Elle is officially 3 and to celebrate we hosted a little ice cream sundae party for our family. Her BIG birthday party was last weekend (more on that later), but we wanted to do something a little special on the actual day.

Hudsonville Ice Cream was gracious enough to send over a birthday box filled with not only their amazing ice cream, but also decorations including confetti, blowers, a birthday sign, party hats, and even candles. This was especially nice since we are currently staying in a hotel because our condo had a flood.

When it comes to ice cream, Hudsonville is by far my favorite! They’re a midwest crafted creamery with a strong work ethic and a passion for creating the best ice cream around. They were founded in Western Michigan and have been perfecting the art of ice cream since 1926. Not sure where to find it? Use their scoop locator to find a store near you.

Hudsonville Ice Cream is about more than just ice cream. For them, it’s all about making life’s special moments a little sweeter and this obviously includes birthdays. Why settle for just cake when everyone knows ice cream is the best part!

Hudsonville’s Michigan-based Midwest creamery has been perfecting the art of ice cream making for more than 90 years. While they enjoy creating creamy, delicious and exciting new flavors, many of their ice creams use a base recipe that was created back in 1926! With more than 50 flavors to choose from, including the world’s best French Vanilla and new Dairy Free options, Hudsonville Ice Cream has something for everyone to enjoy.

Today I teamed up with Hudsonville Ice Cream to share a few tips on setting up an easy ice cream sundae bar:

STICK WITH THE BASICS

Obviously we need to talk about the ice cream first and in my opinion, it is best to stick with the basics. Since you will be loading your sundaes with lots of toppings, it is best to use classic flavors. Vanilla and chocolate are the perfect standards and give guests easy options for their sundaes.

MIX IT UP

Next let’s talk toppings. I like to provide guests with a variety, but not make it too overwhelming. I think anywhere from 5-10 options is a good number to stick with. You always want a combination of heathy, sweet, crunchy, and saucy. They of course can overlap, but you want to make sure you have enough variety so that everyone’s favorite is available.

Our sundae bar included: rainbow sprinkles, chocolate chips, marshmallows, M&Ms, chocolate sauce and cherries. Some other toppings you could use include: fresh berries, coconut flakes, dried banana slices, crushed cookies, gummy bears, peanuts, granola, almonds, toffee bites, and cereal. Also let’s not forget about the sauces. It’s always fun to add chocolate syrup or hot fudge, caramel sauce, whipped cream, or some sort of berry compote.

MAKE SURE TO DECORATE

Obviously the ice cream is the star, but since we were celebrating a birthday we had to add a few decorations. A little confetti goes a long way here and adds to the whole party element. We also added a birthday sign, party hats and party blowers.

When create a sundae bar, it is also super cute to add little signs labeling the toppings. This is something I would have done, but staying in a hotel has limitations so I just went with what we had to make it easy.

PLAN AHEAD

I always find it easier to scoop ice cream once it has been left out for a few minutes. I suggest taking your ice cream containers out of the freezer about 15-20 minutes before serving. That way it will be way easier to scoop and eat.

Another idea is to pre scoop your ice cream and have them ready to go in containers. This works well if you plan on having a lot of guests at once to your ice cream bar. Since we were having such a small group, I just decided to scoop the ice cream right out of the container.

So there you have it, a few tips for hosting an easy ice cream sundae party. You really can’t go wrong with this one, just make sure to choose quality ingredients (like Hudsonville Ice Cream) as well as a variety of toppings.

See some more photos of our celebration below: