Many readers and writers of wedding blogs post about the desire to do a cupcake buffet, and the fear that it is overdone and out-dated. I do think that if you like the idea - if it makes you happy and excited  then do it. Absolutely. The day is not (only) about showing your up-to-dateness with current trends. It is fundamentally about having the most fun and the most sentiment possible.

That said, maybe there are some alternatives out there to cupcakes. The mini-tart is one.  One of the reasons that cupcakes were and ARE so great is that most people do not want a heavy dessert after a large meal. We recently did a test-run of Jon’s Vanilla Bean Cheesecake and we have now nixed it from our DIY dessert buffet because people overwhelmingly said that it was too much after a real meal.  Instead, we are doing a light wedding cake coupled with an assortment of miniature tarts. Ours will be fruit tarts, but there are many, many creative options for individual tarts out there. Here are a few for your perusal!

Wild Blueberry Mini Tarts 

Individual Lemon Meringue Tarts 

Raspberry Pistachio Chocolate Ganache Tarts

Caramel Hazelnut Mini Tarts (for the indulgent types!)

Mini Key Lime Cheesecake: Not actually a “tart” but a cool replacement for people keen on doing cheesecake.

Key Lime Tart with Fresh Meringue and Carambola Sauce from Conroy Catering in Pennsylvania

Take these recipes to your caterer and see what he or she can do!