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Cake pops are a convenient way to serve the cake at any event, especially at a wedding. Since cake pops are much smaller than a slice of cake, planning the perfect amount for your wedding may prove difficult.
When serving cake pops as the only dessert at a wedding, plan on each person eating at least two cake pops. However, certain people could eat as many as four cake pops. To avoid running out of cake pops, do not serve them buffet style. Cake pops can also be served as a wedding favor for guests.
Serving cake pops to a larger group can be a difficult task, but it doesn’t have to be impossible. The exact number of cake pops that you should serve per person depends on the availability of other desserts, as well as the serving style. Keep reading to find the perfect amount of cake pops to serve at your wedding.
Serving Cake Pops Instead of Wedding Cake
Baking a cake (or cakes) large enough to feed the crowd at your wedding is quite the undertaking. Not only do you have to transport the heavy cake(s) to the location, but then you have to spend what feels like forever cutting and serving individual pieces to wedding guests. Even worse, guests have to stand in line (or sit at their table) waiting for a piece rather than dancing or interacting with the bride and groom.
Cake pops make it much easier to serve cake to a larger crowd. Each cake pop comes on a handy popsicle stick, therefore eliminating the need for silverware (saving both time and money). Additionally, cake pops are less messy than cake. Guests can eat it without worrying about getting frosting on their dress or suit. (Believe me, they will appreciate this consideration).
If you still want the moment where the bride and groom cut the cake together, bake a small two-person cake and serve the guests cake pops.
So, how many cake pops will you need to serve at your wedding? According to Katie Pritchett, the owner of Katie’s Catering, you should plan on at least one cake pop per guest. Of course, you likely won’t know the headcount until a week or two before the event. Katie says that serving cake pops at a wedding is a wonderful idea. They’re easy to eat and can help add color to the dessert table.
Well, first of all, determine how many people will be at your wedding. Next, determine how you want to serve the cake pops, trust me it matters.
You can have all the cake pops set out buffet style and let guests serve themselves; however, due to their smaller size, guests will undoubtedly eat more than you planned. On the other hand, if you have the cake pops distributed to each of the guests then you control how many they get.
“Cake pops are a cute and fun way to add a variety of flavors, color pop really adding pop to your dessert table, and of course they are easy to eat!”
Katie Pritchett, Katies Catering
If you decide to serve the cake pops, plan on two cake pops per person. So what does that look like for a large group? Check out the following table to see how many cake pops you’ll need.
| Number of Guests | Cake Pops Needed |
| 10 | 20 |
| 25 | 50 |
| 50 | 100 |
| 100 | 200 |
| 200 | 400 |
If guests will be allowed to serve themselves, plan on three to four cake pops per person. But how do you know whether to do three or four? As a rule of thumb, count the number of men and women who are coming. If there will be more men in attendance plan on four cake pops per person, and three if the women outnumber the men. You can always split the difference and plan on 3.5 cake pops per person as well. See what this looks like for a larger group in the following table!
| Number of Guests | Cake Pops Needed |
| 10 | 30, 35, or 40 |
| 25 | 75, 88, or 100 |
| 50 | 150, 175, or 200 |
| 100 | 300, 350, or 400 |
| 200 | 600, 700, or 800 |
As you can see, the amount of cake pops needed to serve guests buffet-style requires substantially more cake pops than having them served to them.
Be sure to consider anyone with food allergies when counting the number of guests. For example, if you have 50 guests coming, but 10 of them are gluten intolerant, you’ll only need 80 to 160 cake pops (depending on how you serve them) instead of 100 to 200.
Serving Cake Pops as an Option Alongside Wedding Cake
If ditching the traditional wedding cake entirely isn’t how you picture your wedding, you can serve cake pops alongside the cake! Serving cake pops alongside a wedding cake (or another dessert) you’ll need less. In the long run, this could save you money while still allowing you the ability to serve cake in a cute, unique way.
When serving cake pops alongside another wedding cake or other type of dessert, you only need to plan on one or two pops per person. This leaves room for some guests to choose cake and cake pops while others might only choose one or the other.
Read the following table to determine how many cake pops you need per person.
| Number of Guests | Cake Pops Needed |
| 10 | 10 to 20 |
| 25 | 25 to 50 |
| 50 | 50 to 100 |
| 100 | 100 to 200 |
| 200 | 200 to 400 |
But wait, if you’re serving cake pops in addition to cake, how many slices of cake will you need?
According to Martha Stewart, you don’t need a slice of cake for everyone in attendance at your wedding. In fact, you only need a slice for 77 to 85 percent of the guests. Since you’ll be serving cake pops, you can reduce this number even further. You can plan on having a slice for 54 to 77 percent of the guests. The exact percentage is up to you, just use this range as a guideline.
Since you can’t have half a slice of cake, all calculations in the following table are rounded up.
| Number of Guests | Cake Slices Needed |
| 10 | 6 to 8 |
| 25 | 14 to 20 |
| 50 | 27 to 39 |
| 100 | 54 to 77 |
| 200 | 108 to 154 |
If you’re serving multiple types of cake (ie. chocolate and vanilla), you might consider serving more of one flavor over the other. Of course, if you don’t know what cake flavor your group prefers more, you can always serve the flavors in equal proportions.
