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Thursday, December 1st, 2011 | Posted by LynnHodorek
Local chef dishes out sculptures
Matt Buck
Staff Reporter

When most people imagine a chef, the setting is usually a kitchen. The focal point might be a pastry, meat or vegetable. And a chainsaw is usually not part of the status quo.

Then there are chefs like Randy Finch. Finch swapped the kitchen for a freezing cold warehouse, the pastries for a large block of crystal clear ice and utilized the chainsaw in a way that most chefs utilize the spatula.

But Finch and his crew at Ice Sculptures Ltd. aren’t making your grandma’s ice sculptures. The Grand Rapids-based company is replacing the typical ice swan with fully-functional casinos, pinball machines and pool tables, all made entirely out of ice.

Finch said that the idea of becoming an ice sculptor is something that he always found to be very appealing.

“I really enjoyed it. It’s the cream of the crop to do as a chef,” he said. “It’s very exclusive. I just felt that I had a knack for it.”

Food Network must also think that Finch has a knack for it. The television station started “Ice Brigade,” a weekly show that follows Finch and his crew in their different ice-related endeavors.

Finch said that the new show has turned his company into a bit of a trailblazer.

“We’re the only ones that have ever had a TV series on ice sculpting. We wanted to make sure we represented our industry well,” he said. “We want to create sculptures that people have never dreamed of being made out of ice. We wanted to take the industry to the next level.”

The descent to the next level has been a fairly rapid one. The group has taken its talents abroad, coaching ice carving teams across the world, while being used as a resource for many publications that teach up and coming chefs how to sculpt.

As far as his best work, Finch said that his idea of “masterpiece” changes on a project-to-project basis.

“Each time I make a new one, that’s the new masterpiece,” he said. “It’s very hard to choose just one.”

Finch said that the difficulty of ice sculpting is not just in the carving.

“You really have to be dedicated and really want to do it,” Finch said. “We shovel snow 365 days a year.”

Finch said that many people think that his sculptures are really expensive, but he said that many start out at about $85.

While some of the shows viewers may be under the impression that having a television show has made the company forget about its hometown, Finch said that he still does a variety of local work, although he has started to a bit more nationally, as well.

“Things have changed. We still do a lot of weddings and birthdays, but we’re also doing a lot of bigger projects,” he said. “We’re going to be at the Superbowl this year doing interactive displays and demonstrations for people. We’re doing a lot of national projects, but we’re still doing a lot of local stuff.”

For anyone that is thinking about becoming an ice sculptor, Finch said that focusing on using the right habits immediately is very important.

“Really the best thing to do is get an apprenticeship. You have to find someone that does it right, because it’s hard to fix the bad habits later on,” Finch said. “You need to know what you’re supposed to be learning. They say practice makes perfect, but really perfect practice makes perfect.”

When it comes to planning a wedding, I’m a big fan of having one or two stand-out elements; details that will make your wedding personal and memorable and that are worth splurging on a bit in what otherwise might be a tight budget. This post is the first in a series highlighting elements that can serve as those personal, memorable details.

Bill Bywater
New Windsor, New York

Bill, a commercial sculptor, is a member of the Academy of Ice Carving and Design. Bill’s company, Bywaterworks, was named by that organization as one of the world’s top 200 ice carving companies.

So you have chosen your soul mate, you have chosen your officiate, picked the date, and picked the location. Now you can contact your ice carver. Some larger reception venues, like hotels or catering halls have an ice carver on staff or one that they are used to working with. It is not unreasonable to ask to see photos of their work so you can determine if they can knock out a standard swan or if they can execute a more involved and personalized carving. Ice carvings fall under auspices of the Sous Chef. This kitchen position includes cold food service as well as vegetable and fruit sculpture.

