Hey party peeps! Candy tables are my favorite! They can transform any party and are a must-have for all of my parties. It is one of the things, as a party planning coach, I get asked the most—from How To Set Up A Candy Buffet to How Much Does It Cost? Here are some of my party planning tips to help you set up your candy buffet.
Be sure to scroll down for a full supply list already curated for you and a course on how you can do this as a business or side hustle!
HOW TO SET UP A CANDY BUFFET IN 6 STEPS!
Candy buffets are the all-time favorite party idea. When we first started designing them, there were many questions like how much candy would be needed? Therefore you can’t begin to imagine how many jellybeans a 10lb bag contains or how many M&M’s it takes to fill an apothecary jar! So, after trial and error, we have come up with 6 steps along with our signature PARTYPRENEUR TIPS to help you streamline the process for your next candy buffet!
HOW TO SET UP A CANDY BUFFET
STEP 1: Decide on a theme, color palette & matching decor!
The first thing to do when deciding on a theme is to pick out the printables which will dictate your color palette and matching decor.
PARTYPRENEUR TIP: Instead of using flowers or decorative centerpieces, use a cupcake tower! This allows you to use the space on the table wisely in order to display more sweets. This acrylic 5-tier cupcake stand and glitter cupcake wrappers from Koyal Wholesale are two of my all-time favorite party supplies! A quick tip is to wrap them with glitter cupcake wrappers, top them with pink pearl sprinkles and finish them off with printable cupcake toppers from Soiree Event Design Shop.
HOW TO SET UP A CANDY BUFFET
STEP 2: Display 4 different categories of candy!
Bulk loose candy: sold by the pound
Individually packaged candy: offer one per guest
Designer candy/sweets: offer one per guest
Display candy: used for decoration & filler
It’s always best to use a mix of 4 types of candy. That way, you can display them in a variety of containers and ensure that there is a mix of individual items, guests can choose from.
HOW TO SET UP A CANDY BUFFET
STEP 3: Set up the table in 3 zones with appropriate containers!
Divide your table into 3 horizontal zones and use height-appropriate containers in each zone—Back Zone, Middle Zone and Front Zone.
PARTYPRENEUR TIP: You can use photo boxes or acrylic stands to elevate shorter containers to make them appear taller in the back.
HOW TO SET UP A CANDY BUFFET
STEP 4: Figure out how much candy you will need to order!
What do you do when you go to order loose candy and it’s all sold by the pound? OH NO! How the heck do you figure out how much 5 lbs of M&M’s actually looks like and would it be enough to fill one or more apothecary jars? Candy Warehouse’s general rule of thumb is to order 8 ounces of candy per guest.
HOW TO SET UP A CANDY BUFFET
STEP 5: Personalize your table with matching printables!
This Girly Baby printable collection from our shop was the inspiration for the table design and created a modern, girly look. The cupcake toppers, Lolli-tag™ sticks with bows, table sign and labels were personalized to celebrate the coming of Baby Kori!
PARTYPRENEUR TIP: You can order any of our printable collections as DIY printables and as Ready-to-Use printables that come printed and delivered to you ready to go.
HOW TO SET UP A CANDY BUFFET
STEP 6: Add the finishing touches!
This is our favorite part…adding the details! Once you have all the candy to match your color palette, the last thing to do is add these finishing touches to enhance the theme:
Give personalized candy favors!
We love giving candy as party favors and these cotton candy bags with custom, personalized labels from our shop here are perfect for adding personalized touch to your party favors. You don’t have to deal with the mess of making cotton candy!
You can even tie a personalized circle that comes in the “Girly Baby” printable collection around the tops of these plastic tubes to add a personal touch to these gumball party favors.
THAT’S IT! Follow these 6 Steps and our Partypreneur Tips on HOW TO SET UP A CANDY BUFFET! NOW…for the moment you’ve been waiting for! Let’s find out How Much A Candy Buffet Costs!
HOW MUCH DOES A CANDY BUFFET COST?
Yes, we are talking money and hopefully, this budget breakdown will shed some light on how much a candy table costs. This will help create a frame of reference for you when you pin that fabulous candy buffet you’re dying to have at your next event. Pinterest photos do come with price tags! CLICK HERE for the full cost breakdown.
PIN FOR LATER!
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SHOP THIS LOOK!
CLICK HERE for all the supplies you will need to set up a candy and dessert table!
WANT TO MAKE MONEY SETTING UP CANDY AND SWEETS TABLES?
Do you love planning parties and styling candy & dessert tables but have no idea how to turn your hobby and passion into a business?
ONE OF OUR MOST POPULAR COURSES – Candy & Dessert Tables where I teach you step-by-step how to price, setup and style candy & dessert tables and how to add it to your current party planning business or start a stand alone candy & dessert table business.


Tonya this is beautiful and very informative. A few years back I decided I wasn’t going to do wedding cakes anymore and donated many of my plates and stands to the thrift store. Among the things I donated were several sets of the acrylic tubes and plates you show here. Now that I want to be back in business I have to build up my inventory again.
