Wedding experts share 13 dessert and beverage reception trends
By Sara Perez Webber
After the vows, it’s time for the “wows”—when the newlywed couple celebrates their union with friends and family. To help make your wedding receptions in 2024 more memorable than ever, we’ve rounded up ideas from industry experts, who share fun and interesting trends they’re seeing in drinks and desserts (watch this space for part two of this article, listing 12 décor and entertainment reception trends).
Dessert Trends
Personalized Details
Couples continue to thoughtfully personalize each detail of their receptions—including their desserts. “We’ve made cakes with hyper-personal touches like a topper welded by the groom or decorating end-of-the-night cookies with the bride and groom’s silhouettes,” says Laurie Lewis, head baker at Culinary Canvas in St. Louis.
Vintage Cakes
What’s old is new again when it comes to wedding cakes. “Vintage cakes are a huge trend right now,” says Nikki Golden, owner of Nikki Golden Photography, based in St. Augustine, Florida. “One idea that I absolutely adore is replica cakes. Essentially, the couple takes a photo of their parents’ or grandparents’ wedding cake and has someone recreate it. This is a wonderful way to bring in family elements to your wedding.”
According to Culinary Canvas’ Lewis, vintage-style decorative cake elements are popular, such as “decadent, layered frosting (often all white), intricate and varying piping tip patterns and luxe accents, like pearlescent details or lace-inspired decorating work (done by frosting or edible fabric sheets).”
Show Cooking
Another way couples can make their desserts memorable is by helping to make them! One innovative approach—according to Samele Gallorini, owner of Florence, Italy-based Gallorini & Giorgi Events—is to incorporate a millefoglie wedding cake prepared as part of a show-cooking event. A typical Italian wedding cake, a millefoglie “is an ideal choice because it allows for personalization and creativity,” says Gallorini. “During the show-cooking event, the bride and groom can join a professional pastry chef to assemble the layers, add fillings like cream and fruit, and decorate it with a personalized touch, such as their initials or wedding date.”
A Candy “Bar”
Who says dessert can’t come in the form of a drink? Emily Allston, director of events at The Treasury on the Plaza—a historic wedding venue in St. Augustine, Florida—recommends a “Sweettini Bar” as a fun alternative or addition to wedding dessert options: “Couples can choose their favorite candies and theme a series of drinks around them, like a Snickers martini or peanut butter cup martini!”
Clear Cake Tiers
Culinary Canvas has added clear acrylic tiers to a cake, displaying items that tell a story. “We’ve been playing with the idea of ‘something borrowed, old and new,’” says Lewis. For example, says Lewis, the tier (part of a cake decorated in frosting to represent “something blue”) will contain “something borrowed—a family heirloom or sentimental item; something old—a movie ticket from their first date together; something new—flowers native to where they plan on honeymooning.”
Petite Sweets
Many clients of Fabulous Food Fine Catering and Events in Phoenix are choosing their favorite “petite sweets” to serve to guests, after cutting a small ceremonial wedding cake. “For example, we designed assorted crème brûlée spoons for a couple who always share this dessert on their date nights,” says Chantal Hause, owner.
Native and Dried Floral Cake Accents
Couples are also personalizing their cakes through flowers. “We’ve been utilizing native state flowers and wildflowers for cakes, exploring drying florals and using them for a pressed look,” says Culinary Canvas’ Lewis. “We even had a cake made with flowers we handpicked from the groom’s grandpa’s garden to really play into that intimate connection between the couple’s personal lives and coming together as one.”
Vibrant Flavors
Clients of Culinary Canvas aren’t shying away from herbal and even savory flavors when it comes to their wedding cakes, says Lewis. “We’ve been playing with vibrant flavors like blueberry, lavender, subtle herbal flavors like chai, Earl Grey and black tea, as well as more acidic details with lemon, orange and apricot,” she says. “We also think savory cakes will have their moment in 2024 as couples look for ways to make every aspect of their wedding memorable. ‘Savory’ and ‘cake’ usually don’t go in the same sentence, but there are approachable techniques to incorporate the idea, like fresh herbs (rosemary, sage, thyme, etc.), cheese (ricotta, mascarpone, etc.), apple and brie pairings, and caramelized onions.”
Beverage Trends
Drinks with Meaning
Couples are finding clever ways to express their personalities and backgrounds through the drinks served at the reception. “Recently we’ve seen several drinks named in honor of the couple’s furry friends—it’s a great way to include your pets in your special day!” says Allston of The Treasury on the Plaza.
Drinks inspired by the couple’s home states, wedding location and family heritage are another popular choice. “For example, we offer a ‘Welcome to the South Bar,’ with spiked lemonade, sweet tea and other fun Southern flavors,” says Allston, adding that couples who want a Latin flair at their reception may choose a sangria, mojito or margarita bar.
Classic Cocktails
Fabulous Food’s Hause is seeing couples veering away from signature cocktails and toward classic ones. “The go-to classic cocktail for one wedding couple was the old-fashioned, so we offered those from the bar and elevated it with demerara, Luxardo Maraschino cherries and roasted orange peels,” says Hause.
Local Flavors
Adding local flavors easily takes drinks up a notch, notes Matt Foster, beverage consultant for Culinary Canvas: “Making simple syrup with native flowers and herbs in your area—or even plants from the couple’s garden—is an authentic and accessible way to personalize your bar menu.”
Bring on the Bubbly
Beyond the toast, sparkling wines are being requested more commonly as a primary beverage for wedding celebrations, says Melissa Johnson, vice president of Cameron Mitchell Premier Events and Community Relations at Cameron Mitchell Restaurants. Bubbly is in such demand that Cameron Mitchell recently created an exclusive Champagne blend with Piper-Heidsieck to celebrate its 30-year anniversary. Oyster and champagne pairings are an increasingly popular option at weddings, notes Johnson—especially in warmer weather climates and summer months.
Sustainable Swaps
Culinary Canvas’ Foster suggests several ways to help clients make their drink menus more sustainable—a priority for a growing number of couples:
- Savory cocktails—with salty, spicy and umami flavors—are gaining traction, says Foster. “To cut down on waste, savory drinks can be made from the caterer’s kitchen order, like a rhubarb and rosemary spritz or bacon-infused bourbon with basil,” he suggests. Pictured below is Culinary Canvas’ Beet Blaze, with beet juice, ginger, Tanqueray Gin, lime juice, red wine vinegar and habenero crystals.
- Use sugarcane straws to add natural sugar to a cocktail.
- Serve drinks in thrifted glassware, which can be given to guests as mementos and reused.
- Incorporate food that would otherwise go to waste into the bar selections. For example, says Foster, citrus peels “can be crushed with sugar into an oleo-saccharum or ‘sugary oil’ to be used as a fragrant and acidic sweetener for syrup drinks. Spent coffee grounds and vegetable peels can be used to infuse spirits, as there’s a lot of untapped flavors still left with the ‘scraps.’” He also advises curating an alcoholic green juice bar from leftover vegetables and herbs.
