chocolate fountain and bacon rolls?!?

I have photographed weddings with choc fountains and bacon butties. Maybe it's a Yorkshire thing!

If you're on a limited budget then it's possibly not the best use of funds. You might find that you can get a smaller fountain for less. The big 7ft ones tend to be premium priced. There are companies that do 2 x small ones, eg one white choc and one milk choc.

As for bacon butties well you can't go wrong with those! Not here in Yorkshire anyway! But 10pm is too late to serve them. You need to serve evening food by 9pm really as people will be leaving by 10 and the evening only guests will be starving!

I'm doing both! But I'm doing my own chocolate fountain; why not do that?

I bought my own (it was £25 from eBay) and the chocolate is about £20. My hall has agreed that I can provide this and the food for it. Is this an option you have explored?

I agree that the bacon buttes would be better served no later than 9pm. A lot depends on when you will be having the fountain ready. For me personally, once I've eaten a 3 course meal and cupcakes, I would be full enough. I'm not sure that bacon rolls on top of chocolate would sit very well in the stomach but maybe that's just me! I would prefer to skip the fountain and just have the bacon rolls.

I think a fountain fits well with a buffet type reception but it is likely to be too much from what you have described. AT my daugter's graduation there was a beautiful buffet - stunning finger food, and they had about 5 of these fountains - the massive ones. They did go down very well but it sat well with the food overall. There's nothing wrong with them - but if budget is getting tight then they are totally unecessary. No one will notice you not having one!

Bacon rolls - yup, we're having them too - but at 9.00pm. Our breakfast isn't until 5.30 so 9.00 will be fine. There'll be cakes as well at that time. I know some of my guests will be looking at their beds by 10.00am. If our wedding breakfast had been any earlier we would have served them a little earlier too.

Our after wedding party, ten days later, starts at 7.00, food is coming out at 8.30. It'll be needed to help soak up the alcohol.

We are having bacon rolls too! served about 9pm

My only thoughts re. the chocolate fountain are that my H2B once went to a wedding where they had 2 of these for a couple of hours, but from what I understand they hardly got touched. I think the wedding guests assumed they would be there for the whole evening, and when the went back to get some later, it had all been taken away. So perhaps make that clear, so your guests don't miss out. Me personally, I would avoid one like the plaque at a wedding, but that's because I always drop food down me, and am guaranteed to spill runny chocolate all down my finery!

We are also planning to have bacon/sausage rolls in the evening though. I had this before at a wedding and I thought it was a fab alternative to a traditional finger buffet!

My OH wanted bacon sandwiches and it is something we have cut - I feel a little harsh but the cost was going to be over £900 for our numbers and it just didn't seem worth it. Instead we are having cheese, crackers and chutneys that we will buy ourselves at a cost of less than £200 and then our caterer will do a couple of big salad bowls. We have a flexible caterer and venue so this works. I do think people would love bacon butties but it was just so much money! Also we are having pork for our main and it seemed a bit of a pig overload (but I am vege so probably don't have the right to comment!)

What are others doing for evening food just out of interest?

I like the idea of DIY chocolate fountain, sounds great.

For evening food we are having bacon butties, cheese and crackers and cakes and pastries that people can just help themselves to when they are hungry. We are also having a sweet buffet that will be out constantly.

We looked at Bacon rolls but we were getting so much more for our money by going for a buffet option.

Chocolate fountains are something I rarely go near if they're around. Some that I've seen have ended up rather messy, people dripping chocolate everywhere! And kids just sticking their fingers in them. I fancy a candy floss cart!

Our daughter had a pork pie wedding cake and the venue served it with peas. She had a three tier 'wonky' cake of carrot cake, chocolate and lemon as well which was cut up and served as the desert. This was the pork pie wedding cake:-

Whoops! wrong way round. Grandma also knitted her a wedding cake which was really cute too:-

The pork pie cake was £50 for all three tiers and fed 100 guests in the evening. Was purchased from our local butcher and weighed a ton!

I had some amazing chocolate strawberries from a chocolate fountain on holiday and I would have loved to have a chocolate fountain at my wedding. I know opinion is divided (a bit like Marmite, you either love it or you hate it) but I haven't seen a chocolate fountain at any of the weddings I've been to (down south, but I am a northern gal) so I think they are due a comeback...only H2B put the brakes on that idea, thinks only women will like them. A lot of chocolate fountains are manned so hopefully that should stop double-dipping and other unhygienic practices.

As the chocolate fountain will form part of your evening buffet, perhaps the rule of only ordering for 3/4 of your guests will help bring the cost down or as Paula says, go for a smaller one.

Overtherainbow - Love the idae of a Pork Pie Wedding cake! I think that would be a good alternative to bacon butties, and if there is any left, presumably somebody will be allowed to take it home?

We are having a late start with no additional guests later on so we won't have an evening buffet as such. Instead, we will put out a sweet table after the first dance (I am hoping to get sweets and chocolates from a cash-and-carry, not bothering with fancy containers, they will be in boxes so hopefully it will have a tuck-shop feel about it) so if people get peckish, they can nibble on those. For people without a sweet-tooth, I am hoping to order a few cheeseboards from the venue.

I'd make sure you tell your guests that the fountain is available for a specific time only so they can all take advantage of it and nobody misses out. Maybe put it on a bit latter in the evening after the bacon butties?

Personally i'm not a big fan of chocolate fountains. I find i make a mess of things and the chocolate tastes a bit odd

You also need to consider if you have a lot of children attending. Sticky chocolate fingers getting on peoples posh clothes.....

We're having a chocolate buffet like a sweetie buffet but all chocolates. Hopefully less messy and guests can take a bag home with them if there's any left.

We too are serving bacon and sausage butties as evening food. Personally I wouldn't bother with the chocolate fountain if your budget is limited. We are doing a sweet buffet for 130 and it's costing around 70-80 quid including the jars and all the sweets. Guests can pick at that, plus the bacon sarnies and wedding cake, I reckon that will be more than enough!

If there were both I would so dip my bacon sarnie in the chocolate fountain.... Nomnomnom.... No, I havent had dinner yet...

We had bacon butties!

If you are having evening guest who won't be there for the 3 course meal then they will likely expect to be fed, but don't get one for everyone- they won't all get eaten.

As for the chocolate fountain- you may find one cheaper if you look elsewhere or you could try bagaining them down?

We are having two chocolate fountains at our evening reception- we got a deal and it was hire two for the price of one, one milk one white with all the dips, plates, sticks, Staffing etc for £350. I know not everyone likes them but it is the thing that my sons (age 9 and 10) are really excited about lol! They have told all their friends at school and can't wait until August now (although wedding is in March, it's tiny and big reception is in the summer), nothing to do with us getting married, just the chocolate fountain! Eldest son doesn't even like chocolate, they seem to think its magic...

We are having a buffet and then the cake and fountains after to cover deserts. I personally wouldn't have a DIY one as they are a pain to set up and clear up etc so very happy that someone else is doing all that.

We are about as southern as you can get so it can't just be a northern thing :-) OH was really keen on it too, so I want him to have what he likes. Maybe it's a male thing??

We had bacon and sausage butties and potato wedges - and we served them after 10pm! We had fireworks at 10pm and when everyone came back in from the cold the butties were waiting for them. Everyone had some.

A chocolate fountain was an option at our venue - done by the venue themselves - and was an additional £295. We didn't go with it as our wedding cake was chocolate. Definitely shop around if you want one.

Thank you all so much. I spoke to H2B (from Newcastle) and he has agreed that it is a lot of money out of our most budget for something that is not necessary. I agree that the bacon butties are a great idea, our venue insist on 100% catering for evening guests and the cheapest buffet option is £14 a head, but bacon rolls (as I call them...NOT from Newcastle lol) are £5.50 a head and we figure its a great option. We will have cake too, and I make fudge, and am going to have jars of it as favours. I have told him we can buy a chocolate fountain for ourselves as a wedding present and it won't matter if we get it down ourselves lol
By the way we are getting married on the isle of Wight so shopping about is not as easy.
Thank you all for the advice and input.
P.S. I think H2B would love the pork pie cake but I don't eat meat ☺