Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting the ladies of Vita Dolce, a specialty chocolate company based out of Grand Rapids. I also had the pleasure of testing their products; lucky me! After completing that grueling task, I can say with certainty that Vita Dolce makes the best chocolates this planner has ever tasted. And they are visually delightful, to boot! I actually had to examine the artisan chocolate (first photo below) closely to ensure that it was, indeed, edible. It was so perfectly crafted that I was convinced it was for model use only. The experience in a nutshell? I hope to be at every wedding they are!
I got the chance to interview Jessica and Dana, the owners of Vita Dolce. Read on to get to know more about them and their tasty business!
Tell me a little bit about yourselves.
Dana and I have known each other for a long time. We are both married, living here in Grand Rapids. I was raised by an Italian mother who loved to make sweets for special events and holidays. When I was younger she passed her secrets on to me. After making the wedding favors for Dana's wedding in early 2008 I decided that I wanted to start a company making chocolates for other people's special events! Dana is no help in the kitchen, but she comes in pretty handy with the rest of the details. We were blessed with very different talents in life, but it makes for one heck of a partnership!
How did you pick your business name and what does it mean?
Being from an Italian family, when we were deciding on a company name we of course decided that we should go back to our roots. Vita Dolce means sweet life in Italian. Dolce means sweet and, obviously, chocolates are sweet. We added sweet life because chocolates are something that we enjoy when we are celebrating, giving a gift to say we care, or we are just stealing a quiet moment of indulgent bliss. We feel that chocolates are something that can be enjoyed at anytime, for any occasion and will always leave you with a boosted spirit! We take great care and pride in creating and presenting our chocolates and we want to share a part of our sweet life with you!
After doing this professionally, do you still eat chocolate?
Um, yes! Dana is more addicted than I am, but we still enjoy our sweets!
What is the best part about your job?
Wow... the best part? Probably product development. There's nothing like getting our team (us and our husbands) to test out the new recipes! We consider it a perk of the job.
You offer your chocolates as favors. Do you also offer them for dessert bars?
Yes! We offer chocolates by the piece to be used on dessert bars. Our favorite combination is a mix of chocolate truffles and artisan chocolates. The two chocolates together make a very appealing display. Oh, and they taste even better!
How far in advance should brides place their orders?
For large orders brides should plan on placing the order approximately three weeks before the event date. For custom favors, extra time is preferred to guarantee that we have enough time to work with you to create the perfect complement to your wedding day. We will help you pick special ribbon or favor tags to coordinate with your wedding theme.
When you are not making chocolate, what are you doing?
In my free time I'm busy enjoying my husband and two children. I have a four year old daughter and a one and a half year old son. I love my little family, and enjoy all the time I have with them everyday. In her free time Dana's busy working on fixing up the house and learning how to care for plants. So far, no good!
Tell me something fun or quirky about you.
Dana and I are childhood friends and we met over candy. When we were younger Dana would sneak red licorice from her Grandmothers house and we would run out to the play ground to enjoy our spoils. When we were in middle school we would joke about how we were going to marry rich men, be next door neighbors, and have our own company. Lucky for us we've got at least one of those crossed off our list!
No comments:
Post a Comment