Chocolate Inspiration
It’s no secret that chocolate is important. If there is one universally irresistible food that can alter moods, skew priorities, and probably contribute to world peace, it would be chocolate. Chocolate is so desirable that there are books, art, and movies about it. The classic book-turned-movie Chocolat is one such classic to celebrate and embrace a chocolate theme. If you likewise love chocolate, hosting a chocolate party is a brilliant way to indulge yourself and your friends with this delicious delight. Let’s start planning!
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Caution: It may be difficult to continue reading this post without something chocolate to eat or drink (unless you just already consumed a satisfactory amount of chocolate). It is therefore advisable to secure a chocolate bar/truffles/martini/milk or other such treat before further reading, to avoid experiencing discontent.
How to Throw a Chocolate Party
1. Cover Your Space in Chocolate-Inspired Décor
You have plenty of creative liberty when it comes to decorating for a chocolate party. You could embrace a sensuous, romantic vibe with decorations like a glittery lips garland and elegant bouquets of flowers, or delicate bouquets of dried flowers. For an indulgent and luxurious feel, really plump up the cushiness of your space with velvet throw pillows in rich reds, maroons and browns; plush throw blankets strewn over the couch or chairs; plenty of candlelight; and other sensory delights.
Or maybe you take a quirky, playful path with a chocolate factory décor scheme. You could alternatively opt for a simple, classic look with chocolate brown streamers and other basic party décor in brown and gold colours. Another way to decorate for your chocolate party is to create a Chocolat-inspired scene. The story Chocolat takes place in a midcentury French village, so traditional French décor or anything whimsical and vintage style would pay homage to this beloved tale centered on chocolate.
Whatever décor scheme you adopt, you can find a variety of chocolate-inspired decorations for some ideas to get you started in the list below:
- Chocolate wall backdrop
- Brown chocolate chiffon fabric
- Sheer brown floral lattice lace fabric
- Chocolate brown metallic glitter
- Crepe paper streamers in rose gold and dusty Pink (6 roll pack)
- Old world French country wooden chocolate sign
- ‘Chocolate is a salad’ framed 5″x7″ decorative sign
- Other fun chocolate signs
- Scalloped brown party plates with gold foil edge
- Chocolate brown beverage napkins
2. Prepare Chocolate Food and Beverages
Here’s where it gets serious, my friends. This is where 99% of your effort for this party goes: the overwhelmingly chocolate menu! While there are a few recipes you’ll see listed below that incorporate chocolate into savory bites, the vast majority of chocolate dishes are, naturally, sweet treats. So do make sure you have at least a few savory dishes to balance out all the sweets, whether they incorporate chocolate in the ingredients or not. Meat/vegetarian protein, salad/veggie tray, beans/hummus, whatever you choose – you just don’t want guests leaving with an upset stomach (and too much of a good thing can do that to you!) so provide a variety of healthful and tasty options.
Red wine, of course, pairs beautifully with chocolate, so that should be the house drink. Have plenty of quality seltzer waters, teas/tisanes, and coffee (including water-decaffeinated) for those who don’t drink alcohol, as well as milk (this is one party where milk will be a welcome refreshment!). Other chocolate drink options include but are not limited to chocolate milk, chocolate martinis, chocolate wine, chocolate tea, hot chocolate, and mocha lattes, to name a few.
Below you’ll find separate lists for various chocolates you can buy, recipes with chocolate, chocolate dessert recipes, and chocolate drink recipes.
Chocolates:
- 4-piece chocolate truffle box
- 12-piece chocolate truffle box
- Dark chocolate cacao-dusted raspberry truffles
- Colourful handmade assorted chocolate truffles
- Bourbon chocolate skulls filled with nuts
- Organic fair-trade chocolate-covered caramels
- Little chocolate Eiffel Towers
- Chocolate Genie lamp lollies
- And many more chocolates to choose from!
Foods with chocolate:
- Mole poblano
- Chocolate chicken mole
- Chocolate barbeque chicken
- Healthier chocolate fruit dip
- Panini with chocolate and brie
- Goat cheese crostini with cacao nibs and fresh figs
Chocolate sweet treats:
- Chocolate fondue
- Chocolate lava dip
- Nutella cheese ball
- Drinking chocolate
- Chocolate mousse
- Chocolate cake
- Chocolate brownies
- Chocolate caramel brownies
- Molten chocolate mug cake
- Chocolate-dipped banana bites
Chocolate drinks (without alcohol):
- Healthy chocolate smoothie
- Champurrado (chocolate atole)
- Hot chocolate or this hot chocolate
- Mexican hot chocolate or this Aztec hot chocolate
- Italian-style chocolate milk soda
- Non-alcoholic chocolate mocha martini
Chocolate drinks (with alcohol):
3. Set the Ambience with a Fitting Playlist
Just as with decorating, your chocolate party music could go several directions depending on the vibe you’re going for. If you are embracing a Chocolat theme, play the Chocolat soundtrack for a clever and mysterious touch. If you want a sensual vibe, play Serge Gainsbourg – or perhaps some rumba. You could also opt to play chocolate-specific songs. There are many songs about chocolate from all different genres, including Babymetal’s iconic Gimme Chocolate!!. You have many options. Make your playlist fun and chocolatey, whichever way you take it!
