The Best Wedding Advice I Ever Received - Viennese Table

I recently celebrated my 10 year wedding anniversary of being married to my wonderful husband. We're now busy with two kids and two careers, so we don't have much time to reminisce about our wedding. If there is one piece of wedding advice that stays in my mind, it is that we were advised to have a Viennese Table at our wedding reception.

This advice came from my mother, who had been attending all of her friends' children's' weddings for years before I was even engaged. My mother wanted us to have a Viennese Table, or a dessert buffet, at our wedding. At all wedding reception catering halls, the Viennese Table is an added on option and costs extra.

Viennese Tables usually take place during the last hour of the wedding reception and typically offer at least two stations such as a "make your own sundae bar" and a cordial bartender who fixes fancy after dinner drinks. Besides the stations, there are other desserts served on a never-ending buffet table.

Our wedding's Viennese Table featured chocolate themed pastries, mousse and custards, cakes, cookies, cannoli, jello, biscotti, fruit tarts, and of course, wedding cake. No expense was spared on the part of the caterer when developing this extraordinary presentation.

Nowadays, almost everyone is on a budget or is trying to have a frugal wedding. Many weddings that I have been to in the last ten years since my own wedding have not offered a Viennese Table. Usually, the guests only receive a thin slice of wedding cake.

I understand the monetary constraints but it would make the guests feel extra special and appreciated if a beautiful ending to the wedding was demonstrated in the form of a dessert buffet. If you think about it, your wedding is a once in a lifetime event (I hope so) and something that you probably want to remember in a special way forever.

Although my mother gave me the wonderful advice to include a Viennese Table in my reception, my husband and I paid for that portion of the wedding ourselves because we wished to honor our friends and family with a bit of extravagance that went a little over my mother's budget.

This is my one piece of advice that I am passing on to you about weddings. Your guests will remember your wedding and appreciate your generosity if you indulge them with a Viennese Table.