i’m matt james

professional event producer

  • 27 years event-planning experience
  • Winner of 30 industry awards
  • Clients include:
  • Elton John,
  • Stella McCartney,
  • Sarah Jessica Parker,
  • Kevin Spacey……and more

welcome

Matt James professional event planner
CONTENTS

ON THIS PAGE

01 Dessert table menu planning

Important factors to consider when designing your dessert table menu

'Contains Nuts' allergy warning food pick
a selection of desserts on a party dessert table
'These are a few of my favorite things' themed birthday party dessert table
cheese, fruit, and nuts as a savory option for a party dessert table

02 tips to maximize budget

Tips and tricks to stretch your budget further

square cakes served on individual mini tasting plates
home made cookies on a cooling rack and baking tray next to a spatula
desserts served in premium disposable tasting bowls
macarons with dessert sauce served in individual disposable food pipettes

03 dessert table quantities

How many different desserts you should offer and how many to allow per person

a variety of different mini desserts on cake stands on a party dessert table
3 different mini desserts on a plate
a variety of different mini desserts on a party dessert table
a variety of different mini desserts on a party dessert table
in this section

01 dessert table menu design

summary
  • Decide whether to cater to your guests tastes; what you think THEY will enjoy,
  • or to reflect your own personality e.g ‘These are a few of my favorite things’,
  • or a combination of both.
  • Your dessert table menu should consider both feeding AND entertaining people.
  • While the majority (70%) should be crowd-pleasing ‘safe-bet’ options; familiar, palatable, and popular treats, intended to feed,
  • Remaining 30% should be there to entertain your guests; surprise them, treat them, impress them, share experiences with them, and even help them discover new things.
  • Split this into:
  • 10% ‘a few of my favorite things’ that reflect your own personality and tastes,
  • 10% eye-catching treats that add visual flair and wow-factor, and
  • 10% quirky, unfamiliar, adventurous treats and unusual flavor combinations.
  • Consider what dietary restrictions you’ll accommodate, e.g vegan, kosher, diabetic, nut-free etc.
  • If guests have only had a light meal prior, choose filling options such as cakes and pastries.
  • Whereas if they’ve been well-fed, include choose lighter options such as pudding, mousse, candy, fruit, and smaller ‘bite-size’ treats.
  • Consider some savory options, such as cheese and crackers, salty treats, and savory popcorn, for diabetics or those that don’t like sweets.
  • Draw up a shortlist to ensure you have a variety of dessert types and textures.
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MATT’S TIPs

Matt James professional event planner
advice from a pro

catering to your guests’ tastes

  • When designing your dessert table menu, there are two ways to approach it; cater to your guests’ tastes or reflect your own.
  • Professional event planners design menus that put the tastes of their guests first.
  • It’s about providing an experience that THEY will enjoy, which may not necessarily be the same choices we’d make for ourselves.
  • If I’m planning a corporate event for a group of middle-aged lawyers, I’m not going to serve the same type of food as I would to a group of twenty and thirty-something tech workers.
  • Corporate lawyers are typically conservative and the older and more affluent the crowd, the more sophisticated the palette.
  • So, if I were choosing hors d’oeuvres, I’d probably opt for a more refined menu with approx. 80% ‘safe’, traditional, or ‘finest’ ingredients that suggest quality,
  • e.g steak, lobster, salmon, duck, game, seafood, asparagus, truffle etc,
  • combined with approx. 20% more adventurous, quirky, or unusual options that draw on exotic ingredients, unusual flavors, or global cuisines.
  • Whereas younger tech executives are a more diverse crowd that demand adventurous and challenging options.
  • Food for them is more about fun and discovery, so they are open to trying daring, unexpected, or ‘on trend’ dishes;
  • think international street food, hybrid creations such as ‘Cronuts’, quirky flavor combinations, and fashionable ingredients.
  • So, for this type of crowd I’d probably design for more of a 70% adventurous versus 30% ‘safe’ split of menu options.
  • The principle is the same when designing a dessert table menu for your own event.
  • If you’re planning a baby shower for a crowd of green-tea drinking yoga moms,
  • then you’ll probably want to lean away from too many processed or sugary treats,
  • and more towards healthier alternatives, natural ingredients, and some gluten free options.
  • Similarly, for a 70th birthday party, where most of the guests might be older,
  • you’ll probably want to ease off things like hard candy, exotic / adventurous flavors, or juvenile treats such as cotton candy, candy apples, and Rice Krispie treats, ,
  • and skew more towards softer treats and classic ‘safe-bet’ desserts and flavors, such as donuts, brownies, puddings, macarons, and mini apple pies.
  • Obviously, I’m using sweeping generalizations to illustrate a point,
  • but hopefully these examples will help you focus in on who your guests are and what they’re most likely to enjoy,
  • when designing your dessert table menu.
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a selection of desserts on a party dessert table
ADVICE FROM A PRO