Regardless of how much cake and its various flavors you serve (or don’t serve), your guests will be thrilled to enjoy this special moment with you and your significant other. There are more important things going on at your wedding than everyone getting to eat the right amount of cake.
Giving Cake Pops as a Wedding Favor to Guests
Cake pops don’t have to be the main event at your wedding. In fact, you can serve traditional wedding cake at the reception and send your guests home with cake pops as a party favor of sorts.
This way your guests can feel like they’re taking a portion of the wedding home with them. Even better, it’s a sweet treat! When you give cake pops out as a wedding favor, you don’t need to plan on more than one per person, especially if you package them individually. Therefore, if you have 50 guests coming, you’ll only need 50 cake pops, individually packaged. However, if you give the party favors out to groups rather than to individuals, you’ll need to do some math.
How many cake pops should go in the bag depends on the average group size attending your wedding. Assume that the average group size attending your wedding is between four and six guests. Plan on five per bag and then divide the cake pops into bags with either four or six cake pops. If you have extras, put them in their own bag and hand them out to the smallest group.
Check out the table below, which uses the above average, to find out how many cake pops you need to make group wedding favor bags.
| Number of Guests | Cake Pops Needed |
| 10 | 50 |
| 25 | 125 |
| 50 | 250 |
| 100 | 500 |
| 200 | 1000 |
A thousand cake pops probably sounds like a pretty unreasonable number. Giving cake pops out as a wedding favor is a better idea for weddings with a shorter guest list. That or stick with the one per person. Giving one cake pop per guest as a wedding favor guarantees that every guest gets to enjoy some cake at your wedding.
Regardless of how you choose to serve your cake pops, it is never a bad idea to order more than you think you need. Chances are, some guests will bring a friend that you didn’t count on. Or maybe that family who said they couldn’t come will show up and surprise you. Even if you end up with leftovers, who doesn’t want to enjoy extra cake the day after their wedding?
The Perfect Wedding Cake Pop Design
While you could serve plain cake pops at your wedding, there are plenty of cute wedding-themed designs you could use too! If you’re struggling to find inspiration, you’ve come to the right place. Below you will find some of the best ways to design and serve cake pops at your wedding.
First things first, consider your wedding colors. Some of the options below will use classic wedding colors (ie. white and black); however, others will use some brighter colors. If you don’t want black and white cake pops, find a design that will work with your wedding colors.
Bride and Groom Cake Pops
Forget the bride and groom cake topper, now the bride and the groom are the cake! When decorating cake pops as the bride and groom, you could serve one of each to guests, that way they can enjoy both wedding parties. You could also serve groom cake pops to those there for the groom and bride cake pops to those there for the bride, or vice versa.
Learn how to make these designer delicacies in the following video!
Serving Multiple Flavors
We already discussed serving multiple flavors of cake at your wedding, but what about cake pops? Of course you can serve multiple flavors of cake pops at your wedding!
Unfortunately, if all your cake pops have the same design, it will be difficult to distinguish the flavors from each other. The best way to identify cake flavorings is by using a unique design for each of them. For example, raspberry cake pops might have long sprinkles while chocolate cake pops have glitter. Be sure to have a sign or labels telling guests which cake pop is which!
It is best to serve multiple cake pop flavors buffet style, this way guests get to pick the flavor they want to eat.
Golden Cake Pops
If you’ve incorporated gold into your wedding, then golden cake pops are a must. These shiny cake pops are sure to catch the attention of all your guests. Want a bit more sparkle? Add some edible glitter!
Watch the following video to learn how to make both gold and silver cake pops for your wedding.
You could turn any color metallic using this recipe! If you’re using rose gold or bronze in your wedding colors, find the shimmer powder in those colors.
Find your wedding colors by Rainbow Dust here!
Glittery Cake Pops
Decorating the cake pops for your wedding doesn’t have to be anything complicated. A simple pop (or in this case a stripe) of glitter can give this simple party treat some extra glam power.
Start by making and coating your cake pops with whatever chocolate or icing flavor you prefer. Find some edible glitter (in the color of your choice) and attach it to the cake pop using some melted chocolate.
Watch the video below to see just how easy this wedding cake pop design can be!
This design is simple, yet elegant.
If you’re serving multiple flavors of cake pops, you can distinguish the different flavors by using different glitter colors!
Diamond Ring Cake Pops
Since it is a wedding, having a ring-style cake pop only makes sense. This cute design is a bit different than the traditional cake pop, but still a creative option.
In the following video, you will see lots of different cake pop designs; however, the most notable will be the “ring pops.” Pay special attention to the different types of cake pop shapes shown. That’s right, your wedding cake pops don’t have to be round!
While you could build a diamond ring out of fondant and attach it to the cake pop, it is easier to use a chocolate mold. This Silicone Chocolate Ring Mold on Amazon is the perfect option. Because the sheet is made of silicone, all you have to do is pop out the ring after it hardens. After the chocolate comes out of the mold, simply paint the ring to look more realistic (using edible paint of course).
