We are thinking that the dessert table may be the perfect place to throw a party this holiday season. It can be its own affair entirely, and it doesn’t have to abide by rules for a meal. You can buy incredibly pretty dessert plates that don’t match anything else in the china closet. And you can serve exquisite desserts that say, as much as anything else, this is a truly special day.

Let us be bossy and suggest dessert plates and desserts that would be amazing together. Imagine slices of Dean and Deluca’s candy cane cake ($160, top) served on the CIA Store’s polka dot dessert plates (set of 4, $37); it makes us smile just to think of it. Here are a few other sweet combinations we’d love to see:

Chocolate Bakery’s Christmas snowball cake ($60) on Target’s square porcelain snowflake dessert plates (set of 6, $25).

Neiman Marcus’ holly berry cake ($140, above) on Lenox’s Merry & Bright pine & berry dessert plates (set of 4, $30, below left)

Carousel Cakes’ praline cheesecake ($40) on Horchow’s warm Novus dessert plates (set of 4, $170 with code THANKFUL, above right)

Cherry Moon Farms chocolate mousse torte ($40, below) on Oneida’s French chocolate dessert plates (set of 4, $20, below cake)

Sweetie Sweets butter rum pound cake ($30) on Williams-Sonoma’s Twelve Days of Christmas dessert plates (set of 12, $100)

Dean & Deluca’s Santa hat cake ($130, below left - yes, that’s really a cake) on Cooking.com’s St. Nick dessert plates ($21 for one, below right)

 A note: Most of these gorgeous cakes require overnight or express delivery, so delivery charges range from $13 to $30 in addition to the price of the cake.