Are you stumped about how much candy will fill up your jars? Most people have no clue how much it would take, and when time is of the essence, you gotta get it right the first time.
Here are some helpful tips (and videos below!) to buying the right amount of candy for your candy buffet.
Know your space
First, figure out where your candy buffet will go. That will help you understand how big of a table or display area you will need to fill with fun and colorful candy.
Tip: Sometimes it’s better to over-fill a small space than to spread thin over a larger area.
Credit: Corey Ann via Flickr
Diversify Smartly
You already know what colors you want to use. Now try to economize by choosing the candy that will go the farthest for your dollar first, then moving on to the really good stuff.
For example, White Wedding Mints are gorgeous and inexpensive for 5 pounds. If white is one of your colors, put these on your list. This strategy will leave you with more money to spend on your other colors as you move on to your top priority candies.
Prepare for Greedy Guests
Your candy buffet will be very popular at your event. People will devour it quickly and probably even come back for seconds.
It’s a good idea to buy more than the just bare minimum needed to fill your space. Not only will it give you room for error in your estimations, but you can keep any excess candy under the buffet table and refill it when it gets low.
Watch these videos ↓
Next, start to get an idea of how far your candy will go. Watch a few of these videos to wrap your head around how much volume you’ll get per pound of your favorite candy.
A lot of our products come in 5 pounds or 10 pounds. That sounds like a lot. But, when building a candy buffet, it might not go as far as you initially think.
5 pounds of M&M’s tutorial. Go to M&M’s Page.
5 pounds of gummy bears. Go to Gummy Bears page.
5 pounds of Salt Water Taffy. Go to Salt Water Taffy page.
10 pounds of Jelly Belly Jelly Beans. Go to Jelly Belly page.
10 pounds of Sixlets decorator candy. Go to Sixlets page.
Rock candy swizzle sticks. Go to Rock Candy page.
5 pounds White Wedding Mints. Go to White Mints page.
5 pounds Starlight Mints. Go to Starlight Mints page.
5 pounds Jolly Ranchers. Go to Jolly Ranchers page.
10 pounds Sunkist Fruit Gems
You’re going to have such a great candy buffet! Let us know how it goes. …and send us the pictures!!
I need 150 of your heart shaped chocolates (red wrappers). How many pounds do you suggest I will need to reach that number? Thank you
Hi Kay! There are roughly 60 pieces per pound, so a 5lb bag would have around 300m pieces. Hope this helps!
I am purchasing 100 4x4x4 clear vinyl boxes to use for fundraising. I plan to fill them with a combination of two of your candies. How many boxes would I fill with 5 pounds of cinnamon imperial hearts? How many boxes would I fill with 5 pounds of M&M’s? Thank you.
Hi Melissa,
Candy volumes can be tricky. But we like to use water to help us estimate. For example, the video above on the M&M’s shows that 5 pounds of M&M’s is about a half gallon of liquid. So you might take a half gallon milk container, fill it with water, and then see how many times you can fill a 4x4x4 vinyl box. If it fills it up 12 times, you know that 5 pounds of M&M’s will fill about 12 of your boxes.
If you don’t have the boxes yet, maybe substitute a whiskey tumbler or another small glass that might be close to 4x4x4.
As for the cinnamon hearts, they are about the same size as the white mints shown in a different video above. The wine glasses used in that video might be similar in size to your vinyl boxes. All together 5 pounds of those white mints comes out to a little more than a half gallon.
Hope this helps!
Thank you for your prompt reply.
We are hosting a birthday party for our 13 year old with 20 kids coming. How many pounds of candy would you recommend for our candy bar?
We usually recommend about 1/2 pound per guest when considering consumption. But if you are building a candy buffet bar, you are going to need more than 10 pounds. The videos above should help you get a better idea of how much candy you need to fill the space you envision for your buffet. It’s all about how you want your display to look. Some people like to have the containers close together so the buffet has a feel of abundance. Other people like to spread out the design for a cleaner look. But, there is no wrong way to do a candy buffet!
What is the comparable volume for 2 lbs of gum balls? A half gallon, gallon, etc…
Hi Tanya! Closer to a half gallon, I’d say. We have a bunch of helpful videos that show the volume of some candies. You can find them here: https://www.candystore.com/blog/candy-buffets/how-much-candy-do-i-need/ I guess it’s time to do a gumballs video!
Thank you!
5 pounds of Jordan almonds is what volume? 1/2 gallon, gallon, etc?
