I'm back. And ready to lay out the rest of my chocolate wedding plan inspired by ChoCo'a's edible designs at the Abu Dhabi Bridal Show. If you have no clue what I'm talking about, and if you're one of those two hundred aunties who has been conniving to get me married off, kindly humor me by reading the prequel to this post. And if you'd prefer not to, then I'd like to make perfectly clear that I am pre, pre-planning for a wedding that has not even been conceived yet. But like all type A's out there, I like to get my plans in early.

(PS. In case you see numbers in square parentheses, those map to my very systematic napkin plan)

(Getting out of dreamy planning mode for a second here - This personalized chocolate bridal bar was the highlight of the edible ChoCo'a show, and while ChoCo'a intended for the bride to wear this circular dessert table on wheels, this wouldn't work at my chocolate wedding for three main reasons (a) it seems like WAY too much work to wheel that table around, (b) I would probably tip the darn thing over like a clutz before I'd wheeled one step out of my dressing room, and (c) if the table did tip over, I would most definitely drop to the floor and roll around (in my pretty bridal dress) in the fallen chocolate in a fit of totally uncontrollable chocolate desire. Hence, I have delegated the portable chocolate dessert bar to the trusty servers who shall be present at the wedding)

B..b..but we never spoke about the groom, you ask? Priorities people, gotta get the big things out of the way, and the small details will fall into place later.

Before I forget, let me applaud ChoCo'a's Aura chocolate - the last delicacy that you savored as you stepped out into the cool midnight air - on making it to my list of Best Seven of 2011. There's something so seductive about what spice can do to chocolate, and the Aura, a carob molasses and spiced caramel creation, really harnesses the full heaty power of that.

This plan is just the beginning. I have been inspired by one of the most passionate and artistic of chocolate artisans and cake makers in this city. If this sounds biased, well then, it’s because I AM. ChoCo'a is worth being biased over – because of the quality of their culinary workmanship, and additionally, the refreshing attitude they have to connecting with customers, educating people about their product (check out their site for their factory tours and courses), and being cool with having a blogger like me snooping around backstage in those nerve-racking moments right before a show (thank you Hala, you are a rockstar!).

A few more trips to the ChoCo’a store, a couple more samples, another edible bridal show in the works perhaps?, and I’ll be ready to put the final finishing touches on a chocolate wedding so uniquely decadent that I’ll be left wanting to get married again and again. [oops. I didn’t just think that thought in public, did I? Gak. I see mom and two hundred angry aunties honing in on me…]

(Disclaimer: ChoCo’a has neither paid me or given me free gifts to write this post, unless you count those delectable Belgian chocolate discs they were handing out to everyone backstage. I did have to agree to timing my post after their PR release, and while I was not open to their editing any of my opinions, I did give them the option of asking me to put a hold on my post if they really felt like the content would be detrimental to their business. I was confident enough about the quality of their work to know that this post could not have been anything but positive, and hence gave them that rare editorial veto.)

ChoCo'a

Al Barsha, Behind Mall of the Emirates
Dubai, UAE
Tel: +971 4 340 9092
Email: boutique@chocoa.ae

They also have a store in Abu Dhabi, check out their website for details on location