Cinderella’s Coach and Horses; Source: www.billbywater.com
I did not go school for culinary training, I went to school for sculpture and got into ice carving later. If you need to research who in your area can handle an ice carving for your wedding reception, engagement party, bachelor or bachelorette party or rehearsal dinner, here are some suggestions:

■ 200 Best Ice Carvers. Both this and the next organization’s websites feature lists of dedicated ice carvers.
■ National Ice Carving Association
■ WeddingWire lists ice carvers under “Unique Services”.
■ You could Google “ice carving blocks” to find out who is making crystal clear carving blocks near you. They will know carvers.
■ My site is www.billbywater.com. I serve the Hudson Valley and north to Albany, west to Fairfield, and a little of Northern NJ.

Be ready to tell your ice carver the critical information about your event so they can determine if they can accommodate your needs. Only once the contact person,(usually the bride, groom or wedding planner), tells me the date, location, time and description of the ice carving(s) needed, can I tell them if I am free at that time and what the cost would be.

Angels holding candles; Source: www.billbywater.com
For me, ice carvings start at $350 for a single block carving. A single block of ice can become any animal, heart design combination. I have carved an R2D2 robot, a pair of wedding bells, back-to-back saxophones forming a heart, kissing fish, a turtle and frog as bride and groom… you get the idea. This is an area for a couple to express themselves and show their flare. Couples’ names are often incorporated into the carving using a snow fill technique so they show up white.

I once talked a bride out of getting their names and the date on side-by-side hearts because it would look like a frozen gravestone. We did one large heart, with an arrow and both first names. She was very thankful I could picture the finished carving in my mind as we were discussing it, thus avoiding the headstone look.

Flowers and photographs can also be frozen into the block when it is being made if that is what you would like.

Sphinx; Source: www.billbywater.com
My price includes delivery to a freezer or the table. I also include a drip/display pan with clear hose that goes to a bucket beneath the table and fluorescent lighting. (I do not include the bucket.)

Starting at $500 I can carve the ice right in front of your guests’ eyes. It makes for a fun cocktail party and takes an hour or less. See an ice carving demonstration.

Once you have secured the services of an ice carver, let your caterer know that your carving will be delivered to either their freezer or directly to the table. Most caterers will let you know they can not be held responsible if the carving is damaged ahead of time in the freezer, but they should be willing to have their staff set it up for you. A carving should be in place half and hour to an hour before the room is open to allow it to loose its surface frost from the freezer.

Eiffel Tower; Source: www.billbywater.com
Determine with your table layout where the ice carving will go, and make sure it is indicated on the room layout design. Plan on not moving the ice carving once it is set up. If your reception is outdoors, avoid direct sunlight. I tell folks an ice carving will be in good shape for three or four hours, but the slow melting is also part of the elusiveness of the medium. Wings and fins can look better and better as they melt, so birds and fish are often the subject matter for ice carvings.

Ice carvings do not have to be just stuck on the buffet.

More info about ice carvings at weddings:

■ See my tips for using ice carvings.
■ You can also ask if your carver will be making unique ice carvings or using a mold or pre-programmed cutting equipment.
■ See an ice carving demonstration.
■ Here are some FAQs. to give you more to think about.

Contact Bill Bywater.

Bill Bywater is a professional commercial sculptor. His talents are often applied to architectural restoration projects, and he has sculpted sets and props for Broadway shows and movies (his name is one of the ones you see racing by at the end of movies). He turns his talents to creating unique ice sculptures for weddings and corporate events through his company, BillBywater.com

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Filed under Wedding Reception, Wedding Vendors, Wedding Decor

Tagged as wedding decorations, Jewish wedding planning tips, inexpensive wedding ideas, wedding ideas, New York, ice carvings, ice sculptures, angel ice carving, Eiffel Tower ice carving, sphinx ice carving, Ice carver, ice sculptor, ice carver New York, New Windsor, Hudson Valley

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3 Responses to Special Wedding Details Series: Unique Ice Carvings

Sheilagh Smith

April 28, 2011 at 10:33 pm

cool stuff. Good luck with this Bill!

