Trend Alert: S'mores Station

by guest blogger Amanda Hollowell

My name is Amanda Hollowell and I co-own wedding and event planning company JL Events, LLC in Savannah, GA. The current dessert trend we love is the Self-Serve Smores Station.

It works well at outdoor facilities or at any venue that would allow you to bring in a portable fire pit. This station is a no stress setup. Depending on the colors of the event I love a table wrapped in burlap or burlap runners, ivory accents and floral that has greenery or small centerpieces placed in mason jars (LOVE! Mason Jars). You can use an existing table next to the campfire or a six foot banquet style table - all depending on the size of your guest count. Presentation is everything with this station. We use large glass vases that come with lids, all are different shapes and sizes. You want to use glass so the guests can see the graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows. To help the guests you can use either extra long bamboo sticks used for Kabobs or the long metal two prong stick, used mostly for barbequing. We recommend lids for your glass containers because if the event is outside, there is chance you will be faced with some flying pests, this helps protect those yummy treats. To entice the guests we put a platter out with marshmallows already attached to bamboo sticks.

A warning, if it is a warm day and you are going to take the chocolate out of their wrappers and place in jars. Wait until the sun down goes down or the chocolate will melt and you will have a fudge station instead. We also recommend that you freeze the chocolate the night before and not place on the station until it is truly time for dessert. Everything is place and presentation is “I die” as Rachel Zoe says, then your Smores Station is ready. Your guests will truly have a great time with this option.

All the items listed can be found pretty much anywhere and they are extremely affordable. Walmart is featuring a complete Smores display in its stores, where you can buy the graham crackers, Hershey’s Chocolate and Camp Fire Marshmallows (extra large) in one place. At Walmart you can also purchase the long bamboo sticks. We got a great deal on our glass vases at Home Goods, they have an awesome selection of event glassware and accents. Party City we got the clear plastic platters and napkins. The linen was a rental and the burlap can be purchased online for an awesome deal. Happy planning!

For more tips you can follow me @mandarellla on twitter, or go to our website www.jleventsllc.com.