A chocolate themed party is one that will please the crowds. Here are some ideas to help you have a great celebration, whatever the occasion:

Invitations

Choose your colours from chocolate brown, to light brown and cream to create an invitation that you can design to look like a bar of your favourite chocolate.

If you’re hand-delivering invitation, buy chocolate bars and remove the wrappers and replace with your own personalised invitation.

Chocolate-themed party treats

Chocolate gives you a lot of flexibility for food options. Set up a table with a multitude of chocolate candies and other treats. Buy or rent a chocolate fountain to use as a centre-piece and serve a variety of fruit slices, marshmallows and other treats and surprise your guests with ideas including crispy bacon and crisps.

Chocolate-themed party drinks

A table with chocolate drink ideas can offer different coffee flavours and a blender so guests can create their own coffee or milkshake concoctions using a variety of chocolates, fruits and ice creams either themselves or have someone take responsibility for this.

Party games & activities

Hold chocolate-tasting contests or a wine and chocolate pairing to let guests decide their favourite combination. You can also play chocolate-themed trivia by asking your guests if they know certain fun facts about chocolate that you can research online.

Host a chocolate and wine tasting with a selection of wines and fine chocolates and invite everyone to taste (starting with the lightest flavours first) and let each person choose their favourite chocolate-wine pairing.

Party favours

Send each guest home with a box of high-quality chocolates. If you served a theme drink, write the recipe on an index card and place it inside each box.

Décor for your chocolate themed party

Decorate your buffet tables with warm brown and cream coloured linens to keep with your chocolate theme. Display chocolate cosmos flowers as a floral centre-piece adding in pink and ivory flowers to set off the burgundy cosmos blooms to full effect.

Food and drink for your chocolate-themed party

Start your evening with cocktails, chocolate Martini or chocolate hazelnut espresso Martinis are two ideas.

Savoury chocolate meals

For a savoury chocolate meal, try a chocolate sauce over grilled chicken or shrimp. Other ideas include adding chocolate to your favourite chilli or make chocolate barbecue sauce. You could make your own ravioli, adding cocoa to the pasta, and fill with squash or pumpkin.

Chocolate fondue with rosemary to serve with sliced fresh courgette to go with an Italian meal.

Desserts

A chocolate fondue served with dried or fresh fruits. Popular ideas include banana slices, pitted cherries, sliced kiwi, sliced Mandarin oranges or an assortment of berries.

A chocolate-flavoured drink as dessert can be a hot cocoa, or you can take an ordinary cappuccino add cherry syrup and finely grated, high-quality Belgian dark chocolate, topped with whipped cream and garnish with more grated dark chocolate and three maraschino cherries.

The impressive sounding Dark Chocolate Virgin Grasshopper is the last of our ideas for desserts. In a blender, combine three cups of chocolate or vanilla ice cream with 1.5 cups of milk. Add a few handfuls of high-quality dark chocolate mint squares and add green food colouring. Blend until smooth, pour into two frosty mugs and top with whipped cream.

If you want a celebration cake, layer up a pyramid of profiteroles, bake a chocolate sour cream sponge or a chocolate mascarpone cheesecake using dark chocolate for a bitter-sweet taste.

Chocolate and wine

Dark or bitter-sweet chocolate pairs with a variety of wines. Look for a wine that's a little more robust like a Pinot Noir or full-bodied Merlot, a Cabernet Sauvignon or a Tawny or Vintage Port.

The creaminess of milk chocolate pairs with a Ruby Port, Pinot Noir or light-bodied Merlot. Dessert wines like Rieslings and Muscats can also work well as the mild tannin levels underscore the creamy flavour without overpowering it.

White chocolate is mellow and buttery, making it ideal for softer wines like Sherry that increases the creaminess of the chocolate or an Orange Muscat that may pick up any light fruit tones in the chocolate. Some people also like it with a light white Zinfandel.