Sweet Success! 4 Wedding Cake and Dessert Table Décor Styles

How can you sweeten your wedding flower sales? Try starting with dessert first! Wedding cake and desserts tables are quickly becoming the focal area of a reception. Offer a flourish of fresh flower add-ons to add visual interest and help bump up the budget. Which table décor colors and styles will tempt your wedding couples? Consider these innovative designs.

2020 Color Trends

2020 color trend projections include four popular color harmonies – orange, black and white, pink, and purple. OASIS Midnight Floral Foam is the perfect black backdrop for these bold hues. Oasis Floral Products, sponsored “Sweet Success” at this year’s Florida State Florist Association convention. I presented fresh flower ideas for selling dessert table décor in 2020 colors. Hilverda De Boer provided gorgeous Dutch flowers for the four floral vignettes. How can these fruity colors help sweeten the look of your wedding designs?

Icing on the cake

Fresh cakes and sweet treats were added to the dessert tables during the program. Afterwards the audience enjoyed the delicious desserts. When placing flowers on a cake

• Ask your cake baker to provide a small container of icing.
• Use ‘globs’ of icing in the places where you want to add flowers.
• Insert flower stems into the icing without touching the cake.
• Remove icing and flowers with a cake spatula before serving cake.

What four styles of décor were used for the sweet treat tables?

1. Orange tablescape

An easy to assemble tablescape decorated the orange table. The Ombre cake with apricot-champagne filling from Incredible Edible Cakes completed the look. How was the tablescape designed? Create the form

• Soak the Sealed Brick Garland in water with flower food; drain.
• Lay a sheet of clear plastic onto table to protect from dripping water.
• Lay two rows of garland side-by-side, alternating spaces.
• Connect with bamboo skewers or hyacinth sticks.
• Fill spaces with moss or other natural materials.

Add layers

• Insert a layer of form flowers such as anthuriums into the foam.
• Position a layer of birch (or other) branches over the garland and flowers.
• Lay half of the sticks in opposite directions so tips point out at both ends.
• Cover the design with a long piece of floral mesh.

Insert flowers

• Insert flower stems through the branches and mesh into the foam.
• Run fingers softly down mini calla stems to break the fibers.
• Insert the calla stem into the foam and bend forward gently.

The height of the E + E branch bowl from Accent Décor offered a perfect juxtaposition to the long and low floral tablescape. The fox and rabbit E + E dish stands, and matching napkin rings complimented the natural theme.

2. Black and white spheres and rings

Customizing themes or designs to fit personal taste helps to increase to the potential of a sale. This black wooden bar with mirrored accents rental from A Chair Affair is the perfect backdrop for a masculine sweet treat station. Chocolate was the theme of Donna’s Dream Cakes’ orchid-dressed cake, cookies, brownies and chocolate-covered strawberries to the delighted audience when served. Some guys prefer salty snacks so you might suggest

• Apothecary jars filled with a variety of nuts.
• Wooden racks holding large, chewy salted pretzels.
• Chocolate dipped pretzel sticks standing up in glass vases.
• A ‘chips bar’ of acrylic boxes filled with a variety of potato chips.
• Metal tins of gourmet popcorn in popular flavors.

Short garlands were hung on the back of director’s chairs to mark the couple’s seats. Small IGLUs wired to each end with bind wire providing a water-source for adding flowers. Loops of Midollino add black accent. Twinkling lights highlight this Fern Trust salal garland. Midnight spheres atop a Midnight design tray and white cake stand add fresh flowers décor.

3. Pink garland

A soft-textured floral runner of delicate flowers enhances the hot pink table. Candle tapers are on-trend once again. What size candles should you use to light the table, environment, or atmosphere of a room? Find out in this video -Which Candle Length? Midnight Floral Foam Tiles are cable-tied together to create a floral runner for the pink fabric-draped 48-inch table. Prep the materials

• Lay a sheet of clear plastic onto table to protect from dripping water.
• Place plastic on the floor at the table sides to catch water drips.
• Add a row of waterproof tape around the foam tiles for extra security.
• Drill small holes ¾ inch in on the open drain lines on each side.
• Pre-soak with flower-food-filled water; drain.

Create the form

• Place two tiles atop the table. Connect with 8-inch black cable ties.
• Add one tile to each side of the table. Cable-tie each into place.

Fill with flowers

• Choose a variety of flower shapes to fill in the runner.
• Cut stems short. Alternate flower heights to create depth.
• Position the flowers straight into the foam so flowers face up.
• Put in one flower variety at a time for even distribution.
• Any black foam showing becomes part of the artistry.

Follow with flower care

• Apply Floralock to lock the flowers into the foam securely.
• Mist with Finishing Touch or Crowning Glory for freshness.
• Cut away any plastic that might be showing around the edges.

Luscious Grubby Cakes cookies, cake pops, and petit fours were added to make this truly a sweet treat table. Apothecary jars filled with colorful candies were used as well.

 4. Purple cake table

A four-tiered cake featuring purple icing accents and flowers sat atop a mirrored table from A Chair Affair. Two fresh flower wreaths and a mirrored cake stand elevate the cake. A garden of purple flowers incircle the table at its base. What design steps are required? Create the form

• Pre-soak 21 and 24-inch wreaths and six Tribute cages. Drain.
• Place the 24-inch wreath on table. Stack 21-inch wreath on top.
• Add mirrored cake stand (or other style) to the center.
• Line up six (or more) Tributes on the workbench for design.

Fill with flowers

• Fill the wreaths with flowers of varying lengths for depth.
• Fill the line of Tributes with vertical arrangements.
• Place the six arrangements on the floor around the table.

Place the cake on the stand

• Add icing on the cake to tuck flowers in.

  When the Cake and Bake 4-tiered cake was placed on its stand, I completed the design for the audience. How can these designs be incorporated in your wedding sales plan? Which of these four designs would you like to see created in a presentation or video?