100 Wedding Dessert Table Ideas If You’re On A Budget (DIY)
If you are looking for gorgeous wedding dessert table ideas on a budget, you have come to the right place!
I have photographed over 200 weddings where the couple went with a dessert table instead of a wedding cake, and I wanted to share some of the best DIY table setups I have seen.
Enjoy!
Feel free to read the entire article or use these links to go right to the section you are looking for:
- DIY wedding dessert table ideas
- Cheap dessert ideas
- Dessert table inspiration photos
- Simple dessert displays
- Where to buy the cheapest wedding desserts
DIY Wedding Dessert Table Ideas That Are Easy And Affordable
Some couples I have worked with impressed me with their DIY skills in creating a beautiful wedding dessert table.
Here are a few of my favorites from the past few years (all of the photos on this page were taken by me):
Cheap Dessert Ideas For Your Wedding Reception
Here is a list of some of the desserts I often see at weddings that you can get for pretty cheap:
- Cupcakes (Walmart or Sam’s Club)
- Cookies (Homemade or warehouse stores)
- Macaroons (Costco)
- Mini cheesecake bites/squares (Sam’s Club)
- Brownies
- Mini pies (Walmart)
- Cake pops
- Chocolate-dipped pretzel sticks
- Doughnuts (check your local bakery for bulk deals)
- Bulk candy
- Dessert shooters
- Whoopie pies
- Ice cream bar
- Parfaits
And there are over a dozen flavors for each of those dessert ideas on the list.
If you are going to do a dessert table at your wedding, fill it with the stuff you love.
Put some personality into your dessert table.
More Wedding Dessert Table Ideas
Here are a few more wedding dessert tables that I have photographed over the past few years:
Simple and Affordable Wedding Dessert Table Ideas
Your wedding dessert table does not need to cost a lot of money or include big, elaborate setups.
Here are a few ideas that our readers have shared:
Easy Ways To Make A Wedding Dessert Table Look More Expensive
Here are a few tips that our readers shared with us on how they made their wedding dessert table looked nice without spending a lot of money:
“We used upside-down bowls and trays to add height to our dessert display. It was super easy and made a huge difference.”
“I borrowed some fancy serving dishes from my grandma for our wedding desserts. They looked elegant and saved us money!”
“We wrapped string lights around some branches for our dessert area. It looked like a fairytale and cost almost nothing.”
Frequently Asked Questions About Wedding Dessert Tables
What is the cheapest dessert that you can serve at a wedding?
The cheapest dessert to serve at a wedding is mini cheesecake squares from Sam’s Club ($0.28 per serving) or homemade cookies.
Costco’s sheet cakes are delicious and affordable (around $0.41 per serving). The cakes that Costco makes are probably the best I have ever tasted. Amazing!
The mini pies from Walmart are also a cheap dessert option. They are marked at $0.75 each, but I often see them for $0.50 per pie. There are eight different flavors to choose from.
Where can you buy cheap desserts for a wedding?
The best places to find cheap desserts that still taste amazing are places like:
- Costco: An excellent place for macaroons, cheap sheet cake, and other small desserts in bulk.
- Sam’s Club: Cupcakes for as low as $0.53 each, delicious cakes, cheesecake bites ($0.28 each), bulk candy, and many other mini-desserts
- Walmart: Their mini pies are a great dessert option ($0.50-$0.75 each)
- BJ’s Wholesale Club: A great club to find mini desserts like cookies and brownies (bulk candy too)
Is a wedding dessert table cheaper than a cake?
A wedding dessert table is cheaper than a traditional wedding cake since you can make many of the desserts yourself (cookies, cupcakes, etc.). But if you don’t need a cake to display, a cake from Costco is just as cheap (or even cheaper) than an entire dessert table.
More Wedding Planning Resources and Tips
Here are a few more posts that you might find helpful while planning your wedding:
