Valentine's Day Party {Food & Decor}

Learn how to throw a quick and easy Valentine's Day party with a romantic pink dessert table. It's a sweet way to surprise your partner with all of his/her favorite sweet treats.

*Thank you Edible Arrangements for sponsoring today's post. As always, all opinions are mine.*

It's officially February and this fun party is a wonderful way to celebrate love and romance. Hubby and I celebrated early this year since I will be traveling on the 14th.

Party Decor

For decoration and backdrop, I kept things simple with a pink and white color theme. I used a wood design paper backdrop with a pink ruffle banner. I attached both of these to the wall behind the table. Then, I set up a rose petal trail all the way from the main entrance to the dessert table. This is a really fun way for your partner to see the surprise table! Fill up any empty space with huge helium-filled heart balloons, pink and red flowers, rose petals, confetti.

Dessert Table

One important thing that every dessert table needs is a "focal point." Normally, that's a fancy decorated layer cake. However, the edible bouquet from Edible Arrangements was so stunning and such a show stopper that it made the perfect center piece for my romantic dessert table. It's a hand crafted bouquet, made with juicy fresh fruits.

These themed tables should include a variety of desserts- cakes, cupcakes, cookies, brownies, bars e.t.c. Also, include multiple different flavors to keep the food exciting. Most of the food should be bite-sized and in individual cups and there should be small pre-cut slices for larger desserts like brownies or cheesecakes. Feel free to use seasonal cupcake liners and wrappers.

Add little labels beside each dessert (I didn't do it this time because it was just for me and my husband). For guests, it is very helpful and I highly recommend them.

Make sure that every item is on its own individual cake stand or serving dish and stick to your color theme. All of my dishes were either pink, white or red.

Use a tablecloth that is not too distracting with too many patterns. I didn't have to use one because I liked the white colored table.

This dessert table was epic and had all of my hubby's favorites:

• Chocolate fondue with pink wafers and pretzels
• Chocolate covered granola bars with pink chocolate drizzle
• Cute chocolate bears
• Sweet and salty popcorn mix
• Rose cupcakes
• Chocolate covered sugar cookies
• Box of fancy candies
• Rose punch
• Fruit bouquet

Valentine's Day Party Food Ideas- Desserts and Drinks

I like to put a heavy emphasis on sweet rather than savory at my parties. For dessert tables, especially, sweet food items look the best visually compared to savory items. Include a variety of sweet treats such as cakes, cupcakes, cookies, candies, brownies and bars. For drinks, keep alcoholic and non-alcoholic options. Try to stick to pink and red colors to keep the romantic theme consistent. Check out this post on Pink Desserts (Valentine's Day Desserts) for more inspiration.

Cakes

Make them from scratch or use a doctored cake mix recipe or order a custom cake from your favorite bakery. Flavors that are popular this time of the year are strawberry, raspberry, champagne, white chocolate. They can be simple frosted cakes or fancy decorated cakes.

• Pink Velvet Cake- Pink and heart shaped.
• Mini Love Letter Cake- So easy to make with fondant and heart sprinkles.
• Red Velvet Cake- Truly the best recipe out there.
• Fondant Flower Cake- Make a pretty pink and white polka dot flower with just basic cutters.
• Chocolate Bark Cake- An easy cake decorating technique where a frosted cake is decorated with pieces of chocolate bark.
• Easy Love Cake- Decorated with edible markers and heart sprinkles.
• Black Forest Cake (With Cake Mix)- Soft, moist chocolate cake with cherry filling and whipped cream.
• Strawberry Shortcake Cake (With Cake Mix)- This layer cake is composed of soft and moist vanilla cake, sweet and juicy fresh strawberry filling and fluffy whipped cream.
• Easy Strawberry Shortcake (With Bisquick)-  Flaky biscuits, filled with sweetened strawberries and whipped cream. 
• Kit Kat Cake- Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, wrapped in Kit Kat bars and topped fresh strawberries and blackberries.
• Easy Icebox Cake- Also known as refrigerator cake with  layers of graham crackers, vanilla or cheesecake pudding/ Cool Whip filling and fresh strawberries.
• Easy Pavlova-  This meringue-based dessert is light and airy on the inside and crispy on the outside.
• Chocolate Marshmallow Cake (Heart Cake)- Mini chocolate cakes in the shape of hearts, paired with strawberry frosting and pink marshmallows.
• Buttercream Ruffle Cake-  Learn how to make pink buttercream ruffles with just Tip 104.
• Chocolate Raspberry Cake (With Cake Mix)- Moist chocolate cake with fresh raspberry pie filling and loaded with ganache frosting.
• Easy Cake Tower- Slices of pound cake are stacked and decorated with pink buttercream icing and fondant flowers
• Easy Maraschino Cherry Cake (With Cake Mix)- Pink layer cake with bits of maraschino cherries, filled with whipped cream and topped with even more maraschino cherries.
• Easy Pink Champagne Cake- This stunning layer cake is full of strawberry and bubbly sparkling champagne flavors.

Cupcakes

Decorate homemade or store-bought cupcakes with colored buttercream icing. Pipe a large rose or you can pipe a swirl of frosting and top it off with a fresh rose bud or rose petals.

• Valentine's Day Cupcakes (Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes)- Fluffy strawberry cupcakes, topped with chocolate whipped cream and decorated with chocolate covered strawberries.
• Red Rose Cupcakes- These breathtaking cupcakes are decorated with just Tip 1M.
• Pink Champagne Cupcakes- The champagne frosting here really takes them over the top.
• Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes-  Filled with maraschino cherry truffles and topped with fudgy chocolate frosting.
• Flower Cupcake Bouquet- This is a pull apart floral cupcake cake.
• Easy Strawberry Cupcakes- Made entirely from scratch with simple ingredients.
• Red Velvet Cupcakes- Classic cupcakes topped with tangy cream cheese frosting.
• No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes- These mini treats are composed of graham cracker crust, cheesecake filling, fresh strawberry topping.

Cookies

Include a variety of shapes, sizes and flavors. If you are really short on time, you can decorate store-bought cookies with seasonal sprinkles, melted chocolate and colored icings. For these cookies, I bought round sugar cookies, topped them off with melted chocolate and tossed some heart sprinkles.

• Champagne Cookies- Decorated with pink champagne icing and white edible pearls.
• Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies- Soft and chewy, dipped in melted chocolate and covered in sprinkles.
• Cut Out Heart Cookies- Starts off with red velvet cake mix.
• Easy Valentine's Day Cookies (Love Letter Cookies)- All you need is sugar cookies or graham crackers, marshmallow fondant and edible markers.
• Cotton Candy Cookies (With Cake Mix)- Crispy, chewy chocolate cookies are topped with buttercream icing and pink cotton candy.
• Easy Meringue Cookies (Egg White Cookies)- Delicate, light, airy and packed with vanilla flavor. 
• Easy Flower Cookies- No fancy tools needed here.
• Easy Tulip Cookies- Only basic cutters, round sugar cookies and marshmallow fondant needed!
• Red Velvet Cookies (With Cake Mix)- Loaded with white chocolate chips.
• Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies (Crinkles)- Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside with a beautiful crackled powdered sugar topping.
• Easy Linzer Cookies- Vanilla and almond flavored shortbread cookie sandwiches are filled with raspberry jam.
• Chocolate Cherry Cookies (Black Forest Cookies)- Thumbprints filled with vanilla buttercream icing, cherry pie filling and chocolate shavings.
• Chewy Coconut Macaroons- Covered in melted chocolate, white chocolate shavings and sliced fresh strawberries.
• Easy Rose Cookies (Piped)- These buttery cookies are piped to look like roses.

Sweet dips

These are great for dipping fruits. You can also make a platter and add a variety of "dippers" like berries, pretzels, mini cookies, small pieces of cakes and brownies.

• Chocolate Fondue- Made with just 3 simple ingredients.
• Chocolate Fruit Dip- Rich, creamy and packed with melted chocolate chips, cream cheese, whipped cream.
• Easy Fruit Dip- Perfect for dipping fresh fruits.
• Peaches and Cream Dip- No bake and so creamy.

