How to Serve Canapés: Spoons, Cones, Cups and Stands

How to serve canapés comes down to two choices: the service style and the vessel. There are three service styles. Passed: staff carry trays through the room. Stationed: canapés sit on a table or stand that guests come to. Plated: a small selection goes out on a plate or dish. The vessel is the spoon, cone, cup or boat that holds each bite. It decides how easily a guest can pick the canapé up, and how the tray looks before any food goes on it.

Below is how each style works, how to make a tray look right, a chart of the vessels we stock at their real sizes, and a short note on sticks and stands.

In this guide

• How to serve canapés: passed, stationed or plated
• Making a tray look right
• Choosing the vessel: spoons, cones, cups and boats
• Sticks and stands
• Quick answers

How to serve canapés: passed, stationed or plated

Passed. Staff walk the room with a tray and guests take one bite at a time, usually standing with a drink in the other hand. That makes single-bite vessels the natural fit: a spoon, a small cup, a cone. The Palm Leaf Canapé Spoons are 14cm long with a 4cm bowl and an 8cm handle, and their page calls them a "Perfect single-bite size".

Stationed. Canapés sit on a table, a stand or a run of platters, and guests help themselves. Stands hold cones upright and lift them off the table; platters carry the larger pieces. If the station is closer to a buffet, with sandwiches and finger food, our guide to presenting sandwich and buffet platters covers the layout and the platter sizes.

Plated. A small selection goes on a plate or a small dish for each guest or each table. Small dishes and boats suit this. The Egg-Shaped Palm Leaf Dishes are 8cm x 6cm and 2cm deep, and their page calls them a "Perfect single-serve size".

Plenty of events mix the three: passed canapés during drinks, then a station once guests settle.

Making a tray look right

A canapé tray looks right when it reads as a set. Most of that comes from a few plain habits:

• One vessel per tray. Matching spoons in straight rows look deliberate. Three different vessels on one tray look like whatever was left in the box.
• One canapé per row. Guests see what is on offer before they reach, and staff can name each row as they pass.
• Even gaps. Leave enough room between pieces for a guest to lift one without knocking the next.
• A tray the canapés fill. Full edge to edge looks generous. The same number spread over a bigger tray looks thin.
• Contrast. Pale food shows up against black perspex. Bright food shows up against natural palm leaf and wood.
• Napkins and somewhere for empties. Guests need a napkin, and a place to leave an empty spoon or stick.

Trays, stands and display pieces are together in our Presentation collection.

Choosing the vessel: spoons, cones, cups and boats

Match the vessel to the bite, and the product pages do most of the matching for you. A spoon or a small dish holds a sauce or a loose topping: the palm leaf spoon pages list "Sauce Samplings" and the palm leaf dish pages list "Dipping Sauces". A cone holds something dry you eat with your fingers: the pinewood cone page lists "Chips and fries" and says "Perfect for dry foods". A cup holds a small salad or a dessert, which is what the cup page lists. A boat holds a dip or a few nibbles.

From-prices are the cheapest pack available, ex VAT, as the product pages label them. Each of the eight vessels in the chart has "Fully compostable" on its own product page, and the four palm leaf spoon and dish pages each list "Liquid and oil resistant". The palm leaf spoons and dishes are also grouped in our Palm Leaf Bowls collection.

For food ideas vessel by vessel, see our guide to foods to serve in cones, cups and palm leaf bowls. If the cones are for mini fish and chips, our guide to serving mini fish and chips at a wedding covers the cone, the paper and the stand.

Sticks and stands

A cocktail stick turns a firm bite into something a guest can pick up cleanly: a cube of cheese with a grape, an olive, a cherry tomato, a folded slice of cured meat. Anything soft or saucy belongs on a spoon or in a cup instead. Stick length depends on what goes on it, and our guide to choosing the right skewer length for different canapés sets that out.

Stands hold cones upright and lift them off the table. The 18-Hole Black/Clear Perspex Cone Stand is 42 x 23 x 8cm with 18 holes, comes in black or clear, and starts at £29.99 + VAT for one. Its page lists "Canapé Service" and "Wedding Receptions" but does not give a hole size, so ask us which cones sit in it before you order. For more on choosing a stand, see our guide to cone stands.

Quick answers

How do you serve canapés?

Passed, stationed or plated. Passed canapés go round on trays with staff, so they need single-bite vessels such as spoons, small cups and cones. Stationed canapés sit on a table or stand for guests to help themselves. Plated canapés go out as a small selection on a plate or dish.

How do you present canapés on a tray?

Use one vessel across the whole tray, one canapé per row, straight lines with even gaps, and a tray the canapés fill edge to edge. Send napkins out with it.

What can you serve canapés on?

Spoons, cones, cups, boats, small dishes and cocktail sticks, with stands or platters underneath. The chart above gives the sizes we stock, what each product page lists it for, and the from-price.