Happy Candy Month

June marks the beginning of summer and a large number of weddings. What item best helps celebrate these two special occasions?  Candy, of course!  Not only does candy add temptation and an interactive component to summer celebration or reception, it also brings texture to a table by integrating a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors.  Any color/theme that is applied towards an event can be complemented by incorporating candy.  Here are a few ideas to "sweeten" up your next June event:

Customized Candy as a Favor:

• Give away candy that has the name of the bride and groom printed on it.
• Give away the favorite candy of the bride and groom.
• Give away candy that has a message from the bride and groom printed on the wrapper.
• Give away candy that is related to the last name of the couple (i.e. if the last name is Atkinson give away Chick-O-Sticks; if the last name is Boyer give away Mallo Cups).

Candy Buffet:

Fun items to include-

• Red Wedding?  Red hots, licorice, and candied apples.
• Yellow Wedding?  Lemon Heads and Peeps.
• Winter Wedding? White chocolate covered pretzels and white jordan almonds.
• Asian Themed Wedding?  Fortune cookies and green tea candy.
• Valentine's Day Wedding?  Hershey's Kisses, Brach's Candy Hearts, and Cherry pops.

 Centerpieces:

• Replace crystals/aqua beads with colored candy.  
• Mix wrapped candy in with aqua beads or water.
• Fill varying height cylinders with a complementing colored candy.

Candy Inspired Drinks

Peppermint Candy Martini
Courtesy of Flavor Laboratories

1 shot of Peppermint Schapps

1 shot of Vanilla Vodka

1 shot crème de cacao

1 Peppermint candy

A few drops of grenadine for color at bottom of glass  

Broken peppermint candy pieces to rim

Rim glass by wetting rim and dipping in broken candy.

Place a few drops of grenadine at bottom of glass.

Shake with ice and strain into glass using a spoon to slow down the pour-so the red at the bottom stays fairly unmoved.