Reply

Steve

April 28, 2011 at 7:48 pm

As an ice carver, what do you think of that reality tv show about ice carvers? It seems fake to me. You should blog about that, too.

Reply

With extensive culinary training and more than 20 successful years in the ice sculpting business, friends and business partners Randy Finch and Derek Maxfield own and operate Ice Sculptures Ltd in Grand Rapids, Mich. Together with their team, they design and execute out-of-this-world ice sculptures that have been featured on national television, recognized in industry media, and included at movie premieres, celebrity galas, concerts and sporting events. Now, their extraordinary talents and projects are captured on Food Network’s primetime series, Ice Brigade, following the team as they make awe-inspiring interactive creations like pool tables, bowling lanes, grand pianos, carousels and mini-golf courses.

That is some of the official information about the hottest new crew in the chilliest sculpture medium. Derek Maxfield (Herein refered to as Derek, not to be confused with the other Derek on the team, Derek Foltz, who goes by Foltz on the show) is too modest to mention he was the 2008 Tour of Champions for the National Ice Carving Association. I enjoy mostly the freeform ice sculpture that the Tour of Champions, and all ice carving competitions and demonstrations offer.

So many of the carvings that they do on Ice Brigades use automated equipment. The lathe still has to be templated and attended to, and the CNC machine needs to be programmed by someone, but neither is capable of a nice organic shape like the chess piece knight head in this past episode. The pawns and the bishops do work well on the lathe I have to admit, and I like the round nail (screw) board used to finish off the tops of the pawns. That is a clever variation on the flat nail board we all use from time to time to level off a rough cut in the ice. But the CNC to make the rooks seemed a bit strained. Maybe a nice tapered, hexagon tower would have read better. Also the red flowers in the queen were visually distracting and unnecessary. The clever use of the crenollated bowl for the crown was inspired.

“Accidentally??” knocking over the knight gave drama to the scene and a great opportunity for Randy to whip out the chainsaw and an end grinder sporting a Brice bit to woo the crowd and let him coolly get into “the zone”.

The ice office was another installation highlighting the CNC machine as well as teamwork cutting and assembling. My favorite feature of the office was the “wheels” of the chair behind stucturally assisted by a center platform to seamingly effortlessly support the chair. The office begs the question I have not seen answered yet on Ice Brigades for this type of project. Where does the water go?

Bill\'s ice site

As the premier episode, they might be knocking the bugs out of all they do in terms of production schedule, but as an ice carver watching the show I feel it might be too much. It’s all so good I wish they could focus on just a few at a time. Its like brain freeze for me. I want to enjoy the process. But lets talk about the face sculpture fountain. We see our ice heroes in the freezer using one as a live model and one sculpting. Working from the figure can be a great way to improve one’s sculpting ability. Two dimensional line drawings can only get you so far. But the seasoned ice carver might think you showed someone carving from the figure, and then showed an ice carving produced using a mold, filled with water and frozen. Again, it’s the first show in the series, so even the producers are finding themselves, to see how much they can get away with.

The other story line finds Jovahnna and Susan doing a day time reception for Magic Johnson’s mom. Her initials (in paper?) are frozen in the block on a stylish turn table, flanked by two other carvings. Also a functioning, attractive, ice, juice station. It has happened to me that after guests have enjoyed an ice carving in one location, and then I have been asked to move it to the next party room. It could happen. That is reality. Hoses, hand carts and drip trays, Oh my! That’s ice carving.

A quick check back with the ice bar shows a series of quick shots of the items set up. Again, too quick for me. But the last few seconds of the show use the foley (post sound production) to give us the “cracking” sounds at the ice pool table, and the “clinking” sound of the ice martini glasses. Not real.

Ice carving is a great sculpture medium. It is fleeting and fun and growing in popularity. We hope the show has a long run. Reality shows tend to push the definition of real, but reality shows are an animal, and they need to be fed, but please don’t choke. Let’s get that long run.

Bill\'s ice site

1. Lets go.

Bill\'s ice site