Ice Sculptures for Wedding Receptions

Ideas & Inspiration

Dazzle your guests with a custom sculpture, like the luge pictured here, by Ice Occasions.

Ice Sculptures for Wedding Receptions

Q. I’m looking for something unique and magical at my reception—something that will make people ooh and ahh. Any suggestions?

A. Have Chris Swarbrick, owner of Ice Occasions and three-time winner of the St. Paul Winter Carnival’s multi-block ice sculpting contest, make you a jaw-dropping, customized ice sculpture. “People want that extra custom touch that a mold just can’t provide,” Swarbrick says. “My goal is to be able to realize my clients’ vision, whatever it may be.”

Ice Occasions offers an enormous range of eye-catching options for your reception, from luges (elegant sculptures that double as beverage fountains; $150 to $800) and full-scale ice bars ($1,000 for a six-foot, full-service bar) to entire rooms carved out of ice ($50,000 to $60,000). Pretty impressive stuff from a self-taught carver who stumbled into the profession when he bought an ice-mold business in 1999.

“I never imagined I’d be doing this,” Swarbrick says. “I never had an art background, never gave a thought to ice sculpting in my life. It’s something I just picked up. But I love it.”

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