Our very simple to follow descriptions will allow you make a decision what balloon decors are the optimal option for your special occasion.
We felt overwhelmed with the huge selection of displays we came across when we started with balloon decorating. Along our learning process, we figured out that it all boils down to three essential designs:
Balloon Bouquet
Most commonly used as a centerpiece for tables, the balloon bouquet really is the heart of a balloon display. Between two and nine balloons, attached to curling stripes, are arranged in different heights and affixed to a table base. In the examples beneath the base is either a heavy flower gift basket or a sand-filled balloon. It can be virtually any decorative object that is weighty enough to hold the balloons in place and where the ribbons can be attached to.
A balloon centerpiece can be crafted from latex OR mylar (also named foil) balloons OR you can combine them.
As the balloons must be helium filled this choice determines the life-span of your balloon decorations. Whereas mylar balloons will float around 14 days, even the finest latex balloons will not keep up much longer than for about 12 to 24 hours. By working with a product called 'hi-float', it's possible to make them last 10 to 25 times as long!
Balloon Arch
Typically, balloon arches carry out their objective best when you can walk through them! So they are perfect balloon decorations for a doorway or exit. Often they are also used to frame the head or cake table at a wedding event or to make an incredible stage decor.
Unlike with bouquets you have the choice between helium or air-filled balloon arch.
A floating arch is made of single helium-filled balloons arranged like pearls throughout an unnoticeable nylon line, hence the name "String of Pearls". Both ends are fixed to bases, very similar to the table bases for bouquets, just a bit heavier and generally basing on the floor. A brick or sand stuffed balloon will do the job and can easily be decorated nicely.
With a "String of Pearls" - commonly utilized for wedding balloon arches - you build an incredible effect with relatively little effort. The only drawback is the short life-span, because of the nature of helium-filled latex balloons, as described above.
If the decorations for your special event must last much longer, you can either utilize mylar balloons in place of latex or you go with an arch with air-filled balloons.
However, with these kinds of balloon decorations, there is a little bit more constructional work required, as an air filled balloon arch needs to have a couple of supportive components:
a structure constructed from a sturdy, flexible material like conduit, PVC piping or aluminium pole and
a stable support at either end to secure the arch.
The conduit or rod is shaped into the actual arch and the balloons are attached to it, mostly in clusters of three to five balloons. By utilizing different colors and placing the balloons in an unique way you'll get this good spiraling effect presented on the photo. Do not worry, we'll describe in detail and with numbers of photos how to do that!
Basing on the size of the arch you'll will have to blow up quite a few balloons! Get your family and friends ready! Alternatively you could use a hand pump or even rent or buy an electrical inflator. This investment, of course, only makes sense if you are planning to do many more balloon decorations.
A much simpler way to build an air filled balloon arch is by using so called 'Link-o-Loon' balloons.
Balloon Column
Positioned as amazing eye-catchers at each side of an entry or head dining table at a wedding and reception, balloon columns are great for wedding balloon decorations. They also make exceptional balloon decorations for defining an area of your wedding venue, as an example the dance floor or the stage decoration.
As columns are commonly made of air filled balloons, supporting materials are required:
a sturdy aluminum or plastic pole and
a stable base as support for the rod.
The balloons are connected to bunches of typically three to five balloons and fixed to the pole, layer after layer. By using larger balloons for the bottom and the top, and smaller balloons in between, the balloon column takes the characteristic look of its model in the "real" world. To crown your work you could position a stuffed giant balloon above the balloon column.
Like with the air filled arch, the two of these balloon decorations imply you'll must blow up a great deal of balloons! So, renting out an inflator would be a really good idea, especially for blowing up the giant balloon that crowns your column.
You could fill only the balloons at the bottom with air and the rest with helium. That way you would not need a stable base and a pole, as the balloons are going to support themselves. Make use of a nylon line to connect the balloon clusters to.
If you need the display just for one party, a helium filled balloon column will do fine. It saves you the trouble of building a frame and renting an inflator. Yet, helium costs a lot more click here than air and the life expectancy of the balloon decorations will be much lower.