matt’s tip

  • Guests typically judge the success of an event by the food.
  • You might have the coolest venue, most amazing décor, and breath-taking entertainment, but if the food is bad, that’s all guests will talk about!
  • We all know that feeling when we’ve been out to restaurant and didn’t enjoy the food; it ruins the entire experience.
  • Regardless of how friendly the staff were, how beautiful interior design, or how buzzy the atmosphere.
  • So, if you want your guests to like, share, discuss, and leave your party content,
  • I recommend accommodating their tastes and needs when designing your dessert table menu.
Matt James professional event planner
advice from a pro

a few of my favorite things

  • Alternatively, you could take the opposite approach and design your menu to reflect your own / the guest of honor’s tastes.
  • On paper, this might sound a little inconsiderate to the wants and needs of your guests,
  • but it can actually be a lovely way of sharing your favorite desserts and flavors with friends and family;
  • inviting them into ‘your world’ and perhaps giving them an opportunity to discover new things they wouldn’t ordinarily choose themselves.
  • This option is particularly appropriate for weddings, where the happy couple can really imprint their own identities or theme onto the menu,
  • or for birthdays, where it’s all about celebrating the the guest of honor.
  • A goth rock chick friend of mine had Jack Daniels-infused, black frosted cupcakes adorned with bejeweled crucifixes at her wedding
  • A goth rock chick friend of mine had Jack Daniels-infused, black frosted cupcakes adorned with bejeweled crucifixes at her wedding—which was definitely ‘on-brand’.
  • You can also make a feature of your menu choices with a ‘These are a few of my favorite things’ printable sign, to really highlight the intention behind your choices. 
  • Check out the photo in the carousel for a great example by Tammy Mutter from Meghily’s that she created for her grandma’s 98th birthday.
  • For similar printable signs, click on the links in the caption under each photo.
  • Of course, you can always combine both these approaches by tailoring some of the menu choices to what you think your guests will most enjoy,
  • but then including a section (or one entire side) of the dessert table to ‘a few of my favorite things’.
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advice from a pro

Feeding v entertaining

  • When designing your dessert table menu, remember that feeding people is only one objective.
  • Food is also used to entertain; to treat your guests, surprise them, indulge them, impress them, share experiences with them, and perhaps even help them discover new things.
  • So, while you’ll want the majority of your choices to be ‘safe-bet’ crowd-pleasing options;
  • familiar, palatable, popular treats likely to be enjoyed by most people,
  • I recommend also including a number of quirky, unusual, or visually-arresting treats whose purpose is to entertain.
  • When people attend events, they have a different attitude towards food than they would if they were going out to a restaurant.
  • They’re much more open to trying something new or adventurous.
  • In fact, they’re often looking to be impressed―or even challenged―by something unexpected; something they haven’t seen before or might not ordinarily try.
  • Maybe it’s because there are typically other options available if they don’t like something, or maybe it’s just because they’re not paying!
  • Either way, so long as it isn’t mandatory or too overwhelming, party guests typically like to be surprised.
  • And, regardless of whether they love it or hate it,
  • it’s the unusual elements that create talking points and photo ops,
  • and are ultimately what guests remember.
  • So, I recommend splitting your dessert table menu into:
  • 70% crowd-pleasing, popular, treats intended to feed.
  • 10% quirky, unfamiliar, adventurous treats and unusual flavor combinations.
  • 10% eye-catching treats that add visual flair and wow-factor.
  • 10% ‘my favorite things’ that reflect yours/ the guest of honor’s tastes.
  • Lastly, be sure to sprinkle a few personalized treats throughout these categories,
  • such as personalized candy or custom photo cookies / macarons / marshmallows etc.
  • Check out my ideas for each of these categories on my Dessert Table Food Ideas page.
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advice from a pro

allergies & dietary restrictions

  • Consider to what degree you’re prepared to accommodate the many and varied allergies, intolerances, and dietary restrictions common today.
  • You can invite guests to notify you of any dietary restrictions in advance,
  • but I’d suggest just focusing on common life-threatening allergens, such as nuts,
  • popular lifestyle choices, such as vegan,
  • or religious restrictions, such as Kosher.
  • Additionally, with more than 25% of the US population aged 65+ suffering from diabetes,
  • I’d also consider some appropriate desserts for those on a low-sugar diet if you’re expecting a large number of older guests.
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'Contains Nuts' allergy warning food pick
For custom food labels see here
ADVICE FROM A PRO

