DANCE PARTY 2.0

It's that time again! Our snow cone season has come to a close, and we wanna dance about it!

This year we're hosting:
/ / THE 'NOT SO SWEET' ICE DANCE PARTY / /
...because why does everything have to be so damn cute?!

Featuring: DJ DONNA LOVEJOY
Also featuring: strict new rules such as no giggling, no cartoon fruit with happy faces, and absolutely NO BUNTING BANNER ALLOWED!

PLUS!

Spiked snow cones! (RIGHT?!)
Lots of fun and dancing! (no cute dance moves, though!)
Where? Vasco da Gama - 175 James St N. in Hamilton!
Doors at 9:30. Tickets: $10.

It's the most badass snow cone party in town, so you better be there! Tickets should be purchased ahead of time, and each ticket purchased will enter you in a draw for a Sweet Ice Merch Pack! Space is limited, so buy yours now - available online here! Facebook details here. Dance on, snow cone fans!

Poster Credit: Matt Jelly

Nic & Karyn's Wedding!

Yay! Wedding photos! We got to see the photos from Nic and Karyn's wedding and they are GORGEOUS. It was such a beautiful day, and we were so honored that Sweet Ice got to be a part of it. It was so much fun to make snow cones for the whole wedding party, and then see now how well those photos turned out...

We are already starting to get bookings for next summer, and after our amazing time at this wedding, we're so excited to book a whole bunch more! If you know of someone who might want refreshing, all-natural (not to mention adorable) snow cones at their Summer wedding, please spread the word! All inquiries can be sent to info@sweeticesnowcones.ca.

Congrats again, Nic and Karyn! Your wedding was just perfect! All photos courtesy of White Photographie. You can see more from this wedding here!

It's Been A Good Year (Oh, And We're Having A Contest!)

Tomorrow is a big day for us.

The August Art Crawl marks one year of snow cone business for Sweet Ice, and we're feeling pretty nostalgic about it. Only a year ago, we were packing up for the crawl, making sure to focus on all the "important" details (matching shoes?!). We headed to the Art Crawl, so proud of our ten (ten!) bottles of syrup, saying things like "Do you think we'll sell any?" and "What if we sell NONE!?". To our amazement, we sold out very quickly, and a year later we now know better than to make just ten bottles.

Matching shoes!

It's been such a good year for us. We've been welcomed into the small business culture of Hamilton with open arms. We've had the honor of spending time with the most amazing business owners, and have learned so much from them. We have gotten a taste of the food truck world, and have watched in amazement as some incredible people led the way for a mobile food revolution in this city. Hamilton is full of talent and inspiration, and we're so glad we get to play a small role in that.

One year ago!

I think if we could describe our experience with Sweet Ice so far in a few words, they'd be 'fun' and 'humbling'. Owning a business is fun! Who knew?! We get to develop our own flavors, and it's part of our job to spend time picking fresh Ontario fruit. We get to spend time brainstorming with some of the most creative people we know, and call it a “business meeting”. We’ve learned to screenprint, we’ve played ‘postman’, we got to experience the intensely fun process of making a COMMERCIAL, and best of all, we get to chat with all our customers every time we set up shop. That’s the most fun part – all of you! You’re so damn nice! And humbling - we say it all the time, but we are so overwhelmed by the support and all the smiles in this city. Thank you, thank you, thank you. #HamOnt is a friggin peach - and you know it.

We were all smiles!

So tomorrow, one year after our nervous debut, we'll set up in the same spot, and we'll have the same talented lady busking beside us. And hey, we're so excited about our little first birthday that we thought we'd have a contest about it! Starting today at noon, we're going to have a contest where you can be entered to win one of three commercial prize packs!

All you have to do is:
1) Share our commercial (here's the link, or you can share directly from Facebook or Twitter)
2) Tag Sweet Ice (either on Facebook, or on Twitter)
3) Let people know that we'll be set up at the Art Crawl tomorrow night on the Tivoli lot beside the CBC

The prize packs have a retail value of $100, and they feature all the people who played a leading role in our commercial:

A CD FROM KORI POP!

A FABRIC PACK FROM NEEDLEWORK!

A COMBO FROM WEENIES!

(Includes sausage, chips and all-natural soda! Can be redeemed at any time.)

AND A HAIRCUT FROM

THE AMAZING CAMERON ELDER!

(Must be redeemed by the end of November.)

That is a very good prize! And it all comes wrapped up in a Sweet Ice tote bag with two free snow cones! You can enter today and tomorrow (two entries per person), and you must be able to pick the prize pack up at Art Crawl (or have someone get it on your behalf). The contest will end at 5pm tomorrow, and we'll draw the three winners and announce them at 6 o'clock, just before the crawl!

Post away, friends! And we'll see you tomorrow night!

Aaron & Cath's Wedding!

This past weekend we got to be part of the amazing outdoor reception at Aaron and Cath's wedding. These dear friends of ours are ultra-creative, and we knew their wedding would be incredible, down to the last detail. Beautiful ripped fabric curtains, hand-embroidered table numbers, vintage bridesmaid dresses - this wedding was perfect in every way. *Update - they even had our favorite graphic designer create their invites; see more here!

We got to set up on this amazing little stretch of grass, and it was so refreshing to be outside in the sun and feel the summer breeze. Cath and Aaron's guests loved our snow cones, and we felt so humbled to be a part of their big day.

We couldn't keep these girls away!

Thank you, Aaron and Cath, for having us! Your day was perfect, and we're so happy for you!

(Images 3 & 8 via Asher Images, see more here!)

(Images 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 9 via Meagan Tutti-Peters Photography)

July Art Crawl + The Cutest Wedding Ever

Hello dear friends!

Sweet Ice had a whirlwind of a weekend! I (Meg) was on bridesmaid duty, which meant it was our first event without both of us slinging cones! Kind of bittersweet - bitter because I missed out on the snow cone fun, but sweet because I did get to enjoy Sweet Ice as a customer and we got to welcome some new faces behind the stand. Anne and Jaimi rocked it!

We participated in a campaign with Kitesting and Core Urban lofts - if you tweeted something that you loved about the core you'd get a free snow cone! There was a live #iheartthecore Twitter feed set up at the Lister Block, and it was so great to see all the uplifting responses that came in about why people love this city! Read all about it at iheartthecore.com.

CBC Hamilton is so nice - we just love 'em! They allow us to plug in at their building (thank you!), they played our new commercial on loop during the crawl (thanks again!) and they had a super cute photo booth set up. Look at those adorable snow cone fans!

I got to stop in at Sweet Ice on my way to the rehearsal dinner and when I walked up I was surprised to see...ACROBATS. Yes, acrobats. This is Hamilton's art crawl, which is consistently amazing and interesting, so I shouldn't really be so surprised, but it was a little unexpected! Kevin and I indulged in some Apple Cider and Raspberry Green Tea snow cones, respectively, and I had a great time checking out the art crawl!

A highlight: Cameron Elder doing his thing in the Needlework window and stopping by the booth with his new buttons and adorable hair model, Sharon.

Another highlight: Stopping in at the Blush mobile shop! Michele has turned this vintage caravan into a super cute pink shop and she came from Guelph to enjoy the art crawl! As always, it was lovely to run into the Beaux Mondes ladies here as well!

Then we moved on to another amazing event! My sister-in-law got married on Saturday and we were so honored that they requested Sweet Ice to be a part of their big day. Karyn and Nic are the cutest couple to walk this planet, and their wedding was just SO BEAUTIFUL!

What a great day - we're so excited that we have a few more snow cone weddings to look forward to this season!

(Art Crawl Photo Cred: #2 (@taylorshadney) #3 (@margaretlintott) #5 (CBC Hamilton) #7 (@helensavestheday), #9 (@michaelpett), all others from Sweet Ice Snow Cones)

#sweeticevid - it's done!

Our commercial is done and it's so cute!
Thanks to everyone who played a part in making this adorable dream of ours come true!


Find out more about who was involved in our 'Thank You' post, or in the Youtube description.

Heads Up, Feelin' Inspired.

Oh, hi!

It's July! (WHAT?!) Prime snow cone season! You may be wondering (or you maybe haven’t been wondering) where we’re setting up lately. Well friends, things are a bit slow moving with Sweet Ice these days. We do have a bunch of great snow cone events booked for the next few weeks, but they are mostly private as we work towards getting our trailer renovated and getting licensed by the City of Hamilton. It's a bit of a trudge these days, but with so many amazing new things happening around us, it's easy to keep our spirits up and march on. We'll get there! The trailer will SOMEDAY be renovated, and then there will be snow cones for all! We promise.

A few things that have kept us inspired lately?

We visited Manual Labour Coffee, which is a mobile espresso shop that runs out of a (get this) VINTAGE TRAILER. The trailer is named Frankie, and the operators of this brilliant little scheme are Matt and Katie, who are just the sweetest (Not sure if you kept up with our tweets or instagrams of this meet & greet, but we’re basically SMITTEN). They set up at the Oakville Farmers Market and serve amazing Detour products from their trailer. It’s magical.

 

We strongly suggest making the trip to Oakville to visit MLC, but we're also hoping they make their way to Hamilton soon! There is talk of setting up a vintage trailer meetup, so stay tuned for that. Oh man, that's the cutest idea ever. Cute-o-meter just broke.

Speaking of people being cute and us being inspired, a few weeks back we had a potluck with some of the most amazing people.This affectionately titled 'Lady Business Partner Potluck' (needs a new name!) was basically a night spent in the company of some of the most inspiring women we know. Needlework, White Elephant, The Cannon, Cake + Loaf, Beaux Mondes...the ladies behind these amazing initiatives were all in attendance, so you can imagine that the conversation was delightful and the food was divine. One of the highlights: going around the room and finding out how each duo came into existence. Another highlight: we had ice cream in tea cups. And all the pictures you see were taken by the one and only, Hollie Pocsai. :)

We’re going to be doing this regularly, so we can just hang out and dream together. SO nice.

So! That’s where we’re at these days. Still slinging cones, and planning to see all your lovely faces at the July Art Crawl. Send some happy trailer wishes this way, and we’ll keep you posted.