Chocolate Fountain for Reception

iamananny

Considering doing this for our reception, depending on what feedback we receive here.
What is the budget for this sort of service?
Any experiences/ reviews/ tips?
We will wed in McAllen Texas in October of 2010.

lyndausvi

ask your local for prices. 

But in my experience chocolate fountailn can be really good or really bad.  More often bad than good  Ones with attendants tend to not be as messy and gross.

georgia_bride09

To me, a chocolate fountain is just a big fountain o' germs. People will double-dip, kids will stick their grubby hands in there, and if Paula Deen is there, she'll just straight up lick the chocolate.

jenn.daniel

I love chocolate fountains.  We had them all the time at special school events.  I’ve never seen it not go well, and I’ve never seen an attendant for one either.  Granted, I’ve never seen anyone under the age of 18 around one, so if there will be kids, I might rethink.  I’ve never heard anyone say before that they don’t like a chocolate fountain.  My mother thinks there’s a generational gap though and says the older part of the crowd isn’t so interested.  If most of your guests are college/grad school age, it’ll be a big hit.  All are friends were so excited when we told them we want a chocolate fountain at our reception.

In Richmond they run $3-3.25 pp.  That includes pineapple, pretzels, strawberries etc.

jeanna85

adult only wedding- can work out nicely depending

children involved?- you WILL be covered in chocolate once one overeager flower girl runs up to give you a hug.

also - double dipping goes on either way. ew.

ros3392

I have been debating internally over having one as well. I was at an event a month or so ago and there was one. There WERE attendants (who said that I was their best customer haha) BUT my fiance is saying that it is a huge waste of money.. but hey I love chocolate and if I want to pay for it I will.

Their price (The Melting Pot) was $500 for the evening, I made friends with them and they said that we can work out another deal.

I also found a caterer who is a friend of my mother's who has one that will be about $300...

I agree with the other posts in that if there is not going to be an attendant, forget it.. also if you are going to have a lot of little children under the age of about 12 I would also say forget it.

526SadieSadie

I love the chocolate fountain.  It can go badly if you have relatives with less than stellar hygiene, and I agree that children should probably be kept at a safe distance, but it's a fun idea.  My mother bought one for my college graduation party and it was a big hit.  The only thing is, they are really really expensive to get from a venue, from what I can tell.  The cheapest I found was $900 for the fountain from 150-75 people and four dipping choices.  It's pretty insane.  Since we already have one, I'm going to see if I can weedle that in with a venue....wish me luck....

MourningMist

My mother had purchased a chocolate fountain for my sister's wedding a few years ago. The wedding did not go thru so its still new. My fiance and i would like to use it at our wedding and the double-dipping was issue for us as well. We are having small plastic cups made up with our names on them for people to put chocolate in and carry around. This does away with double-dipping and from a large crowd congregated in one area.

MourningMist

Plus you can get smaller ones on ebay for around $30-$40

Ashe- Monique Wint

I went to a wedding last year where they had the chocolate fountain at the outdoor reception and it didn't turn out so good. It was a pretty windy, cool night and the breeze was blowing the chocolate all over the place. It was all over the table cloths etc.
 
I would say go for it if the reception is indoors though

iamananny

Thanks for your input girls. Unfortunately, I neglected to get input from the hunbun first. He's totally against it, so I guess that settles that!