I have a small fountain - not a Wilton. Any event, does the Wilton model allow the chocolate to melt in the chamber below, or do you have melt it and add it before you start the machine? Some melt the chocolate right in the fountain and if I were smart, that is the fountain I would have purchased. I think the Sephra fountain melts the chocolate.

I also used good chocolate, but I don't think it would have mattered. Since that party, I have spoken with many people who have used the craft chocolate and they had no problems.

You definitely need to add veggie oil, or if you can get it, coconut oil (try a bakery or candy shop). Even though the chocolate I purchased from W-S had a high fat content, luckily an employee gave me a heads up to add the oil anyway, and probably more than the recommended amount to get it flowing properly.

I used twice the amount of recommended chocolate just to get my fountain to flow properly. It was a huge success at the party, but it was real pain to clean after the party. If you do a search you can find my previous post sometime in October where I got lots of advice.

Some of the problems that posters advised me would be issues using the fountain were really non-issues. I had no problems with the kids (they had experience). If you are having kids at your party and they've never used a fountain, instructions are a must. No double dipping, etc).

I purchased the long wood skewers from Williams-Sonoma. Toothpicks won't work very well.

I set the fountain up on a tea cart all by itself. If you can put it on an island in the kitchen or on a separate table (station) off by itself, that is a good idea. The area wasn't messy, I just think that people using the fountain need a little room to do so. Lots of cocktail napkins and cocktail plates - no white table cloth. LOL

I also found it very inconvenient to be heating the chocolate in my microwave while my guests were in the living room (too much pressure). I debated on doing a trial run, but didn't have the time. I was flying by the seat of my pants.

If you have the large fountain, I would think you could fill it once and have enough chocolate for a baby shower of 100 guests. I had alot of chocolate left over even using the small fountain. Most women may take two or three pieces to dip, but really not more than that, or is this the only dessert you will be offering? If you are having a cake and cookies and some other offerings, filling it once should be more than enough.

Good luck to you. Please post how it goes for you.

I agree with Labmomma, with the large fountain, you will only need to fill it once and it'll be enough for your party. Your owners manual should tell you serving sizes and how much chocolate to use.

What will you serve to dip?

I served marshmallows, biscotti, shortbread cookies, strawberries, pineapple, pretzel rods.

For our new years party we used krispy kreme doughnuts to dip into the fountain. It was out of this world!