Weddings
and Chocolate - A Fountain of
Ideas
In today's
world, it seems that almost any
topic is open for debate. While I
was gathering facts for this
article, I was quite surprised to
find some of the issues I thought
were settled about chocolate
fountains and planning a wedding
are actually still being openly
discussed.
Chocolate
fountains, once a rarity at
weddings, are becoming more
common -- but no less beloved.
Still, they pose a budget crunch
for many brides, coming in at
only slightly under the cost of
the wedding cake -- and that's
for a one-day rental!
If you're
like us, there's something that
just burns our little Yankee
hearts about spending over $400
to rent a machine that granted,
costs a little over ten times
that, but gets rented out many
times. And yet if you're like us,
you really want a way to fit that
chocolate fountain in.
We're both
in luck, because higher-end
chocolate fountains are coming to
the home market and becoming more
accessible ... even to
skinflints!
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What
We Didn't Buy -- And
Why
You've
seen the early entrants,
maybe on eBay --
inexpensive chocolate
fountains made by
lesser-known brands
selling for about eighty
bucks.
You've
probably thought of
trying one out, just
because the price
difference between that
and a rental machine was
so
astronomical.
We
did too, but as we read
about the small, cheap
versions, we ran into a
lot of complaints.
One
of the most worrisome
was that the cheap
fountains made such a
loud grinding noise, you
couldn't have a
conversation standing
next to one -- which was
not the ambiance we
wanted for our
party.
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Further, we
weren't sure if we wanted to keep
the fountain over the long term.
We wanted to buy something with
good resale value so we could
recapture our money if
needed.
Fortunately,
as our deadline approached,
Sephra -- the standard in
high-end rental fountains --
began offering pre-orders on
their first home market
fountains. We snapped one up for
about $250, an attractive
fountain that holds five pounds
of chocolate. The fountains were
so new, we had to switch our
order from the lovely cherry red
we'd wanted to a stainless steel
in order to get it in time. But
we got it.
Show time
... And Some Helpful
Hints
Once
acquired, it was time to test it
out in live conditions! The first
party we unveiled it at was on
the small side, with about 25
people. Setup was simple. The
experience did, however, teach us
some tips:
Try out and
get comfortable with your
chocolate fountain before a
really big affair. You won't
really understand the logic
behind the instruction book until
you try it. For example:
If you base
what you do on inaccurate
information, you might be
unpleasantly surprised by the
consequences. Make sure you get
the whole chocolate fountains
story from informed sources.
1)
The chocolate fountain
really does need to be balanced
to work properly. Sephra models
offer adjustable feet to
accomplish this. When we first
set up our fountain, we were so
busy we didn't level it, and it
didn't flow well until an left
brained type in shining armor
fixed it for us. Then things
worked 100% better.
2)
When melting large quantities of
chocolate, don't even
bother with a double burner. You
need a glass bowl and a large
microwave, which your venue
hopefully provides. Heat gently,
as advised -- no higher than 50%
power.
3)
Also, Sephra provides you with a
little tool for telling
whether your chocolate's melted
enough to flow well. Err on the
side of "too melted" rather than
"not enough." Especially given
the minute or so it takes to
transport it, the chocolate can
easily get too thick for easy
flowing.
With 25
very interested people, we nearly
(but not quite) ran through our
first five pounds of chocolate.
So you can guesstimate needing a
pound of chocolate per five
invitees. Just be sure to have
extra on hand.
We worried
whether it would be difficult to
refill the fountain -- for
example, whether we would have to
lug the whole thing back into the
kitchen, disassemble, refill --
but it turned out to be dead
simple. You just pour melted
chocolate into the bottom most
bowl.
Our
Chocolatey
Conclusions
Sephra is
bringing larger versions of their
fountain to the home market. For
a large wedding or a party of
several hundred, we would
probably go with a larger
version.
Yet you can
also do very well with the five
pound model. After all, it's hard
to melt, carry and otherwise
handle more than five pounds of
chocolate at once (you wouldn't
believe how many "chocolate
chips" that is). All you need is
someone willing to watch and
refill periodically, which isn't
hard. Pick someone who can get
slightly messy without a problem
-- not a bridesmaid in shiny
taffeta.
If we'd had
more time and a larger party,
we'd probably get the largest
fountain we could buy, care for
it well, and resell it when the
hoopla died down. That would save
a huge chunk of change over the
$400-500 one day rental, and
bring the chocolate fountain
within reach of a lot more brides
(and happy guests).
And if you
happen to fall in love with it
and the day for selling it never
comes?
Well, it
happens. Just ask us.
If you've
picked some pointers about
chocolate fountains that you can
put into action, then by all
means, do so. You won't really be
able to gain any benefits from
your new knowledge about planning
a wedding reception if you don't
use it.
About the Author
Blake Kritzberg is editor at
"FavorIdeas.com" Stop by for a
huge selection of wedding favors,
Bridezilla's weekly adventures,
and free resources for brides:
save-the-date eCards, screen
saver, wallpaper and web site
templates.
http://www.favorideas.com
For more on the home market
chocolate fountains, see:
http://www.favorideas.com/chocolate.htm
Article
presented by Bob
Pardue
Check
out more delicious chocolate
stories at
www.affectionchocolate.com
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