Step by Step: Create Your Own New York City or Broadway Theme Candy Buffet

Every event we attend now seems to provide a candy buffet for guests’ enjoyment. Sometimes candy is offered as an addition to dessert, at other events the buffet is set up near the exit for guests to take as they are leaving the party.

You can save a lot of money if you put your New York City or Broadway-themed bar or bat mitzvah candy buffet together yourself.  Caterers charge thousands of dollars to build a candy buffet to complement your event’s decor; however, you can create your own extravagant and beautiful candy display for much less.

Start by buying your candy online from Candy Warehouse.  They sell bulk candy directly to the consumer, saving you hundreds of dollars in candy costs.

Candy Warehouse’s site is easy to use, as they categorize candy by color, season, occasion, and holiday. You will want to order approximately 1/4 lb to 1/2 lb of candy per child, or per guest if the candy buffet will be available for the adults also. Whether to average up or down within those guidelines depends on how full you would like your display to look, and how much candy you anticipate you guests taking during and after the party.  If you are throwing a smaller party, err on the side of caution and order closer to 1/2 lb per person; you don’t want to have a skimpy candy display.  And remember, you need several pounds of each candy to adequately fill a canister or serving bowl.  For most candy items, a 5 lb bag will fill a one-gallon container.

You also want to vary the sizes, shapes and flavors of your candy; offer small candies, larger candies, some tall lollipops or rock candy sticks for a fun presentation, and some wrapped candy. Also make sure you have sweet candy, some sour choices, at least one chocolate offering and perhaps some licorice or gumballs for variety.

As you can see in the candy buffet below, you don’t need to order such large quantities for items like unicorn pops, ribbon candy and rock candy. Those types of bigger upright candies are generally used to add interest to your display and take up much more room in canisters than smaller bulk items. You can also just pop a few in the top of a container of other candies for fun.

If you’re throwing a New York City-themed event, build a cool black and yellow taxi-themed candy buffet like this one shown on Nuts.com:

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For variety, use black and yellow or gold candy in different shapes and sizes such as:

Foiled Milk Chocolate Balls – Yellow: 5LB Bag

Yellow & White Unicorn Pops: 24-Piece Display

Yellow Lemon Mint Pearls: 5LB Bag

Wrapped Hard Candy Ovals – Yellow: 5LB Bag

Rock Candy Strings – Yellow: 5LB Box

Chocolate Jordan Almonds – Yellow: 5LB Bag

Sugar Candy Beads – Yellow: 5LB Bag

Yellow 1-Inch Gumballs: 850-Piece Case

Milk Chocolate Lentils – Black & White: 5LB Bag

Black Cherry Gummy Bears: 5LB Bag

Haribo Black Licorice Wheels: 5LB Bag

Black Coal Candy Chocolate Chunks: 5LB Bag

Chocolate Jordan Almonds – Black: 5LB Bag

Sugar Candy Beads – Black: 5LB Bag

Black & White Psychedelic Swirl Lollipops 12-Piece Box

Rock Candy Crystal Sticks – Black: 120-Piece Case

Or switch the yellow to gold for a dramatic “Broadway”-themed candy buffet at your party:

Gold Foiled Milk Chocolate Balls: 5LB Bag

Gold Lustrous French Almonds: 5LB Bag

Foiled Milk Chocolate Stars – Gold: 5LB Bag

Gold 1-Inch Gumballs: 850-Piece Case

Wrapped Hard Candy Ovals – Gold: 5LB Bag

Milk Chocolate Lentils – Gold: 5LB Bag

Or do a red candy buffet to celebrate the “Big Apple”:

The display above features candy such as:

Jordan Almonds – Red: 5LB Bag

Wrapped Hard Candy Ovals – Red: 5LB Bag

Red & White Peppermint Taffy: 3LB Bag

Foiled Milk Chocolate Stars – Red: 5LB Bag

Red Hot Cinnamon Dollars Candy: 7.5LB Bag

Rock Candy Strings – Red: 5LB Box

Red Tiny Twist Pops: 12-Piece Box

Red Foiled Milk Chocolate Balls: 5LB Bag

Haribo Red Licorice Wheels: 5LB Bag

Sugar Candy Beads – Red: 5LB Bag

Red & White Unicorn Pops: 24-Piece Display

Candy Warehouse has a tutorial with guidelines for building a candy buffet and they give a timetable for ordering and instructions for candy storage prior to your event.

Many venues will provide containers, scoops and servers for a candy buffet, so make sure to ask.  If yours does not, you can purchase the appropriate containers and servers online.

Candy Warehouse sells jars and canisters in a variety of shapes and sizes to hold your candy, as well as scoopers, tongs, bags and cute buckets and pails.

Here are some of the canisters they offer:

Round Glass Candy Canisters Set with Ball Lids: 4-Piece Case

Glass Penny Candy Jars with Chrome Lids – 1/2 Gallon: 4-Piece Case

Just Desserts Pedestal Candy Jars: Set of 3

Glass Candy Jars – 1/2 Gallon: 6-Piece Case

They also sell clear cello bags for collecting candy, as well as takeout containers, pretty printed bags, buckets and pails.

The following bags would coordinate beautifully for a New York City or Broadway-themed bar or bat mitzvah:

Black Chevron Stripe Candy Bags: 25-Piece Pack

Red Chevron Stripe Candy Bags: 25-Piece Pack

Candy Bags with Handles – Gold: 12-Piece Pack

Candy Bags with Handles – Red: 12-Piece Pack

Candy Bags with Handles – Black: 12-Piece Pack

You can also find canisters and scoopers on Amazon.

This Set of Three Apothecary Candy Jars is perfect to display goodies:

The jars are 8.6, 12.5 and 14.25 inches tall.

If you are looking for smaller jars, here is a set of Three Mini Candy Buffet Jars:

These jars measure 8, 9 and 10.25 inches high.

Vary the size and shape of your containers to keep your display interesting.

Remember that each variety of candy needs a serving piece. If you need to buy scoopers for your treats, get this Set of 6 Clear Plastic Candy Scoopers:

You can also find Metal Scoopers on Amazon.

As well as clear cello treat bags:

Make your own labels to stick on the treat bags or takeout containers with these Avery Easy Peel Print-To-The-Edge Round Labels:

Avery makes labels in several different sizes and shapes; they come with a template for easy formatting and are simple to use. Put your logo, name, or date of your event on your labels and stick one on each treat bag for a special touch!

For more ideas and inspiration for New York City and Broadway-themed events, check out our posts We Love New York-Themed Parties and Be The Star of Your Broadway-Themed Mitzvah Party, as well as our Pinterest Boards for New York City Themed Bar and Bat Mitzvah Ideas and Broadway-Themed Bar and Bat Mitzvah Ideas.