Mini carrot cakes and petits fours are topped with edible flowers for a dainty, elegant look.

Homespun white cupcakes are crowned with fondant hearts cut with a cookie cutter and imprinted with the bride's and groom's first initials using a new rubber stamp.

Crottin cakes in the shape of French goat cheeses are stacked on a wooden stand to mimic a tiered cake. Flowers such as Queen Anne's lace and tweedia are paired with rosemary, lavender, and oregano to capture the romance of the French countryside.

Stack these fluffy white confections for an elegant display.

We used chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla frostings, and mixed milk to match. If your local doughnut shop doesn't carry flavors you fancy, ask if they'll mix custom icings for you. Be sure to place flattened paper cupcake liners in between doughnuts so they won't stick together.

These desserts make an impressive entrance, handed out one-by-one to each guest.

These light-as-air meringues are baked in cupcake liners.

An airy, angel food cake is the perfect dessert after a rich wedding feast. Since the cake is sweet, unsweetened whipped cream -- maybe with seasonal berries on the side -- works best as the accompaniment.

Simple designs, like the luscious buttercream blooms atop these tiny cakes, can make a big impression. Just three inches high, these beauties could be the highlight of a dessert buffet or be served at each place.

We served marshmallows, pieces of crystallized ginger, dried figs, plums, and apricots with our fondue. Other dried fruits, such as pineapple or cherries, as well as nuts, madeleines, chunks of fresh fruit, and even small brownie squares would also be delicious with the sauce.

These miniature cakes make for a delicious mouthful.

Stack chocolate truffles in a tall tower that's reminiscent of a cake.

These tart bites are a good replacement for cake after a heavy meal.

This elegant dessert has a sweet secret: layers of chocolaty richness nestled in a shell of almond sponge cake. One bite will reveal moist chocolate sponge cake, creamy milk-chocolate ganache, and smooth mocha Bavarian cream.

A traditional French croquembouche (third from left) is built from profiteroles filled with passion-fruit custard; it has a halo of spun sugar.

Flaming baked Alaskas are sure to cause a spectacle when carried into the dining room. Each ice-cream cake is coated with Swiss Meringue, topped with half an eggshell, and then quickly baked in a hot oven. The eggshell is filled with liquor or rum and lit just before serving.

When Tasha and D.W. got married, they served 16 freshly baked pies, including peach, blueberry, cherry, strawberry-rhubarb, lemon, and apple.

Petits fours, white-chocolate dipped strawberries, and handcrafted chocolates were served alongside the wedding cake.

One of the buffet's luxurious sweets: chocolate raspberry supremes (chocolate mousse wrapped in a band of tempered chocolate and topped with raspberry coulis).

In lieu of a wedding cake, a dessert buffet at the reception is laden with sweets from a favorite local bakery. Extra seating cards are calligraphed with the names of the desserts; patterned paper bands and red and blue cotton ribbon trim the cake stands.

Individual miniature pecan and cherry pies were baked by family members in Wendy's pastry shop.

Chocolate-iced cupcakes stood in for wedding cake. "I just love cupcakes," says Molly. "Everyone gets their own." They were made festive with little flags (created by folding paper around short skewers and securing with double-sided tape); each was printed with a monogram, a palm tree, or polka dots.

Fondant wafers, rubber-stamped with hearts, starbursts, monograms, and exclamation points, top each cupcake.

These cupcakes are displayed on platforms decorated to resemble a traditional tiered wedding cake.