ice sculpture set up questions
You shouldn’t set ice sculptures up just anywhere! 😬 Over the years, we’ve learned a lot of the dos and don’ts about setting up ice sculptures. And we tell you a lot of it here. But if you have a life 🙄, and only have time to read a little bit of this, at least check out the list of don’ts.
the don'ts for ice sculpture set up
- Don’t set up an ice sculpture on a table that you wouldn’t feel comfortable standing on. If it’s not sturdy enough to hold your weight, you have no business, putting an ice sculpture on it.
- Don’t set up an ice sculpture on something that’s easily water damaged. There.WILL be water, either from drips, condensation, leaks 😱, or just randomness during set up or breakdown. If you’re worried, protect the surface in question.
- Don’t set up your sculpture in direct sunlight if you expect it to last for any length of time. The sun will tear your sculpture apart from the inside. The exception to this is if it’s brutally cold out, like well below freezing 🥶 (or NEVER in Nola)
- Don’t set up a sculpture without accommodations for the melting water. Usually this means making sure that the tray’s drain tube can get to a drainage container below and that the meltwater is always flowing down.
- Don’t set up a sculpture in front of a fan or AC vent in an effort to “keep the sculpture cool.” The air movement will only make it melt faster. Outside, windy conditions are very bad for ice sculptures, sometimes even worse than rain.
- Don’t set up an ice sculpture in front of a white wall. This is a tough one and since white walls are everywhere, it’s more of a guideline. But a light colored background usually makes your ice sculpture harder to see. Moving the sculpture away from the wall some or lighting the sculpture with bright white or colored lights can help.
- Don’t leave an ice sculpture up that’s become unsafe. This happens only rarely, but if a sculpture has become unstable enough to potentially hurt people or damage property, it needs to be taken down. Don’t risk it!
where should I set up my ice sculpture?
Since I sculptures aren’t cheap, you should plan to set it up where it will make an impact and everyone will see it. Unless an ice sculpture really sucks, and ours never do, you shouldn’t try to hide it in a corner somewhere. Make sure your guests know that your event is cool enough to have an ice sculpture 😜
Where you set up your sculpture might have to do with the kind(s) of sculpture(s) you get. If you have a martini luge, you’re going to want to set it up at the main bar, at a separate dedicated bar, or at least someplace where the bartenders can easily get to it. (Of course, sometimes your ice sculpture IS the bar!) If your ice sculpture is for food presentation, then obviously it’s going to go with the food 🙄
Other times. it’s not as obvious where your ice sculpture should go. Your planner can help you decide of course, but you’re going to want to put it someplace where everyone sees it. Otherwise, what’s the point? And we’ve put our ice sculptures in some crazy places (like in the pool 😮), but let’s not get TOO crazy! It does need to be safe after all.
However, if you do have a wild idea, talk to us and we can tell you how doable it is. And it’s always going to be a lot more doable if we know about it ahead of time and can plan for your crazy ice sculpture set up!
what kind of table should my ice sculpture go on?
The best kind of table for an ice sculpture is also one of the most basic: a standard 6 foot banquet table. Or an 8 foot table, either one will work fine. There are two reasons for this. 1) Standard banquet tables usually offer sturdy solid support for the sculpture. 2) Because banquet tables are only about 30 inches wide, the meltwater drains pretty easily out of the ice sculpture tray, since the tube doesn’t have far to go before it reaches the edge of the table.
This usually isn’t the case with a round table; oftentimes a sculpture set up on a large round table won’t drain as well. That means you need to keep an eye on things to avoid a tray overflow.
since we didn’t have a skirted banquet table and extra sculpture lying around the studio, I asked ChatGPT to put this picture together. This is not EXACTLY how we set up our sculptures, but it’s fine for this illustration. The meltwater from the sculpture ends up in the display tray and then drains through a tube that goes BETWEEN the tablecloth and the skirt. (Oh, btw, we would do a much better job on a real ice sculpture, lol.)
when the skirt is removed, you can see the drainage tube that goes to the container under the table. This is usually how we keep water from going everywhere as the sculpture melts. But sometimes we run into trouble with how the tube is going to get underneath the table. Because you can’t just cut a hole in the tablecloth or drill a hole in a table. Ok, actually, you CAN, but people get mad 🤬 The point is, the melting water from the sculpture has to be accounted for, one way or the other, and it’s easier if everyone involved in the ice sculpture set up knows this up front.
You should know that we WILL refuse an ice sculpture set up on an unsafe surface. If there’s no other option, then we’d have to refuse to set it up at all. It’s just not worth the risk! Highboy cocktail tables and flimsy card tables are a couple of examples of tables that we won’t set up ice sculptures on.
can I set up an ice sculpture outside, even in New Orleans?
Yes, you can set up ice sculptures outdoors, even in New Orleans. However, depending on the time of day and the conditions, you may need to make accommodations to protect it.
With outside ice sculpture set ups, you need to keep an eye on the weather, just like you would for your guests. Not surprisingly, ice sculptures are particularly vulnerable to rain, but wind can be just as bad, especially if it’s humid. Warm, fast moving air dramatically speeds up sculpture melting and can quickly make more delicate ice sculptures prone to collapse.
So rain and wind are bad, but what about the sun? My sculpture will just melt faster out in the sunlight, right?
Actually, melting isn’t the real problem with sunlight. You see, ice sculptures are kind of like vampires. Directly sunlight (or even reflected sunlight) will kill them. That’s because the uv rays in sunlight actually destabilize the interior crystal structure of the ice. Surprisingly quickly, the clear ice will first start to gray, then will turn white, and eventually the sculpture will collapse, often shattering into piles of distinctive shards. When ice does this, it’s become what’s know as rotten ice or candle ice.
The good news is that once you know what’s bad for your ice sculpture, it’s usually pretty easy to protect it. If your sculpture is going outside, put it in the shade or, even better, under a tent. If your event is in the evening, often the sun is low enough in the sky that sun exposure won’t be a problem. If you’re wondering about that, just ask us.
for more frequently asked questions about ice sculptures and ice sculpture set ups…
Got more questions? Check out this page about more frequently asked questions about ice sculptures. SO many questions! 😆