4. Add Irresistible Scents
We covered the visuals, tastes, and tunes of chocolate. Now, consider the scents! To truly immerse your guests in a chocolate theme, think of ways to engage the evocative sense of smell. Whipping up a fresh batch of brownies or other such treat is one easy way, but if you can’t time chocolate baked goods to coincide with guests arriving, create just-as-delicious chocolate aromas with any of these chocolate-scented candles:
- Chocolate candle or this chocolate candle
- Dark chocolate candy bar candle
- Chocolate fudge candle
- Chocolate fudge brownie candle
- Chocolate brownie candle
- Chocolate lava cake candle
- Chocolate bliss dessert candle
- German chocolate cake candle
- The chocolate factory candle
5. Play Chocolate Party Games
If eating copious amounts of chocolate isn’t enough for guests to shake off any accrued stress from their week, games are a great way to loosen up. Having some structured activities is also helpful for more introverted guests, or if intriguing conversations aren’t flowing as easily. Print out any of these fun downloadable chocolate party games to test everyone’s chocolate knowledge and keep them on their toes with some healthy competition:
- Chocolate quiz
- Chocolate name game
- Chocolate trivia or this chocolate trivia
- Chocolate match-up game or the whole chocolate 8-game bundle
6. Establish Guest Participation
Guest participation involves how you’d like your guests to participate or contribute to your party. You could make your chocolate party a potluck and request that guests bring a chocolate food or beverage to share. Maybe you make it BYOB. Whatever you choose, communicate any participation requests when you initially invite people.
Of course, always choose your guests mindfully and with their interests in mind. This is not a party to which you invite a friend who’s allergic to chocolate (and they do exist – I have one). Prioritize friends who you know would most enjoy the theme. But don’t shy away from others who just may not be crazy for chocolate. You never know, with so many different chocolate options, you may turn someone on to one of them!
Checklist of Items You Need
Now that we’ve covered what you’ll need to do for a chocolate party, here is a list of all the tangible items to acquire for it:
- Chocolate-inspired decorations
- Chocolate food and beverages
- Fun music/speakers
- Chocolate-scented candles
- Chocolate games
Preparation Checklist for Your Chocolate Party
Most of these steps for party preparation apply to any type of party you host. So while we covered chocolate-specific details and ideas above, below are basic party planning guidelines to neatly order each step of the process (you can find more thorough details in the Best Party Practices posts):
1. First, confirm that people can come on any chosen date
- Choose party date/time, and preferably alternative date(s) as well
- Choose guest list and establish minimum number of guests you’d like (to make it worth your effort)
- Six weeks out, confirm guests’ interest in the party and availability on chosen party date(s). The only details you’ll need to share at this time include what type of party it will be (chocolate party); any requested participation (i.e. potluck, etc.); party date and general time of day (i.e. ‘afternoon’); and where (your address, or other location if applicable)
- This first step is just to get people to confirm that, barring unforeseen circumstances, they are able and willing to attend and will save the date to do so. If your preferred minimum number of guests confirm interest and availability, have them secure the calendar date for your mouthwatering chocolate party!
2. Then, proceed with the fun planning
Once you have your chocolate party date established, you first need to get out your calendar and map out when you plan to do every step of preparation. This means you schedule time for each preparation activity that you’ll need to do. If you don’t schedule time on your calendar early enough, you may find yourself overwhelmed and unprepared the day of the party. Don’t do that to yourself, especially when you are making a lot of party food! Check out the How to Be a Good Party Host post for more clarification on exactly what you can do to be confident, prepared, and ahead of the game. Party planning isn’t rocket science, but it naturally requires some thought and effort. Here’s a general overview of what you can expect to do leading up to the party:
- First, sit down and schedule time on your calendar for each step of party prep as listed below
- Create invitations with all the details and send them out 4 weeks before the party
- Order any party supplies and decorations 3 weeks out (so they arrive in time to set up)
- Shop for any party supplies/decorations you don’t order online, as well as non-perishable food/drinks
- Acquire perishable food/drinks early enough in advance to prepare in time
- Set up decorations
- Prepare food/drinks (depending on how long things keep)
3. Day of Party
It’s very important to get as much party prep done far enough in advance that you have some time to yourself to relax come party day, especially if you’ve been busy. So be sure to plan your day-of-party preparations early enough to have that time and space to yourself as well. Within those amply planned/set-aside time slots, you can expect to do these preparations during the day of your party:
- Complete any last-minute food/drink prep that are too fresh to do any earlier
- Set up any quick/easy last-minute supplies and decorations (if not up already)
- Prepare ambience (music, candles/scents)
- Get dressed with plenty of time in your favourite party outfit
- Once everything’s ready, take the time to do any preferred self-care activities that get you in a good head space if you aren’t already. This is in your own and everybody else’s best interest (they’ll pick up on your contagiously good vibe)! You want to be a relaxed, energized, and happy host 😊
All Set to Host a Fabulous Chocolate Party
Every part of the party planning process is meant to be enjoyable – from planning the menu to putting up decorations. The way to be a good host is to put thought and care into party preparation while also keeping a flexible approach that allows grace for unexpected surprises. At the end of the day, the goal is for you and your guests to have a good time – even if that looks different than you envisioned. So enjoy the process, eat chocolate, and party on!