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Ice Cream Bar

Knottie26835877Knottie26835877 member
in Wedding Reception Forum
I would love love love to have an ice cream bar at my wedding, but am unsure of how to go about it.  I live in a super small town, so trying to find a place to rent a soft serve ice cream machine isn't going to work...Does anyone have any ideas?  

I'm not sure of how I would able to keep the ice cream cold or how much I would need.  The receptions going to be at my church and there's only a small freezer there.  And we'll probably have around 200 guests.
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Re: Ice Cream Bar

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    ohannabelleohannabelle member
    First Answer First Comment First Anniversary 5 Love Its
    Dry ice will keep your ice cream frozen for about 12 hours. 
    (We did a Sundae bar for my daughter's shower. )

    Weirdly, the best info. site we found, pre party, is in amounts for 200 guests. 
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    chibiyuichibiyui member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    I recently attended a wedding with a great ice cream bar. They had 4 flavors, one server took your order, and then there was two people to scoop the ice cream and one person who poured hot fudge or caramel on it. After that was serve yourself toppings. A few years ago I was at a wedding where everything was serve your self, including the ice cream. It was a mess. I would really recommend you have someone serve the messy stuff.
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    NymeruNymeru member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper
    My cousin's wedding had a self-serve ice cream station.  It looked beautiful to start with, but was a total mess about 15 minutes into the reception.  It didn't help that basically all the parents let all their kids finger-paint in the sauces and toppings.  I would definitely have a server for the ice cream if you're going to do it.
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    atlastmrsgatlastmrsg member
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    edited October 2014
    I wouldn't want to eat from an ice cream bar.  Handles to things are going to get sticky, spoons fall into the sprinkles, etc.  And when I'm dressed up to mix and mingle, I don't want to juggle a sundae to keep caramel sauce off my dress.

    I'd stick to bite size/small desserts that are easy to select and eat, or candy.
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    LittleWohlscheidLittleWohlscheid member
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    My brother's wedding had an ice cream bar and it was great. They had people serving the actual ice cream, so people bumping their hands on the sides of the container and getting sticky, and then self serve toppings. There wasn't really any mess either, which surprised me. The only bad thing from it was my brother accidentally dripping some on his wife's wedding dress (vanilla ice cream, so thankfully it came right out). Definitely have people serving the ice-cream though, otherwise you will more than likely get a mess.
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    Maggie0829Maggie0829 member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    Been to a few weddings with ice cream bars.  Servers scooped the ice cream and then everything else was self-serve.  No mess.

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    kmmssgkmmssg mod
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its

    This is something where you definitely need the servers others have talked about - and for 200 people, you will need several.  Can you imagine 200 people at an ice cream shop with 2 servers?

    My biggest recommendation to you is to make sure your logistics are SPOT ON.  Where will you be able to store it, who is going to set it up, who is going to serve it, who is going to clean everything up, what flavors, what toppings and what dishes and spoons will work best.  This is also something you should NOT ask friends or family to do for you.  This should be hired out.

    Why have I never been invited to a wedding with an ice cream bar?  I would love that.

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    RebeccaB88RebeccaB88 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    My cousin did one and it was awesome. Caterers scooped the ice cream and sauces, then toppings were self serve. No mess.  She had cookies, brownies, and pastries on the side. 
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    Jen4948Jen4948 member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    This seems to work best when there are servers.  When there's self-service, it gets risky.

    Servers can make sure that the ice cream isn't too hard or melted and keep things from getting messy, or at least really messy.  That's hard to do when everyone's supposed to serve themselves from a bar.
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    amb1062amb1062 member
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    I agree with most of the posts.  I actually did an icecream bar as well. Logistically speaking, we stored the icecream in the restaurants freezer until it was time to serve.  We did NOT have a server, and I will say, I wish we had.  We also had icecream sandwiches and other icecream type bars. They were in ice, which worked well.  

    ALSO ... which was SUPER fun and our guests loved was that we did FLOATS! Mostly beer (a dark stout, like guiness works best) with the icecream, but some rootbeer.  SUPER fun and a unique experience.

    GOOD LUCK! 
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    ShesSoColdShesSoCold mod
    First Answer First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its
    edited October 2014
    I had an ice cream bar and it went over really well. We didn't have a server but the entire wedding was 37 adults so it was fine. The ice cream tubs were in tubs of ice and that worked well for a while. I definitely agree that logistics is super important for so,etching like this and definitely servers for larger weddings and/or with kids.


    ETA because I had an ice cream bar. Not a nice cream bar. 
    Image result for someecard betting someone half your shit youll love them forever
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    atlastmrsgatlastmrsg member
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    amb1062 said:
    I agree with most of the posts.  I actually did an icecream bar as well. Logistically speaking, we stored the icecream in the restaurants freezer until it was time to serve.  We did NOT have a server, and I will say, I wish we had.  We also had icecream sandwiches and other icecream type bars. They were in ice, which worked well.  

    ALSO ... which was SUPER fun and our guests loved was that we did FLOATS! Mostly beer (a dark stout, like guiness works best) with the icecream, but some rootbeer.  SUPER fun and a unique experience.

    GOOD LUCK! 
    Mini root beer floats were a hit at my wedding.  Late in the evening, servers had them on trays and were walking around offering them to guests.  Used cute red and white straws.  Other servers were serving the mini late night snacks from trays.
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