores. Good Luck! Great business : – ) I love it!
Hi,
I noticed that your comment said you were planning a CandyLand party for your daughter. My youngest daughter is turning 7 in Feb. and has decided on having a candy themed party. I was wondering how your party turned out, if you could give me any pointers, how much candy did you need, how many containers, anything that you think would be helpful. I would love to see any pictures if you have them. Did you make a cake or have one made? I am planning on making one myself and am just starting to look at ideas. I was so excited to see your post. I see so many posts about weddings, but yours was the first I saw about a child’s party.
Thank you,
Valerie
San Diego, CA
Valerie, check out this candyland party guide, it’s tailored to sweet 16s but I think it has some good tips on decorating for this theme for any age.