Our quick and easy to follow descriptions will aid you decide what balloon decorations are the perfect pick for your special occasion.
When we kicked off with balloon decor, we felt overwhelmed with the massive assortment of displays we came across. Yet along our learning process, we discovered that all of it boils down to three essential concepts:
Balloon Bouquet
Usually 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 various 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 item that is weighty enough to keep the balloons in place and where the ribbons can be attached to.
A balloon centerpiece can be made from latex OR mylar (also called foil) balloons OR you can blend them.
As the balloons have to be helium filled this choice determines the life expectancy of your balloon decorations. Whereas mylar balloons will float approximately 14 days, even the greatest quality latex balloons won't stay up much longer than for about 12 to 24 hours. By applying a product knowned as 'hi-float', it's possible to make them last 10 to 25 times as long!
Balloon Arch
Naturally, balloon arches carry out their objective best when you can go through them! So they are ideal balloon decorations for an entrance or exit. Usually they are also utilized to frame the head or cake table at a wedding or to create a magnificent stage decor.
Unlike with bouquets you get the choice between helium or air-filled balloon arch.
A hovering arch is made of single helium-filled balloons lined up like pearls along an unnoticeable nylon line, hence the name "String of Pearls". The two ends are fixed to bases, quite similar to the table bases for bouquets, just a bit heavier and usually standing on the floor. A brick or sand filled up balloon will do the job and can easily be decorated quite nicely.
With a "String of Pearls" - oftentimes utilized for wedding balloon arches - you create an amazing result with fairly little effort. The only downside is the short longevity, as a result of the nature of helium-filled latex balloons, as described above.
If the decor for your special occasion need to last much longer, you can either work with mylar balloons in place of latex or you go with an arch with air-filled balloons.
With these options of balloon decorations, there is a bit more constructional work involved, as an air filled balloon arch needs some supportive components:
a structure made from a sturdy, flexible material like conduit, PVC piping or aluminium pole and
a tough support at either end to secure the arch.
The pipe or rod is formed into the actual arch and the balloons are connected to it, typically in clusters of three to five balloons. By using a variety of colors and putting the balloons in a special way you'll get this nice spiraling effect shown on the photo. Don't panic, we'll explain step by step and with lots of photos how to do that!
Depending on the size of the arch you'll have to blow up quite a few balloons! Get your family and friends ready! Alternatively you might 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 easier way to create an air filled balloon arch is by utilizing so named 'Link-o-Loon' balloons.
Balloon Columns
Positioned as excellent eye-catchers at either side of an entryway or head table at a wedding celebration, balloon columns are perfect for wedding balloon decorations. They also make excellent balloon decorations for marking out an area of your venue, for example the dance floor or the stage decoration.
As columns are frequently made from air filled balloons, supportive elements are needed:
a strong aluminum or plastic pole and
a solid base as support for the stick.
The balloons are linked to sets of normally three to five balloons and fixed to the pole, layer after layer. By utilizing even bigger balloons for the bottom and the top, and smaller balloons in between, the balloon column takes the characteristic shape of its model in the "real" world. To crown your work you could position a stuffed giant balloon on top of the balloon column.
Like with the air filled arch, both of these balloon decorations imply you'll will need to blow up a ton of balloons! So, getting an inflator would be a very good strategy, particularly 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 won't need a stable base and a pole, as the balloons are going to support read more themselves. Make use of a nylon line to affix the balloon clusters to.
A helium filled balloon column are going to do fine if you need the display solely for one evening. It saves you the struggle of constructing a frame and getting an inflator. Yet, helium costs a lot more than air and the life expectancy of the balloon decorations will be much lower.