Creating a rustic dessert station

I have been to my fair share of barn weddings and parties. Having been born in Texas it is not uncommon to attend an outdoor/dance hall/ barn/arena event. They are charming and simple and pay homage to their natural surroundings. Today's post is all about creating a rustic styled dessert station that would work in a natural/outdoorsy setting. Most dessert stations are a bit flashy these days, but creating a more rustic one is possible with the right components. 

Paper decor. Use lots of paper accents. It is natural and simple and can really bring in the details and colors of your event.  

Find beautiful serving pieces. Think depression glass and flea markets. Nothing needs to match. Something borrowed, something blue could be the theme of a bridal dessert station full of loaned family serving pieces and borrowed recipes. Use unusual containers and be sure to plan ahead what dessert will go on what dish. 

Consider serving a specialty drink like raspberry lemonade out of glass bottles wrapped in natural paper and twine. You can even stamp the date or the name of the drink to the paper. Paper straws are another way to bring in color. Twine is a great accent for hanging lanterns or wrapping napkins. The hanging backdrop is created solely from paper. Be sure to create a backdrop for a dessert station so it is framed in and the details are on display. Natural branches like the one above provide a great foundation for creating a backdrop. 

Bring in color where ever you can. Cupcake wrappers, toppers, signage, icing colors or flavored drinks are just a few ways to really allow your colors to show up.   Don't be afraid to use variations of the same tone. Not everything has to be matchy matchy. Get creative.

Consider alternate ways of serving desserts. These mini mason jars blueberry crumb pies are the perfect size and keep the dessert bar looking good so nobody is shoveling spoons or leaving traces of pie crumbs everywhere. The dessert station has to be functional but still look good. Be sure to think of how guests will serve themselves and be sure to consider new or different ways to do so. 

Now go design your very own natural dessert station.