#kickingmyself
Thanks Sandra! Those acrylic plates and stands are my must-have items in my inventory! I use them ALL THE TIME!
I want to take your idea with jars wondering I’d like to add some boxes of different sizes and shapes wrap all in white should I place candy jars on top of boxes to add dimension or just place jars next to boxes
Hi there, I would use the boxes to add height for some of the jars. Just be sure the boxes are sturdy enough to hold the candy jars.
Hi Sandra, May I ask where you found your acrylic tubes? I checked Koyal Wholesale and I can’t find them on their site anywhere.
Try Efavormart.com
That sounds like a great idea for my SIL’s baby shower that is coming up! NOM – candy!
OH yeah Robin! Since you have boys, FINALLY you can use my tips for a girly shower! 😉
This is such a fun idea and it looks beautiful!
Thanks Emily!
This would be great for a wedding also. I just love the way this looks.
Thanks Tara!
WOW!! So beautiful and super helpful. Your “girlfriend tip” for the lollipop holder is brilliant. I love that your ideas apply to so many different types of events and celebrations: birthdays, showers, fundraisers, etc. Great info!
Thanks Khrista! Yes, you can use the ideas across many different types of events. Hope you’ll continue to come back and visit my blog. I do my “Girlfriend Tips” in every post! 😉
Candy buffets are so neat. The last one I took part in was at a make-up party.
This would be pretty cool for a birthday celebrations.
I love the theme idea and I love the colors used.
Oh so cute! Great for different kinds of parties.
How awesome is that candy buffet. Thank you for breaking down for me. I do enjoy a good party.
This is so awesome. I think I saw it on Twitter today and loved it. I’m playing a baby shower and I’m thinking of doing something similar in blue. It won’t look as good as yours, though!
I just love the jars! I am going to have to do this for my nephews birthday party. He turns 3 in just a few months. His mom will love this!
this is absolutely amazing!! love everything about it! thanks for the great candy buffet tips!
I have been dying to know how much all of that would cost. Thank you for sharing! I’m pinning this to my party board!
Wow! That is so pretty! I love how everything sparkles! I really like those sparkly pink cupcake holders too! What fun!
This is perfect for any kids’ party or even a bachelorette’s party too. Thanks for the tips! They will surely be useful!
I am always in awe of your buffets, they are so beautiful. I would love for someone to throw me a baby shower like this!
This looks delightfully sweet. Will take note for my next event.
Wow!! What a fun looking candy buffet. I never thought about making a candy buffet before.
The decor you did here is so beautiful. You made the candy part of the celebration and decor in a very nice way.
this is such a great post to be able to let people know how much candy to get for a candy bar! I know from experience I always just guessed and had waaaaayy too much left over – next time hopefully will be better! 😉
Your candy buffet looks awesome! I like the finishing touches!
Love this post! Really good for party ideas. Thanks for sharing.
I have done tons of these and absolutely love them !!! This looks amazing.
I love your table design! This post was really helpful.
This is too cute for words…I think I would want to stay away from such a party though…LOL
Wow, this looks lovely – I can imagine the theme, or a variaton on the theme, could work well for many different parties.
These are some superb steps. Loved your post. It looked so amazing!
We had a desserts buffet at our reception. I spent a few months prior collecting beautiful serving dishes from the thrift shop. It was one of my favorite things at the wedding.
This candy buffet is amazing love all the variety plus the presentation is impressive really breathtaking! I’ll definitely consider this option for my next parties
Candy Warehouse sounds like such a great resource! I love the tools you mentioned.
This candy buffet is amazing Great tips for any party. The guests are sure to love it!
This candy buffet has my head spinning. So many themes are in my head!
Wow this is so detailed! Giving me so many ideas for future parties!
I love candy buffets! I stuff myself with all kinds of delicious candies.
I have hear candy buffets are getting very popular these days. Kids are going to love them!
Great ideas for a candy bar. I love those cupcake holders.
This post is fantastic. Great designs and what a wonderful breakdown of how to create the ultimate candy bar. I love it!
I love this, this candy table is absolutely beautiful! Would it be too tacky to use plywood and wallpaper or wall stickers as backdrops, I’ve ordered a backdrop kit and it hasn’t arrived yet. I do wedding invitation and favor packages, I saw this at a graduation party for a young lady I mentored at my church and fell in love with them. I’m a Thrift Store, garage sell and yard sale junky who has been buying jars that match for abt 2-3 months; I can’t wait to get started. Thanks for the article. GOD bless you!
I think those backdrop ideas are fun!
I absolutely love this post and your entire blog site. Thank you for sharing such professional fun ideas and knowledge.
Hi Tonya, Do you have a resource where we can purchade the acrylic tubes and stands? Koyal Wholesale no longer have them. Also, the vinal backdrop?
I wanted to thank you for the advice for setting up a candy buffet. I like that you mentioned it could be good to split your table in 3 horizontal zones and use height-appropriate containers for each one. Maybe it could be good to figure out exactly what containers you may use if that could affect how you display the candy.
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