matt’s tip

  • Rather than asking guests an open-ended question, such as ‘Dietary Restrictions_______’ with space to write in their answer,
  • I would recommend you use a ‘tick-box’ style list naming just the ones you’re prepared to accommodate, such as Vegan, Kosher, Diabetic, Nut Allergy etc.
  • Otherwise, you’ll have guests writing in every possible type of trending diet-du-jour,
  • many of which are often just ‘preferences’ or ‘intolerances’ rather than serious allergens.
  • I’ve lot count of the number of times guests have insisted they’re allergic to something, then have been quite happy to tuck into a tasty-looking dish with that ingredient,
  • claiming ‘it’s OK for me to have just a little of it’.
Matt James professional event planner
advice from a pro

heavy v light options

  • I’ll discuss quantities and how many of each item to order later on this page,
  • but when designing your dessert table menu, consider what guests will have been served as the ‘main meal’ prior to dessert.
  • If they’ve had a seated or buffet dinner, they’re likely to have been reasonably well-fed with components / sides such as pasta, rice, potato, fries, bread, etc.
  • So then you might want less carb-heavy desserts, such as cupcakes, donuts, pastries, and pies,
  • and more lighter options like pudding, mousse, chocolate, candy, fruit, Jell-O, and smaller ‘bite-size’ treats.
  • Conversely, if they’ve had a lighter meal prior, or it’s a ‘drinks & desserts’ event, then lean more towards the carbs.
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advice from a pro

savory options

  • Don’t forget to include a few savory items too;
  • whether that’s cheese and crackers, salty treats like nuts and pretzels, or savory popcorn.
  • Not everyone is a big fan of sweet things,
  • and these can be a good option to ensure diabetic feel included.
cheese, fruit, and nuts as a savory option for a party dessert table
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Matt James professional event planner
advice from a pro

variety

  • Start by drawing up a shortlist of desserts you might like to serve.
  • Then, in the next section, we’ll use this to consider which treats are going to be:
  • custom orders, store-bought ‘served as is’, store-bought that you embellish, homemade by friends and family, homemade by you, or enhanced by presentation, styling, and creative serving containers,
  • in order to maximize your budget.
  • But before we get to that, examine your shortlist to determine whether you have enough variety of texture and/or type.
  • If you’re not careful, you might find that everything you’ve chosen to serve ends up being cake based.
  • So aim for a good mix of dessert types, such as:
  • Cake: cupcakes, cake pops, cake bites, cakesicles, cake jars, brownies, whoopie pies, madeleines, muffins, wedding / birthday cake etc.
  • Pastries: donuts, pancakes, waffles, pies, tarts, rolls, buns, cookies, eclairs, croissants, danishes, cannoli, baklava pretzels etc.
  • Wet’ desserts: pudding, mousse, cheesecake, panna-cotta, jello, yoghurt etc.
  • Candy / Chocolate: French macarons, lollipops, chocolate truffles, candy bars, fudge, cotton candy, hard candy, marshmallows, sweet popcorn, cookie dough, Turkish delight etc.
  • Fruit: dipped fruit, fruit cups, fruit kabobs, fruit pipettes, fruit & jello, fruit puree & pudding, etc.
  • Savory: cheese, crackers, savory popcorn, pretzels, nuts, wasabi peas, trail mix, bacon treats, etc.
  • This will also help highlight where you’ve got something that will work for everyone; be they vegan, diabetic, gluten-free, nut allergy, etc.
  • Click on any image in the carousel for more info and where to buy that treat,
  • or check out everything on my Dessert Table Food Ideas page.
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ADVICE FROM A PRO

matt’s tip

  • While it might be tempting to pad-out your dessert table with lots of candy buffet-style treats,
  • such as those huge apothecary jars of color-coordinated candy you often see,
  • I can tell you there are ALWAYS massive amounts of these left over at events (some are virtually untouched).
  • They might look great―and I’m all for including some for decoration purposes―but unfortunately, compared to the other delicious treats on offer, they’re just never very popular.
  • If you want to provide some ‘filler’ options, you’re far better off including fun things like gourmet popcorn, marshmallows, personalized candy bars, quirky-flavored cotton candy, or fruit with some fun dips.
Matt James professional event planner
continue to page 2

tips to maximize budget

Click on page 2 below for tips and tricks to stretch your budget further when planning your dessert table menu.

square cakes served on individual mini tasting plates
home made cookies on a cooling rack and baking tray next to a spatula
desserts served in premium disposable tasting bowls
macarons with dessert sauce served in individual disposable food pipettes

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