Ice Dreams Sculptures, LLC

On Saturday, I had the privilege of shooting a wedding at the Royal Park Hotel in Rochester, MI, (see previous post) and was blown away by the exquisite ice sculptures at this event. It didn't surprise me to find out they were done by Tajana Rauker from Plymouth, MI, where she has a large business with her husband, Paul.

You see... my fascination with ice sculptures comes from my son, Jim Jr., who won the National Collegiate Ice Carving title in 2002 with his teammate Dave Stadler. Both Jim and Dave were coached by Chef Jeff Wolf from Macomb Community College during their education in the culinary arts field.

I have been watching Tajana at all of these events win competition after competition. In a conversation with Tajana on Saturday night, she gave all of the credit for her ice carving skills to her instructor, Chef Dan Hugelier - who happens to be the father-in-law of my other son, John. Dan is a Master Chef who runs the culinary arts program at Schoolcraft College. I would say that Tajana has accomplished quite a bit in her short time as a professional. To see her web site, click HERE. Following is a short slide show of the ice at this wedding.