Hi Tanya. About the same as 5lb of M&Ms.
Hi! How long does it take for the candies to ship? I want the candies to be fresh for my party on September 26th. Thanks!
Hi Cristy, Orders ship the very next business day – and sometimes the same day – so they arrive very quickly. Candy stays fresh for a good while, as long as it’s kept in a cool dry place.
Hello, I am having approximately 100 guests at my son’s bar mitzvah. About half will be children 10-13 yrs old. How many varieties of candy should I buy? Do you recommend 60 pounds? Seems like a lot! Not sure I did my math correct. I could use some guidance please! Thanks.
Hi Alison, 50 kids? That’s a big shin dig! The big question is what is the purpose of the candy buffet?
Is it a decorative display that people can also eat, or is it literally a buffet line of candy that people will be lining up to fill their favor bags? The later would require more candy. The former could be significantly less. So, lets go with that. We usually say about a half pound of candy per guest, so 50 pounds in your case. But a half pound of candy isn’t a ton if your guests are consuming a lot of it. With 50 kids aged 10-13, I might bump your 60 pound estimate up a bit. I don’t think 75 pounds would be too much. And if it ends up being too little, you can always shift strategies and make it more of a decorative piece – with benefits. :)
Summary: Get 60-75 pounds of candy that will work well as a decorative display – matching colors, varying textures/types.
Hope this helps!
Thank you. That helps tremendously!
Good morning, I am having approximately 135 guests for my son’s bar mitzvah. 68 of whom are 12-13 year olds. I am planning on having a candy buffet as a give-away as the guests are so it would be out the last 30 minutes of the party. How many pounds of candy would you recommend if it is a “take it with you”? Would you recommend also assuming the adults would be taking the candy?
Thank you
Melissa
Wow! 68 12-13 year olds. I think you’ve got Alison beat! But you’ll need more candy, because you are going to present it as a true buffet. If you just throw up a gorgeous candy buffet people will eat it, but not as voraciously as if you encourage them to fill up a bag on their way out.
When people are taking bags away, how much would you expect each person to take in each bag? Put a pound of candy in your hand and see how much you’ve actually got. It’s often less than people think. Candy is heavy.
One trick to keep the overall size down is to use smaller bags. Some people use little Chinese food takeout boxes. Super cute and a great way to limit size! This is all assuming that you’re wanting to keep a budget, some people wanna have as much candy bling as we can ship – and we can ship a lot :)
So let’s hedge a little and say you’re ok with each kid taking a pound of candy and each adult taking, say, 1/4 pound. That takes into account that some adults wont have any, and some adults might be big kids in candy consumption terms. Here’s my math:
67 adults * 1/4 pound = 16.75 Pounds
68 kids * 1 pound = 68 pounds
total candy = 85 pounds
I hope this helps. It’s really hard to guess how much candy people will eat – especially when you don’t know the people! :)
Write back after your son’s bar mitzvah and let us know how much you bought and how it went!
I am helping to plan a wedding for 120 guests where a candy bar would serve as take home treats. How many pounds would you recommend?
It’s a great question and varies for everyone. The size of your candy buffet is also a determining factor. We typically say 1/2 pound per guest. But if people are eating candy AT the wedding as well as taking some home…it could be significantly more. You can reduce that amount by offering them small containers for the take-away candy. Like a fun Chinese food box or even a mint tin. I’ve seen that done! Haha. If you have figured out the amount you’d need for the display alone to look like you want it to? Then I would add maybe 50% more candy as take-away / extra candy to refill the display. But like I said if you’re already having a huge candy buffet and you offer people small to-go boxes, then you could probably get away with 15-20% more. Hope this helps. Hit me back with more questions if you have them!
Hi, my daughter & friends are participating in the American Cancer Society Relay for life in a few weeks. There team is thinking of doing a candy bar at the event for a fundraiser. I am trying to figure out how much candy and the assortment. I was thinking I would get 1/4 pound bags for people to fill. I would like to be able to fill at least 100 bags of candy . The girls would like to raise at least $200 so with the bag price at $2.00 that should work. What would you suggest for an assortment and pounds of candy I would need. What are the best types of candy size wise to use for this smaller bag
Hi Carolyn, this bulk candy mix is about $1/pound. So if you split it into 1/4lb bags and charge $2 a pop, you’re looking at a margin of $1.75 a bag. That will get you close to $200. If you charge $2.25, you’re there!
https://www.candystore.com/bulk-candy-mix/