Fruits

Chocolate dipped fruits are the best and an absolute classic. Make sure you are using ripe fruits that are in season. Include strawberries, peaches, cherries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries. This edible Valentine bouquet from Edible Arrangements was so stunning that I used that instead of a platter of fruits. There are grape skewers, heart shaped pineapples, chocolate dipped strawberries (Hubby and I loved these!) and even a chocolate heart. It's so beautiful, delicious and great for sharing too. Even on its own, this bouquet makes the perfect gift.

• Chocolate Covered Strawberries- Prepared in just 20 minutes with so many topping options.
• Chocolate Covered Raspberries- Stuffed with semisweet chocolate chips too.
• Healthy Valentine's Day Treats (Fruit Snacks)- Grab an edible marker and write cute messages on fruits.
• Easy Strawberries and Cream- No bake dessert with layers of whipped cream and fresh strawberries.
• Chocolate Fruit Kabobs (Fruit Skewers)- Each fruit skewer is packed with fresh juicy berries like strawberries and chocolate brownies.
• Chocolate Covered Cherries- Dipped in white chocolate and covered in coconut, nuts or sprinkles.

Candy

You can buy seasonal candies from grocery stores or order them online from specialty candy stores. This chocolate box from Edible Arrangements made a fantastic addition to my dessert table. The packaging was very sleek and stylish and the chocolates had the most incredible fillings like passionfruit, pineapple, orange, raspberry, caramel and hazelnuts. Hubby liked the hazelnut one while I fell in love with the passionfruit one. Honestly, I would expect nothing less from famed chocolatier, Jacques Torres, who was the mastermind behind this chocolate box. Homemade candies are another option. Classics include chocolate truffles, chocolate bark, fudge.

• Chocolate Champagne Truffles- Made with 4 simple ingredients.
• Red Velvet Truffles (With Cake Mix)- All the flavors of red velvet cookies in candy form.
• Homemade Sugar Cubes (Hearts and Stars)- Any shape and color is possible with this basic recipe.
• Jello Marshmallow Candy- made in 1 hour with just 4 ingredients.
• White Chocolate Bark- So many topping ideas that you can try with this one.
• Coffee Fudge (Espresso Fudge)- Full of semisweet chocolate chips, espresso powder and toasted almonds.
• Homemade Chocolate Bars- 4 simple ingredients and lots of creative add-in options included.

Beverages

These can be alcoholic or non-alcoholic. The best color choices will be shades of pink and red. In terms of flavors, strawberry syrup, raspberry syrup, rose syrup are popular. Some options are: smoothies, hot cocoa, punch, cocktails.

• Banana Raspberry Smoothie- Healthy breakfast on the go, packed with oatmeal, Greek yogurt, milk, fruits.
• Strawberry Smoothie- So beautiful and pink.
• Banana Blueberry Smoothie- Tastes just as good as it looks.
• Crockpot Hot Chocolate- Packed with cocoa powder and chocolate chips and topped with mini pink marshmallows.
• Easy Christmas Punch- Non-alcoholic and not just reserved for the Christmas holiday season.

Brownies and bars

You can take something as simple as granola bars and transform them. Dip them in melted chocolate and then, drizzle melted pink chocolate. Toss some sprinkles or freeze dried strawberries, if you like.

• Gooey Brownies (Chocolate Cherry Brownies)- Full of cocoa powder, topped with chocolate ganache frosting and cherry pie filling.
• Chocolate Coconut Bars (Macaroon Bars)- No bake bars, topped with ganache and fresh strawberries.

My favorite Valentine's Day Party Food- Tiered Heart Cake

This is a chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream icing that's decorated in bluish-gray fondant and jumbo heart sprinkles. I love how this heart cake is not a typical heart "shaped" cake. It is a big cake and can feed up to 20 people. You can make a smaller version of this cake, if it will just be for a couple. You can try different cake flavors and frosting flavors and even play around with the colors of the overall cake design. Take this idea and make it your own! Also, if you don't want to make a tiered cake, you can just make a single tier and it will be less work.

Storage- Leftovers can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Please note that fondant decorations may become sticky from the moisture in the refrigerator. 

Recipe