Ballpark estimate: $250 to $1,000+
Planning a wedding, party, or other special event? Then how about commissioning a custom ice sculpture to serve as an impressive focal point for your guests?
A Cool Way to Wow Your Guests
Ice sculptures today can take on very sophisticated proportions, making them a perfect addition to bring some personality or fun to your decorations. Better yet, ice sculptures can play an important role in keeping food or drink cold and fresh. This makes it important to work with your caterer to manage the logistics and get the most out of your investment.
Ice Sculpture Considerations
These days, many ice sculptures are quite large—often weighing a few hundred pounds and reaching five or six feet or even more—and they can contain very extravagant details. Just keep in mind that ordering an ice sculpture that’s a large size and features a complicated level of detail can be much more expensive than a smaller, simpler design. But if you’re considering making this splurge, you can create a big impact in return for the expense, so your money can really be quite well spent.
How do you envision your ice sculpture? Some of the common types of shapes you might select include vases, boats, hearts, initials, flowers, cars, motorcycles, animals, people, food, sports, or almost anything else. You can do a search online to get some ideas of the possibilities that exist. You can also sketch out a picture of something you want an expert to create for you.
What to Expect
Where you plan to locate your ice sculpture will have an effect on the scope of your job. Indoor sculptures can be easier to arrange, and you can count on the fact that they last approximately six hours, with a typical melting rate indoors of about a half inch per hour.
But for outdoor events, you can assume that the sculpture will melt at a faster rate, especially if it’s placed anywhere near the sun.
Who Does Ice Carving?
Carving an ice sculpture is a real art, and therefore the best sculptors are highly trained in this technique. They can learn how to create ice sculptures at some of the best culinary schools. People can also be trained in ice sculpting through specialty classes and programs in ice sculpting. The most dedicated ice sculptors actually go beyond creating an event centerpiece to create rooms, structures, furniture, or even homes out of carved ice blocks. For those who practice this extravagant form of ice sculpturing, they may also participate in very high-level competitions at special ice festivals that are held around the world.
Warming Up to the Conditions
When creating an ice sculpture, the results are dependent on the temperature and conditions of the studio where the work is done. In fact, different temperatures can be used to vary the effect of the ice. This means that the sculptor must be well versed with different tools that can adapt to varied levels of melting to achieve just the right detailing.
You can ask your caterer if they can provide an ice sculpture and if not, if they can recommend where to get one. Your venue may also have a sculptor they work with for special occasions. Or, check with the National Ice Carving Association and use their directory to locate members who do work in your area. You can also look at online wedding directories or attend wedding conventions to meet with vendors and look for accomplished ice sculptors.
The Need to Plan Ahead
When planning for an ice sculpture, you will need to make sure that the event coordinator has planned for it in the space and can accommodate all of the extras involved, as well. For instance, an ice sculpture usually needs to be delivered in a temperature controller trailer or freezer car. You may also need a special table or stand to show the sculpture off, and a hose that’s attached to a drainage base or other containers that can handle the overflow as the sculpture melts.
If you want to add some extra pizzazz to the presentation of your ice sculpture, you can talk to the ice carver about designing in some special lights, adding colors, using fog or smoke, suspend it from the ceiling, or adding special effects to make the sculpture look even more impressive and give your guests something to talk about.
What to Look For
When hiring an ice sculptor, you’ll want to see examples of his or her work. Often this can be accomplished through a print or online portfolio that demonstrates the style and capabilities you can expect for your job. Keep in mind that if you are looking for something very ornate or complicated, it’s always best to look for a sculptor who has completed projects of similar scope so that you will know that the work is within his or her capability. Checking references is always a good move.
Some questions to ask an ice sculptor include: How much experience do you have? What is your turn around time for the project? What quality ice will you use? How long can you expect it to last? Will you create the sculpture at your studio and bring it finished to the location, or would you prefer to carve it on site right before the event occurs? How will you handle the delivery, set up, and clean up process, and is all of this included in your sculpture charge?
Cost of an Ice Sculpture
What you will spend on an ice sculpture will vary depending on your goals with the item and its presentation. If you select a modest sculpture such as a heart that is carved from one single block of ice, the price will start at about $250. If you want something larger and more ornate, the price will go up depending on how many blocks of ice are used, how large the overall piece is, and how extensive the detailing is. A wedding ice sculpture bar or ice table that uses multiple blocks of ice to create can run as high as about $1,000 or even more.
A Budget Melting Option
If you want something more custom that will take much longer to carve, the price can be as high as $5,000 or even more. In addition, adding special effects such as lights, fog, or suspension, can add at least a few hundred more to the bill.
