How to set up a candy buffet or candy bar for a wedding, reception or party.

My daughter recently got married and she and her husband wanted a candy buffet for their reception. There isn't much information out there on amounts of candy or how to set one up so here is how we did it.

• Pick a color theme for your candies so that it looks cohesive and not too busy. 
• We stuck with hot bright colors for ours. The bride and groom chose the candies that they likes best and then we added a few extra's. 
• We had Skittles, Hot Tamales, Peanut M&M's ( I got them after Valentine's day so that they were all pinks, reds and whites, Swedish Fish, Pink and white grapefruit slices, peppermint pillows, Sour Patch Kids, old fashioned candy sticks and Diams. 
• Get a variety of height containers to hold the candy. You can use glass, plastic or even metal. Any kind of containers that match your wedding theme. For a casual wedding you could even use different size galvanized buckets. Don't limit yourself to just bowls. 
• We bought our containers at Ikea and Target and most of them were vases. 
• Use spoons or scoops for people to pick up the candy with. 
• We used clear plastic scoops from the container store that were under $2.00 each. But you could use metal spoons or even little cups. 

Pick out something for your guests to put their candy into. You can use glassine bags, gusseted poly bags, small penny candy bags, or even small miniature buckets in white, colors or metal which could double as their favor.

  

• We used the mini brown paper penny candy bags and stamped a design on them, that went with the wedding theme. Everyone loved them because they reminded them of being a kid at the candy shop. 
• You will need between 1/4 to 1/2 pound of candy per person. 
• We bought 1/2 pound per person and ended up using 1/3 pound per person average. 
• We bought our candy from a variety of places. The candy sticks, Sour Patch Kids, peppermint pillows, and the Swedish Fish came from Blair Candy online. The grapefruit slices came from Amazon.com. The Hot Tamales and Skittles we bought at Sam's Club and the M&M's we bought after Valentine's day on sale. We bought the Diams at Ikea. (I would have bought more candy locally but the wedding was in Seattle and I live in Denver so it was easier to order online and ship it than pack it into suitcases). Look for coupon codes for online candy companies. I found a code for $5.00 shipping for my entire order for Blair Candy!!!!! 

Don't put out all the candy. Have a person who's in charge of watching over it and refilling as needed. This keeps the candy fresh and nice looking. 

These are some of the lessons I learned! God luck with your candy buffet and I hope that everyone enjoys it as much as our guests did!