DIY Ice cream sundae bar... ideas?

Re: DIY Ice cream sundae bar... ideas?

• charlotte989875 member

  

  April 2021

  knottief9fc142244bee326 said:

  My fiance and I are hoping to have an ice cream sundae for dessert instead of cake for our May 2022 wedding!
  Has anyone put on an ice cream sundae bar on their own and how did you do it?

  My sister did this for her rehearsal dinner and it was A LOT harder than we thought it would be. It was messy, took up a ton of space, & ultimately I think more work than it was worth. We didn’t even have that many people and it was kind of a disaster. 

  
  

  That said if you’re trying to do it definitely have someone responsible for scooping/ doing the ice cream part. If you have a big freezer scoop the ice cream a head of time and store it. Have a ton of space for toppings. Way more space than you think you need. I would limit the ice cream flavors to only 1-2 because it’s going to take someone a while to scoop them. 

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• knottief9fc142244bee326 newb

  

  April 2021

  Thank you so much for that perspective!!

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• climbingsingle member

  

  April 2021

  The times I've seen this at a wedding, it ended up being very messy. Also, experiencing Covid has really made me change how I feel about things like this, and it doesn't sound appealing. As clean as people can be, you've still got multiple hands reaching into ice cream, toppings, etc. It's not appealing IMO. 

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• banana468 member

  

  April 2021

  This what I indicated when I responded on the other thread. 
  
  I think you'll have to have others doing the scooping but consider what it is to wait in line for ice cream at any store.  Now imagine you're in a group of 100 people.   Just think about the timing involved.  There's no way that will work as the only dessert without some grumpy people or those who just opt to go without and you HAVE to make this only DIY in that you buy the toppings in advance but always have trained people to make the sundaes.
  

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• maine7mob member

  

  April 2021

  Pre-Covid, we did an ice cream sundae bar for a funeral (yes, a funeral, because the guy loved ice cream and his widow wanted this) at our church. We had about 200 people. We did 4 stations, all with the same ice creams and toppings. We served them. No one was allowed to touch anything except their own bowl and spoon.
  
  It takes a while to soften giant tubs of ice cream, so consider using coolers of smaller tubs at each station. Definitely have only 2 flavors of ice cream, plus a small amount of sorbet at each station. People are indecisive and the more choices you have, the slower the line. We needed 2 servers per station, one for ice cream, one for toppings. And yes, it was a royal mess, so make sure the servers have aprons and several changes of gloves.
  
  I like your idea, but think long and hard about this. Buffet things are kind of ick in a post-Covid world. I would personally be a bit squeamish unless things looked super hygienic.

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• MesmrEwe member

  

  April 2021

  We had both cake and ice cream...  We did the Ice Cream Cups (you know the things with the wooden stick "spoon" type so serving them was as easy as walking around with a wheeled cooler because as others said messy and takes forever to serve if you do it the regular way.  The one way it could work is if you've got something like many places in Wisconsin which is a "Dairy Barn" setup where 4 people can be serving on two sides and the icecream kept at proper temperatures for scooping and serving.  Either way it's still messy as heck.  I've also seen where people give everyone a ticket and they have an icecream truck come in and serve everyone a treat.  
  
  The one thing no one else has touched on but should be noted, a lot of people are sensitive to dairy and nuts so that's something to strongly consider in your options available.  

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• knottie303993a5eeefe1a3 member

  

  June 2021

  you can buy it, why not?

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• knottie7732e9b271bbd39b member

  

  October 2021

  I'm thinking of a fall season mini ceremony. For the bouquet, I'm not totally sure if I want fresh flowers. I don't foresee myself carrying a big lavish/fancy bouquet either. I am intrigued by making a petite, dainty, and simple bouquet that has realistic fake flowers mixed with some greenery. How far out does or should one prepare to make a DIY bouquet before the big day? If making it in advance, does it matter if the flowers reflect the season the ceremony takes place? Would it be more cost-effective to make a DIY bouquet or buy a small number of fresh flowers?
  

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• knotmod mod

  

  November 2021

  knottie7732e9b271bbd39b said:

  I'm thinking of a fall season mini ceremony. For the bouquet, I'm not totally sure if I want fresh flowers. I don't foresee myself carrying a big lavish/fancy bouquet either. I am intrigued by making a petite, dainty, and simple bouquet that has realistic fake flowers mixed with some greenery. How far out does or should one prepare to make a DIY bouquet before the big day? If making it in advance, does it matter if the flowers reflect the season the ceremony takes place? Would it be more cost-effective to make a DIY bouquet or buy a small number of fresh flowers?
  

  Hi there!  Did you mean to post this in a different discussion?  You can also start a new discussion in the DIY Discussion Boards to get feedback: 
  
  https://forums.theknot.com/post/discussion/wedding-boards_diy-weddings
  

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• albert11 member

  

  December 2021

  Thanks for these tips, they are really helpful.
  

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