Chocolate fountain for graduation party - how messy are they?

[WDWorld2003]

Has anyone used one of these at a graduation party? I've never seen one in person but some get great reviews on Amazon.

I thought it might be fun but don't want my floors and drapes smeared with chocolate. We don't have a large house so it would have to be in the kitchen or out on the porch. Also, do you use large toothpicks to put the food on?

Any other graduation ideas would be helpful! I want to keep the party simple and fun - don't want to stress with lots of fancy food!

 

[Kim&Chris]

I've been to a few weddings and parties with those chocolate fountains and, yes, they can be a mess. But, alot of the mess will depend upon the guests. If you plan on having little kids, consider a 'definite' that you'll be mopping up chocolate.

 

[castleview]

If you use wooden skewers for the fruit or marshmallows, be sure nobody stabs themselves in the hand. Sadly, I had a personal experience with this on Easter

 

[princess pooh]

Put a disposable tablecloth under the fountain because the chocolate tends to drip off whatever is dunked in there. Also put plates or napkins nearby so the chocolate won't drip everywhere. I used my chocolate fountain at a party recently and it was a lot of fun!

 

[Bambi5826]

These things are so great! They are so much fun, but can be messy.
Wish I would have had one at MY grad party!

 

[mickey12810]

The rental company that I work for has these and my job is to be an attendant. They can be messy but ours has a large ring that inserts into the bottom bowl and alleviates alot of the dripping. Definitely put a disposable table cloth on the bottom. Also if you have to protect the floor then you could even tape a tarp onto the floor. Use skewers for dipping things like marshmallows, bananas, rice krispie treats, cookies, strawberries. If you rent one ask if they have an attendant and they can man the machine to make sure there is not too much of a mess. Also just a word of caution. They can't be put outside because if there is the slightest wind then chocolate will spew everywhere. Been there, done that. They are a big hit, especially if people have not seen them before.

 

[Dznypal]

we went to a wedding show and they one with samples--

my DD was all for getting one until she tried it--while its very good as shes sampling she dripping chocolate all down her front!!!

she didnt want her whole wedding to have the same chocolate stripe!!!

they are really neat though

 

[Sparx]

The question is not "how messy are chocolate fountains" the question is "how messy are your guests"


I'd put a cake board under it, and hten a table cloth over the cake board, that way if it drips, and runs through the table cloth, it won't really be too much of a mess to clean up.