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Save on Wedding Costs and Have that Chocolate Fountain
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! 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. 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. Showtime ... And a Few Tips 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. Set-up 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: 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 a 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 bottommost 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. 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, screensaver, wallpaper and web site templates.http://www.favorideas.com For more on home market chocolate fountains, see: http://www.favorideas.com/chocolate.htm
MORE RESOURCES: Total Bellas Star Nikki Bella Says Dress She Wore To Marry Artem Chigvintsev Was Originally Purchased For John Cena Wedding Yahoo! Voices ‘Like going to hell’: more young Chinese are falling out of love with tying the knot South China Morning Post Here’s Everything We Know About Marc Anthony & Nadia Ferreira’s Private Wedding Ceremony Remezcla Clark County Clerk Opens Pop-Up Marriage License Office at Airport ... Clark County, NV (.gov) Valentine's Day weddings offered at the Plaza de Las Cruces and ... Las Cruces Sun-News Post-wedding Blues: Can Getting Married Cause Depression ... Healthnews.com Who What Wear Weddings: Kat Collings and Zac Wolf Who What Wear Sydney marriage celebrant Meggan Brummer recovers beachgoer's wedding ring at the bottom of Balmoral Daily Mail Song Joong Ki to hold wedding ceremony in March? Agency reacts Hindustan Times Rays, city officials work towards marriage after ‘engagement’ St Pete Catalyst On the Fifth Try, a First Date to Remember The New York Times I'm Getting Married! But How Can I Afford the Wedding? Yahoo Finance 1000-Lb. Sisters ' Tammy Shares Rare Insight Into Marriage With Husband Caleb Yahoo Entertainment The 11 Shortest Celebrity Marriages You Forgot About L'Officiel USA With Their Wedding, a Place of Pain Becomes a Site of Love The New York Times Athiya Shetty-KL Rahul Post Wedding Pics: "We Got Married In The Home That's Given Us Immense Joy" NDTV ‘Forced marriage is painful’: bride’s wedding breakdown in China goes viral South China Morning Post Sidharth Malhotra dances with bride at Delhi wedding, shyly changes subject when asked about his marriage with Kiara Advani. Watch The Indian Express Why Second Marriages Are Even More Likely to End in Divorce Good Housekeeping Happy Fleetwood couple celebrate 73 years of marriage - and they ... Blackpool Gazette This young American couple had Scotland’s first-ever queer Jewish wedding The Times of Israel ‘Maagha’ starts, good days for wedding industry in Andhra Pradesh The New Indian Express Inside Masaba Gupta-Satyadeep Misra's Post Wedding Bash: Special Speech By Viv Richards And More NDTV Ludhiana: Maharashtra man held for stealing bag containing ₹7 lakh from reception party Hindustan Times The President and First Lady Announce the Marriage of their ... The White House How Couples Are Incorporating Pickeball Into Their Weddings The New York Times A first kiss, then marriage: Two rabbis-to-be tie the knot at a fun-filled California wedding JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency After a First Date at Popeyes, Marriage Was on the Menu The New York Times Your dream wedding might not be legal – time to update England's old-fashioned marriage laws The Conversation Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Whether Wedding Website ... Ogletree Deakins The Best Wedding Planning Tips for Older Couples or Second ... Katie Couric Media Congress passed the Respect for Marriage Act. It's not without its ... Pennsylvania Capital-Star ‘Still Growing Together,’ a Teenage Crush Leads to Marriage The New York Times New Services Allow a ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ Approach to Weddings The New York Times Tradition Was Never Their Thing. Why Start With a Wedding? The New York Times |
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