DIY Hot Chocolate Bar

We had a summer wedding because it just made more sense. Almost all of our wedding guests were traveling, so it was just easier for them to travel during summer vacation. We had a candy bar because I love chocolate and thought a bag of chocolate and candies on the way out was so much fun. If we had a winter wedding, though, we would have done a DIY hot chocolate bar on the way out.

See, I love hot chocolate. I drank it every day before school, and it's a treat I even drink now. So it would have been so much fun to put together a hot chocolate bar with personalized cups, signs, and toppings.

If you're having a winter wedding and want something special, this DIY hot chocolate bar is exactly what you're looking for.

DIY Hot Chocolate Bar

If you're having this at your wedding, you need to put together all the DIY elements yourself, then hand them off to your venue coordinator. If you want to make sure it looks the way you intended, set it up at home and take a photo. Tape that photo to the top of the box containing the elements so you can assure it's the way you want. If you don't have the ability to take a photo, you can always draw one.

Also, big thank you to Shutterfly for helping us with the images and printable for this post. Shutterfly created neutral printables that will match your wedding colors no matter what they are. That's absolutely perfect and means you don't have to design your own.

What You'll Need:

• Hot chocolate mix
• Hot chocolate spoons
• Paper cups and printables
• Toppings (whipped cream, chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, crushed peppermint candies, caramels, etc.)
• Syrups (caramel, chocolate, etc.)
• Skewer sticks and printable labels
• Spoons or stirrers
• Baker's twine
• 2 large pitchers
• Chalkboard

What You'll Do:

Make your hot chocolate mix.
My mix is an equal ratio of sugar to unsweetened cocoa powder, plus one pinch of salt. Two tablespoons of mix is one 8oz. cup of hot chocolate. Store your mix in a glass jar to bring to your venue.

You can have them either leave the mix in your glass jars or combine it with hot milk and add it to a pitcher. If you have them mix it, be sure to tell them two tablespoons of milk per 8oz. of milk.

Put together your cups.
Purchase paper cups in your wedding colors. Cut out the printables and glue them to one side of each cup. Let them dry completely.

Assemble your printables.
Head over to this link for a variety of printables. You'll find one that says hot chocolate (this will go on the pitcher with the hot chocolate) and another that says hot milk (this goes on a second pitcher).

There are also flag printables for items like marshmallows, peppermint, and more. Put a small bit of glue on the back of each, then affix them to the top of skewer sticks. Get a glass jar for each topping, then stick the skewer in each jar. Print out the larger tags for things like the syrups, then affix them around bottles with baker's twine.

Make your hot chocolate spoons.
Some of your guests may prefer hot chocolate spoons instead of using a powdered mix. The spoons are easy to make (find our complete tutorial here). Your guests can stir the hot chocolate spoons into the hot milk.

Create your chalkboard.
You'll want to give your guests a little direction with the hot chocolate bar. A fun way to do that is to write out a chalkboard for them. Writing something like "Pour hot cocoa & pile on toppings or pour hot milk & dunk choco sticks" is a big help.

Think about snacks.
I'm a big fan of not baking anything for your wedding yourself. There's just not enough time. I promise you. But talk to your caterer or your cake vendor. Explain to them that you're planning a hot chocolate bar and see if they can create any sweet treats (hot chocolate mini cupcakes, maybe) to compliment your hot chocolate bar. Put them out on the table with your hot chocolate bar items to finish the night perfectly.

BRIDAL BABBLE: What toppings would you add to your DIY hot chocolate bar?