Ice Cream Bar

Talk to your caterer and venue about the ice cream idea - they either will be able to accommodate or point you in the direction of a company who can do this for y'all

We were looking for a "late night snack" for our wedding reception in the form of a food truck and, although we ultimately decided on Dusty's Donuts (yum!), there was an ice cream truck that was definitely our runner up. I'm not sure of your location but if you get the chance, check out Two Roosters Ice Cream to get a feel for it...this wasn't the typical ice cream truck that runs through the neighborhood every afternoon and definitely had a more upscale feel. If something like this is up your alley, you can definitely do some google research into food trucks near your area who could provide an ice cream service

We considered hiring an ice cream service that came to your wedding & served people. We opted not to, but I'd look into services like that.

A friend did an ice cream sundae bar rather than cake at their reception (they served them in plastic baseball helmet-cups, just like at our local MLB stadium -- bride & groom were huge fans). I assumed their caterer set it up. I know the waitstaff actually scooped the ice cream for each guest (so we didn't get sticky...the ice cream was in the giant 3-gallon cartons, like at Baskin Robbins) and then there was a toppings bar. It was cute and original. I'm still a huge wedding cake fan, so I was kind of disappointed but I think most people liked it. (The wedding was in So Cal in April, so it wasn't too hot and the ice cream bar was set up inside the venue. I assume the caterers stored the ice cream in the venue freezers until it was time to serve it.)

I didn't do this but my friend largely considered it for hers.

i think she was thinking of just having a big cooler of ice and having the ice creams in those and buying many different toppings and sauces

We haven't done it yet but we are planning to have ice cream at our wedding. We're only having about ~40 guests so a truck or cart wasn't worth it for us. Instead we've arranged for our favorite ice cream place to pack individual-sized cups of ice cream and we'll pick them up. We plan to keep them in a cooler with dry ice and whoever wants ice cream can walk up and choose a flavor, no scooping!

I should mention that for the dry ice we will be buying blocks and covering them with a ventilated cloth, then placing the ice cream on top. And we are only doing this because it is an outdoor wedding. Safety is an issue with dry ice, so if you have any alternative involving electricity I recommend that.