MAKE YOUR OWN GRANOLA WEDDING TABLE

Are you a fan of the candy bag buffet tables where you fill a bag as a party favor, but don’t want to promote the high-caloric intake?

Here is a healthy and tasty twist on a familiar wedding favor idea to the candy bar buffet you see at many trendy weddings today; The Do-It-Yourself Trail Mix Wedding Buffet Bar!

It’s a great idea that kills two birds with one stone; Place Cards & Party Favors…

You simply use mason jar lids as your table place cards that show your guests to their seats & a “Do-It-Yourself Trail Mix Buffet Bar” that uses the lids again later, to top mason jars in order to save the guests’ crunchy creations!

That’s right! The guests save their place card, wondering what it is for. Then, by the end of the wedding it all makes sense! Fun right? Kind of like an Episode of LOST, but with the payoff!

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN TRAIL MIX BAG WEDDING STATION

It isn’t difficult at all. The only difference over using candy and candy bags is how you would like to package your granola. Here is how it works in 10 easy steps to granola goodness…

STEP 1 – CREATE MASON JAR LIDS FOR PLACE CARDS

1) Buy a bunch of mason jars at the dollar store, or craft shop.

2) Decorate the lids, with ribbons or paint to taste. You can decorate the lids with ribbons, tags, paint, lace, decals, stamps or anything you can imagine to help customize the feel you are looking for and harness your personalities.

3) Write your wedding date and the bride & groom’s names on the top of each one of the lids.

4) On the inside of each lid, write the names of each one of your guests, along with their assigned seating table numbers. You do this just the same as you would on a printed table place card.

5) Decoratively lay out the lids on a table by where the guests will enter your reception. Use the jar lids as your table place cards to direct your wedding guests to their seats.

6) Create a sign instructing the guests that they must save their lids for later.  Not telling the people why they are saving the lids may build up an anticipation for when you open the trail mix bar for business later on.

STEP 2 – GUESTS MAKE CUSTOM TRAIL MIX – STORING IN MASON JARS WITH LID PLACE CARDS

7) Purchase and stock pile mass quantities of all of your favorite trail mix ingredients. Check online for places to save when buying all your great nuts, grains, dried fruits and more!

8 ) After the wedding dinner, roll out your own “Do-It-Yourself Trail Mix” buffet table.

9) Provide the empty mason jars in a basket, as the “take out” bags for the guests to store their custom trail mix concoctions in.

10) Have your DJ announce and explain details on the trail mix bar. Tell the guests to use the lids from their place cards to store their custom trail mix in the jars, and to attack!

TRAIL MIX BAR & PLACE CARD IDEA GALLERY

Have fun with this idea! The possibilities are endless. Here are some pictures that I took at a recent wedding where they did this activity with great success, along with some other sample pictures to help get your granola juices flowing.

Enjoy and happy “trails” to you!