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[Boy Bash] Dessert Table Tips - Cupcake Couture

March 28, 2012 | Stephanie Keeping | Boy Bash on a Budget Challenge Comments

So, anyone who follows us regularly knows that every Tuesday till early September is reserved for our Boy Bash on a Budget Challenge. Yesterday was the launch with a fabulous dinosaur party from Allison of Cupcake Couture. (Follow her :-) ) In addition to doing a great job describing her party, Allison provided excellent tips on how the budget conscious can create a great dessert table. They were too long to feature in yesterday's post, but I knew I had to make sure they appeared on this blog so I had to do a follow up.

Check out Allison's suggestions:

It can often be cheaper to buy a couple of metres of material and hem it yourself, as opposed to buying a premade tablecloth. Doing it this way also provides a much larger choice of colours, patterns, and textures of material.

It's never too early to start thinking about future birthday themes and buying things on sale when you are lucky enough to spot them. But be careful – don't buy anything too specific (eg. Circus tableware or Jungle print balloons) unless you are SURE you are going to use that theme. That way you are more likely to use them even if your theme changes closer to the event date.

Think about what you already have – whether it be decorations, props or ingredients in your pantry, do an inventory of your home before you step foot in a shop.

When choosing your food vessels always choose white – that way they will always match. It is also a colour that most people choose for their tableware, so you may be able to borrow from your friends while still working within your colour scheme.

I love creating an ‘atmosphere'. Add little extras to your yard that work with your theme – hide pictures in the garden, create a corner of theme-specific toys, create cute names for your food. Anything you can do to contribute to the overall theme.

If you cannot work a professional photographer into your budget, enlist the help of a friend with a good eye and a good camera. If you can, choose someone that does not have children at the party so they can concentrate on capturing all the special moments of the day. That way, you can enjoy the party without worrying if enough photos are being taken. It also means you will actually be in some instead of being stuck behind the camera!

Mix the gorgeous (and pricey) with the practical (and affordable). I adore my Tracey Lau Ribbon cake plate – I use it all the time. I love that I can use ribbon to add colour to the display and it is a gorgeous centrepiece to any table. I love my rectangle platters from Occasion by Design – they are cheap, the perfect shape for the table and we use them regularly when we entertain outside. I also adore my white tin pails from Sweet Little Birdy – I've used them for flowers, greenery, cake pops and cookies. They are also very affordable and when you aren't using them for parties you can use them to store the kid's coloured pencils, your wallet and keys, or roses from your garden.

And, if you haven't yet seen the result of Allison's hard work and creativity yesterday, here it is! And here's the full post.