Have you ever thought about including a candy buffet at your wedding reception? As the ideas of providing a candy buffet for guests become more of a reality, this new trend for wedding receptions begins to appear at more and more receptions and party events. If you think about it, it's not a bad idea as we found out at our last wedding we had organized. You would of thought that all the kids would have been standing in line for those sweet treats, but actually, it was young and old alike. Each of the guests eyeing the candy jar of their favorite candy displayed for the temptation. Coming back not only once or twice, but several times to satisfy their sweet tooth after the reception dinner.

Candy buffets are easy to plan and put in place at your event.  First choose the type of candies you will include on the candy buffet table. There are so many types of candy you can provide from snack size candy bars, MM's, gum drops, to even more gourmet like Lindt truffles to Ghirardelli chocolate squares or retro candy to bring back memories from the older generation. You can choose your selections to reflect the season or holiday time, or color coordinate your candy selections by your color scheme of your wedding reception or party event, or even by the theme of your event. If you're having a winter event, work with light blues and silver, a fall event may include browns, golds, reds or oranges, spring or summer wedding event, you may choose pastel colored candy or even Easter candy may be a sure delight if your event falls around The Easter holiday.

Once you have selected the types of candy, you'll need to get a jars based on the size of your candy. With such a large variety of jars available, you can find many in unique shapes and sizes that can give your candy buffet table an absolute gorgeous appearance. Choose clear glass jars so your guests can see what you have to offer. Jars are inexpensive unless you go straight for fine crystal, and you know what the costs can be with crystal! You can find a variety of designs at craft stores like Michaels or places like Ikea. Don't forget to get jars that are large enough in diameter you can use a candy scoop or tongs for serving the candy.

Now that you have decided on the type of candy and the jars you are going to use, it's time for the decorations of the table.  There are several ideas for decorations but the first should be the table cover. The best type of table to use is a rectangle, whether a 6 foot or a 8 foot table works the best, this way, when serving , the attendant isn't going around the table to get to the guests their desired candy. One decoration idea that really has the focus on the buffet is using lighting.

• LED rope lighting around or strung on top of the table is one idea, string lighting can give the same appeal as well.
• Candles or even a candle centerpiece will give a low ambiance of light.
• Another idea as seen in the picture is using a can light above to focus on the entire candy table and area. This works well when the lighting is low at the wedding reception and the guests can see what you have to offer in each of the candy jars.
• Other decoration ideas are using ribbon and making a bow on the jars, or spread the ribbon around the table. If you are using a couple of different colors as your wedding color scheme, use the 2 colors of ribbon for the table. Spread flower petals around the table or maybe fall leaves for a fall themed event, snowflakes or small ornaments for a winter or holiday event.
• As shown in the picture, the Love Is Sweet was made as part of the decoration and also as a themed for the candy buffet. We used letters, dow rods and the stand which was purchased at the craft store, then used rhinestones on each of the letters. The rhinestones had a brilliant sparkle from the can lighting that added to the presentation.

Candy buffets are very popular for weddings but have caught the attention for many other types of events. Candy buffets are also popular for Birthday parties, holiday events , anniversaries, baby showers and bridal showers. Whatever event you choose to display and entice your guests to the sweet tastes of candy, they'll sure enjoy the temptation for the sweet tooth cure.