What's for dessert?

Our reception menu has been a process, as one would expect... this is a party for 120 people after all! We knew we wanted it to be casual in feel, but downright tasty. It should be a meal people talk about afterwards, but one we can afford. We are stoked with the menu that has evolved, and while the cocktail hour menu still needs a bit of tweaking, the Cajun feast we have planned is gonna rock the socks off our guests!! But, when the meal has been served, the dishes passed, the bones sucked dry, and the wet-nap used, the end to the meal has to be similarly fun, interactive, and meaningful. Yup, the dessert has got to pack some punch ladies!!

We knew long before we had a menu planned, that we would not have a traditional wedding cake, and while cupcakes are cute and occasionally tasty, they really don't do it for either of us. Baking is a family treat, a pass-the-ice-cream-it's-nana's-pie experience, not simply a sweet treat you order at the end of the meal. Our families have got some ladies who can cook. I mean, eyes-roll-to-the-back-of-your-head gooooood cookin!! My aunt learned the art of fine chocolates from Bernard Callebaut himself (that's THE chocolate guy out here in Alberta), my grandma makes the best berry crumble I have ever eaten, and my nana, well, let's face it, cooking for 6 kids plus all of us 27+ grandkids has got her into the swing of things... pies are her trademark, but personally, I love her sex-in-a-pan the best!! My man's side is Danish, so the baking is a whole new world, and his favorites, by his grandma, are waffle cookies (they have this delicious icing in the middle of two waffle-like pastries... soooo good!!), and his aunt has been known to bake a traditional Danish wedding cake.

Danish wedding cake found here

So, it soon became clear that we a) wanted to represent the women in our lives who have baked their way into our culinary memories; b) wanted a variety of desserts for our guest to enjoy; and c) didn't want to be paying our caterer to mass produce a generic dessert as the fourth course in a pre-set meal! The DESSERT BUFFET became an obvious choice, and our moms, aunts, and grandmas became the chefs of choice... it is them, after all, that have the expertise, the recipes, and most importantly, the heart that they could pour into our dessert course, making for sweet treats that meant a lot to us, and hopefully to our guests!!

Some of my favorite dessert buffet shots were found over at Snippet and Ink:

from here

from here

from here

and a couple of my downright favorites:

from here and here

I love the fruit plate in the last picture... probably wouldn't have considered fruit, but hello, totally makes sense!!

Check back for a line-up of our confirmed dessert sponsors!! PS... what would be your favorite dessert item to snack on over a wedding slide show?? Light and juicy, or chocolaty and rich??