Chocolate Fountains

By Gerra Gembarosky

What better way to celebrate your wedding day than to treat your guests to a Chocolate Fountain! There hasn’t been anything this exciting and fun to come along for wedding receptions for quite a while. Your guests—the chocoholics—will certainly remember your reception for years to come! But when is the best time to use it? That can depend on several factors.

If you are purchasing a ‘package’ from your caterer that includes heavy hors d’oeurves, you may want to save the Chocolate Fountain for dessert. In my experience during the past two years in this business, most guests will ignore your other desserts in favor of the fountain. Spending your dollars on a big, expensive wedding cake and hundreds of cookies may not be a wisest choice. Many brides and grooms are ordering a small wedding cake mainly for their “Kodak moment" and saving money by renting a Chocolate Fountain.

Wedding cake often goes uneaten, or a bite taken, and thrown away. That doesn’t happen at the Chocolate Fountain table! If your guests are having light appetizers, then this is the best time to use the Chocolate Fountain. Most guests during this time are having a drink and anxiously awaiting the arrival of the guests of honor so that the celebration can begin. When the Chocolate Fountain is flowing during this 'lull' in the day, the guests aren’t too concerned about how long the bride and groom are taking for their photographs!

Most companies have a 2.5 hour package. This will usually take you from the beginning of appetizers to the middle of dinner. It is becoming more common to purchase an extra hour, so that the guests can enjoy the Chocolate Fountain throughout the evening at their leisure. When choosing a Chocolate Fountain company, it’s important to compare apples to apples. Not every company offers the same quality of chocolate, experienced attendants, or level of expertise. It’s like choosing a photographer--you want to see the quality of his work. There are companies that will set up the fountain and leave it. For liability reasons alone on both the part of the vendor and the purchaser, this is not wise. The fountain will look like an unsightly chocolaty mess in a very short time if unattended. If presentation, service and quality are unimportant to you, then shopping for price alone is the way to go. If these qualities are very important to you, then find a reputable company, get references, and try to pop in for a moment to see them in action.

These are the things to look for: Is the attendant dressed professionally? Is she pleasant? Is she showing the guests how to use the fountain or merely standing around looking at her watch? Is the table well-stocked, neat and clean? Planning a wedding takes time, money, and patience. Do your homework, hire reputable people, and on your wedding day, worry about nothing. You’ve planned well.