spoiler alert: this large floral arrangement isn’t IN this ice vase, it’s ON the vase!
updated 9/3/23
combining flowers and ice
So you have a wedding coming up that you’re providing an ice sculpture for, and the requested sculpture happens to be a vase. It turns out that the florist hasn’t worked with ice sculptures before, so they’re wondering how they should put together the arrangement so that it will work with the ice vase. Or, should they make sure they have plenty of time and just do the arrangement onsite? (a giant hassle 😫)
If you’ve been carving ice for any significant length of time, you’ve had these conversations with florists. And you’ve probably tried at least a couple of different methods of combining flowers and ice, one of which surely involved cutting a hole in the sculpture to fit the florist’s container. So, to save you, me and a whole bunch of other people a lot of time and maybe even heartache, Joe Rimer of Ice Pro has put together a video demonstrating a time-tested method of combining flowers and ice. Check it out and share wherever and whenever appropriate:
in this video from Ice Pro Ice Sculptures, Joe Rimer shows how to combine flowers and ice using an ice vase and a nice, pre-made floral arrangement.
spoiler alert
On the off chance that you’re the type that skips right to the end of the movie/book/video, I’ll tell you how it’s done.
It’s very simple. This ice “vase” isn’t a vase. It’s an ice pedestal with a flat space on top, at least about 10″x10″ in size. The floral arrangement is made on a flat plate (usually plastic and about 10″ diameter) with floral foam (that green stuff that absorbs water) taped to it.
You set up the ice sculpture, put a thin piece of white semi-absorbent fabric (like a cloth napkin) on the flat surface and then you put the arrangement on the cloth. The arrangement won’t slide because of the fabric. As long as the ice sculpture doesn’t tip or fall over, the flowers should stay in place. But check on them occasionally to be sure.
One extra tip: the floral arrangement should be made so that the flowers droop down below the plate a bit. That way, the flowers and ice juncture is hard to see.
links and stuff
This post is listed on the ice sculpting techniques page, and you could also find photos and info from this entry on the ice sculpting secrets Instagram account or the facebook page. You can comment there as well as below. And if it won’t LET you comment below, then definitely comment on fb and/or IG. Thanks!
