Ice cream cart
Scoops or pours frozen dessert from a staffed cart or truck — ice cream, gelato, soft serve, sundaes.
Also called: ice cream cart, ice cream truck, gelato cart, gelato, soft serve, soft-serve machine, sundae bar, ice cream sandwich, popsicles, paletas, shaved ice, snow cones, frozen dessert.
When couples book this
Usually booked about 7 months out. It moves with your date.
Your wishlist, before you talk to anyone
Questions you can answer early — they become the yardstick you compare candidates against.
What kind of frozen dessert are you after?
Wishlist mirror of cart_style.
When would you like the cart to pour?
Wishlist mirror of window_preference.
Any flavors or toppings you're dreaming of?
Free text — wishlist mirror of flavors.
What must the cart be able to accommodate?
What to ask each candidate
Facts that differ from one vendor to the next — worth writing down while you shop.
What kind of frozen dessert?
Flavors and toppings
How does the cart keep cold on site?
Soft serve is the heavy draw; a dry-ice or battery cart is self-contained. This is the cart's fact, not the couple's choice.
Where does the cart set up?
What settles once booked
The working details you and your vendor pin down together.
When should the cart pour?
How many people is the cart serving?
DERIVED from THIS scope, never the caterer's or the cake's count — the anti-double-count mechanism.
Dietary needs and allergies
Dairy is the whole product — a dairy-free or vegan sorbet option and a nut-safe topping line are the usual asks; the vendor sees the same rollup the caterer does.
When does the cart pour?
DERIVED from the event timing. Moving the event or the curfew decays this to needs_reconfirm.
Venue paperwork for the cart
What time do they arrive?
The time you agreed together, not an estimate worked back from the ceremony.
What times are set on the day?
One row per moment — a serving round, a pickup leg, a person's slot, a set. Each row becomes its own block on your run of show, labeled with whatever you type, so name it for whoever will be reading it.
What time do they finish?
Who do you call on the day?
The name and cell number of whoever is on site — not the office line.
Where do they come in, and where do they park?
The load-in door or dock, where the vehicles go, and who opens up.
Do they need a meal?
Counts toward your caterer's vendor-meal number.
What balance is due on the day?
Your own figure, from your contract — what is still owed when they arrive.
What gratuity are you planning?
Your own figure. It rides beside the balance on the day-of money sheet.
How it lands on your day
Cart arrival & freezer setup
Scoop window
Cart departs
Set time
One block per row of the cell's dayof_service_times answer; the row's own label names it, and its `until` makes it a window.
How it’s usually priced
Usually priced per guest.
Lines that sometimes ride along: Travel & setup.
What your vendor reads from your plan
Book on or off Beetrothed — either way the plan assembles a brief your vendor can work from: the event, counts, flavors, service, schedule, contacts.
More in Cake & sweets
Plan your ice cream cart — and everything around it
These questions live as one cell of a connected plan: your budget, guest list, checklist and timeline all read from the same answers. See the whole board work, or join the waitlist and we’ll write when it’s your turn.
We will write when there is something worth telling you.