Planning a wedding for someone with Celiac is stressful. Once the Gluten Free bakery in our area closed, and after talking to a well known Celiac blogger, I realized I was going to have to prepare all the desserts to be served. Yes, in addition to the wedding planning, I got to cook too. I immediately began to plan easy desserts, besides the wedding cupcakes, and decided on a candy and popcorn bar. Because I am all for making life easier for myself, I began with a base of Gimbal’s Fine Candies. These candies are peanut-free, tree nut-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free and egg-free so I didn’t have to worry about allergic reactions. The first thing I did was have the kids (and their friends) pick out the red, pink and green candies to match our color theme. The kids were thrilled with this chore and asked, “What are you doing with the other colors of candy?” It was confirmed they could eat the others and everyone was happy.
I began by making “Wedding Bark” using Gimbal Gourmet Jelly Beans. With only two ingredients and a 5 minute prep time, I could whip up batches of this, store them in the freezer for a week and be ready to whip them out for the wedding. Here’s how to make them:
Choose the Jelly beans in your wedding colors. We separated all the pinks and whites into one bowl and all the lighter colored green jelly beans into another. Melt 3 ounces (about 3 squares) white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl for 60 seconds. If not completely melted, microwave for 30 more seconds. Stir and add the first color of jelly beans. Spread onto a piece of waxed paper and place in the freezer for five minutes. Repeat this procedure for the second color of jellybeans. When the candy is firm, break into pieces.
I had plenty of other ideas. I filled another jar with Cherry Lovers candy, which are cherry flavored candies available in heart shaped pieces and conveniently came in shades of red and pink. After picking out the red, pink and green Sour Lovers candy, also conveniently available in hearts, I decided to place them in small metal buckets lined with heart themed parchment paper as party favors. Thee Sour Gourmet Jelly beans will be used in small wooden baskets to hold chalkboard signs proclaiming the names of the treats we will serve.
As far as the Cinnamon Lovers candy, I hid those for myself so I could sneak a few whenever I was stressed over wedding planning. Let’s just say it is time for another bag.
Do you have a super easy idea for a wedding candy & popcorn bar? What is your favorite Gimbal’s Candy?
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What a great idea for a wedding or even a party. I have a daughter that will be having a birthday party next month.
I’ve never had Gimbal’s candy. I bet it’s good!
Wedding Bark is new to me, but it looks and sounds yummy! Great job!
This just gave me a great idea for my son party this weekend. I love it!
Wow what a great idea! There’s nothing like a sweet treat for a celebration!
I am glad to see selection for people with different dietary concerns at a fancy evening
A candy and popcorn bar at a wedding. I love it! I have been there and done that with picking out certain colors of candy for specific party themes. Especially Super Bowl parties!
Looks like a sweet idea! Great for guests who have a sweet tooth
What a cute and yummy idea. I will have to look for Gimbal’s Candy in our area.
What an adorable idea! I love the cherry candy.
That is such a cute idea. I haven’t seen that at a wedding before
They make these atomic fireball type things and I absolutely love them. They’re in my gumball machine right now!
How creative! That looks really nice. That’s an awesome idea. I love candy jars.
I’ve seen these candy displays at weddings and baby showers and I think they are a great idea. Not only are they yummy but they look beautiful too.
Not sure I’ve had Gimbal’s Candy before. My hubby loves candy so I know he would be all over these!
These look perfect!! I absolutely love them! Great job!
the pails are WICKED cute! i love it!! and who doesn’t love candy??
This is such a wonderful and festive idea for any wedding, not to mention I bet it’s a LOT cheaper and easier to make than traditional wedding cake. Plus the fact that it’s food allergy/sensitivity friendly is very thoughtful, too!
Super cute! How fun to make that wedding bark in the wedding colors! My friend is getting married this August and is having a candy bar… totally sharing this with her!
What a cute idea. I have never heard of Gimbals before. These sound delicious
I never heard of Gimbals, but it would be helpful because my child in intolerant!
talk about a unique and fun item for weddings… Sounds amazing and even looks just as great. Thanks so much for sharing.
You sure deserve an A+++ as best mom! I love these ideas and can hardly wait to try this.
I love cinnamon, but my Hubs says he doesn’t. I think he really does, but only in certain things.
The wedding bark candy looks great.
Wow you really had your work cut out for you having to do the cooking and the planning. Looks like you pulled it off.
This is my favorite brand of Almond Bark. I have never had it fail before. Almond Barks are a fun to make and I love that the kids can help with every step of the process.
What some fantastic ideas, how cute are those Scottie dogs as well! x
I could definitely go for some of the Cherry Lovers right about now. The scotty dogs are so cute, I wonder if they will come out with the cherry flavor dogs too?
That is a ridiculously awesome and simple idea for a wedding, especially since 99% of weddings don’t cater to food sensitivities or conditions (that I’ve seen anyway)! With a cupcakes and a candy bar you won’t even miss the other stuff!
Yummy. They look so tasty. I do not have a wedding favorite. Unfortunately I like everything.
Such cute ideas, I personally LOVE Sour Gourmet Jelly beans, they are so good! I’d need to buy a lot to make anything with them, I’d just keep on eating them!
I can’t wait to try this bark! It looked really good.
Great wedding idea! Candy bark is always a favorite and so easy to make too
The pails are really cute touch to any table at a wedding and the candy looks yummie
great ideas, I buy this almond bark all the time too, it’s so versatile!
While I am not celiac, my autoimmune disease does not allow me to eat gluten (and a zillion other things) without immediate 10lb retention of water, and so I try to avoid it. I love love love when I find blogs like yours with great gluten-free alternatives, proving that you can live life well without gluten! 🙂 Thank you!
This is great! I had to plan a gluten-free wedding – it was not the easiest thing, that’s for sure! Wish I would have known about Gimbal’s!
These are such great ideas. We have a few weddings and graduations coming up this will be perfect for 🙂
I love simple ideas like this– setting up a candy bar is perfect for so many occasions.
Such an adorable idea! I don’t have any weddings coming up, but I will have parties over the summer. We love to entertain. I will definitely want to steal some of your ideas! Really cute! 🙂
what a great wedding idea. So cute and unique.
That is a wicked cute idea. I did something similar last year with my sister’s bridal shower. I did a 20’s/flapper theme and used candy cigarettes & bubble gum cigars.
Those would make super cute table place setting desserts at a wedding reception! So cute and fun to eat too!
Good idea for the leftover candy. You could do this with all that old Halloween candy that no one wants!
Who the heck has any candy leftover after Halloween LOL?
What a cute idea for a wedding. I love the little pails you used. Very sweet!
wow, I did not realize how hard it could be!
I love what you did with the little pails
keping this handy
thanks
I have never tried this brand!I think i would like the sour and the cherry would be nice to try them.
It is hard to meet the dietary needs of every guest on your list for events. Most of my guests are diabetics, I am the GF one so we are a hard combination to deal with! I use the Almond Bark for many of my dessert creations that are just for our family.