Black & Red Dessert/Snack Table Ideas

Party planning is one of my great joys in life. I love everything about it! From trying to come up with themes, to color pallets, to food.

Hosting parties can get expensive though, so I am always trying to get creative and figure out ways to make my own decorations that are both attractive to the eyes and wallet.

My first step in any sort of event planning is first figuring out a theme. A theme can be a chosen character, a special event, or simply several different colors paired together.

A theme is very important as it will turn a regular ho-hum party into a spectacular event that people will leave your house still talking about. A theme sets the stage for your party and makes everything from decorations, to games, to food come together and look very cohesive.

Over the weekend, I had the privilege of hosting a birthday party for my husband. Having this particular party was a VERY last minute decision (invited people on Monday for party on Saturday, yikes), so I didn’t have much time to prepare.

As I said above, the first thing on the “to-do” list was to decide on a theme. My daughters and I chose black and red for this party, with a white accent to make the main colors “pop”.

One area that you can really make your theme come alive on is on a snack or dessert table. You can incorporate your colors into the linens, plates, and dishes. You can also incorporate your theme into the actual desserts and snacks that you offer.

This is the dessert table that I was able to come up with in my short 4 day window of prep time. Due to the lack of time to shop or plan, most of the decorations came from stuff that I had laying around the house or that I could find at my local grocery/dollar store.

There is a lot going on here, so let’s break down the different elements of this table that are used to incorporate the chosen colors.

Table Linens:

To decorate this table (actually part of my kitchen counter) I first dug out some red table runners that I have in my stock pile and laid them as my base for color.

Fabric tablecloths can get very expensive when buying them brand new. I always try to pick them up at garage sales (my other great joy in life) or thrift stores. They are a fraction of the price and are typically in very good condition.

Another option that I use when I don’t have a fabric tablecloth that matches my theme, is I will pick up a vinyl one from the dollar store that matches. For a dollar, it adds a lot of punch to your table and is the canvas for the rest of the additions. It is a must!

Dishes and Serving Platters (Height and Color):

Once the base color is added, now it is time to think about dishes and serving platters. When pulling your dishes, think about their color and height.

You always want to add some dishes with different heights. This gives depth and visual interest to your table. Plus, if you have a small space for serving, “going up” is always a welcome space saver.

One thing that needs to be considered however, with taller platters is the placement of them. If your table is against a wall and can only be approached from the front, then you want to place your taller items in the back. If you have a table in the middle of the room that people can approach from several different sides, then place your taller serving stands in the middle of the table.

As far as color, I used a lot of white dishes since that is mostly what I have around the house. To incorporate the black, I used a black and white serving platter that was also in my stock pile of garage sale stuff and some black paper plates from the dollar store.

The black and white striped utensil and candy holders are simply made from covering some plastic cups and empty soup cans with scrapbook paper. I cut the paper to fit around and taped it in the back.

I added one stripe of red Washi tape around it to tie into the red theme.

Food Choices:

Another easy way to add color to your table is by what food you choose to serve on it. I really like to make my food part of the decorations.

I strolled the candy section at the grocery store and picked out any red/black candies that I could find. I found red licorice, turtles, Lindt chocolate truffles, M & M’s, sixlets, and dark chocolate covered acai berries

I also made a few desserts to go with the candy. I chose really quick and easy desserts to make that would give me more “pops” of color. I made them all the day before the party so that I could take them out right before guests arrive and save me some much needed time the day of the party.

I will be posting recipes for all of these shortly.

Red Spritz Cookies

Strawberry White Chocolate Bars

Strawberry Jello Parfaits

Oreo Parfaits

Mint Oreo Truffles

Centerpiece:
If I am having a birthday party, I typically make the cake my focal point. This party however, had an ice cream cake, so could not be left on the table.

Instead of the cake, I opted to use flowers instead. I went with carnations, they are always a beautiful and thrifty flower choice for bouquets. It didn’t hurt either that my local grocery store had a sale going on as well 🙂

Since I did not have a black vase, I decided to make one. I found an extra clear glass Ball jar laying around and covered it with some extra black vinyl tablecloth (one from the dollar store) that I had left over from my tables. I finished it off with a ring of red Washi tape to make it blend a little more.

This was definitely not my best flower centerpiece, but with the short amount of prep time I had, I think it turned out pretty nice!