Chiseled Ice

An ice sculpture is a sure bet for adding a bit of elegance to an event. While swans, dolphins, and company logos are typical motifs, sculptors enjoy a challenge, and the possibilities are endless. Need some inspiration? Check out the Web site of the World Ice Art Championships, www.icealaska.com. Ice sculptures can be functional as well as ornamental, serving as home to a raw bar, fruit station, or cold soup appetizer. Entire bars created in ice are possible. Ice sculpture pricing varies by market, complexity, and size, but often ranges from $400 to $500 for a single-block sculpture, which will look good for four to six hours at room temperature. Issues to get straight with your vendor include delivery and setup, removal and cleanup, and lighting if needed. Ice sculptors can also be hired to demonstrate their skills as part of the event entertainment.

Disco Ice

Light-up ice cubes are a fun way to put a little life in the punch bowl. At glowproducts.com, the cubes are available in six colors and can be customized with your company's logo. What's more, press a button on the cube to change it from a solid glow to flashing. Available in packs of eight for $11.92 per pack, less for volume orders.

Desert Ice

Winter weather in Las Vegas tends to be sunny, with temperatures in the 50s and low 60s. So it might come as a surprise that there's ice floating in Lake Las Vegas from late November through mid-February. That's right — at Lake Las Vegas Resort, guests can lace up skates and try some twirls on an ice rink anchored in the lake for the holiday season. The 40-by-70-foot rink, similar in size to the one in Rockefeller Center, can accommodate up to 60 skaters at a time.

Hotel Ice

About 120 miles north of the Arctic Circle in the Swedish village of Jukkasjärvi, a hotel has been created out of ice each winter for the past 17 years. This year, artists and craftsmen will convene from December 8 to 29 to create lcehotel 2007, expected to be 80 rooms, including suites, bar, gallery, lobby, chapel, and other spaces. The stunning creations from the last few years can be seen at www.icehotel.com. Icehotel has warm accommodations as well as subzero, and can host meetings for up to 100 people. Closer to home, the Ice Hotel Québec-Canada (www.icehotel-canada.com), about 30 minutes from Québec City, will be open January 5 to April 1, 2007, with 34 ice rooms and space for up to 440 people on-site. Event facilities host up to 600.

Ice Wine

If cool is your theme, consider an ice wine. This special dessert wine, the most famous of which is the German Eiswein, is made with grapes that have been allowed to freeze on the vine. The grapes are pressed while still frozen, driving out the water as shards of ice and creating a drink high in acids, sugars, and aromatics.

ICE (noun) 1 a: frozen water; b: a sheet or stretch of ice

Source: www.m-w.com

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