Our simple to follow explanations will assist you make a choice what balloon decorations are the best solution for your special event.
Once we kicked off with balloon decorating, we felt overwhelmed with the impressive range of displays we came across. Yet along our learning process, we found out that all of it boils down to three essential concepts:
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 instances below 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. But, utilizing a product called 'hi-float', it's possible to make them last 10 to 25 times as long!
Balloon Arch
Naturally, balloon arches fulfill their function best when you can go through them! So they are best 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 get the job done and can easily be decorated quite nicely.
With a "String of Pearls" - quite often utilized for wedding balloon arches - you create an amazing result with reasonably little effort. The only downside is the short longevity, as a result of the nature of helium-filled latex balloons, as explained above.
If the decor for your special occasion need to last much longer, you may either work with decorating ballroom mylar balloons in place of latex or you go for an arch with air-filled balloons.
With these types of balloon decorations, there is a bit more constructional work involved, as an air filled balloon arch requires some 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 anchor 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. Don't panic, we'll describe in detail and with numbers of photos how to do that!
Depending upon the size of the arch you'll need to blow up plenty of balloons! Get your family and friends prepared! As an alternative you can use a hand pump or maybe rent or buy an electric pump. This investment, obviously, only makes good sense if you are intending to do much more balloon decorations.
A much less complex way to design an air filled balloon arch is by utilizing so named 'Link-o-Loon' balloons.
Balloon Column
Placed 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 of air filled balloons, supportive elements are needed:
a sturdy 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 larger 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 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. By doing this you would not need a stable base and a pole, as the balloons are going to support themselves. Utilize a nylon line to connect the balloon clusters to.
If you need to have the display specifically for one event, a helium filled balloon column will do fine. It saves you the hassle of setting up a frame and getting an inflator. However, helium costs much more than air and the lifespan of the balloon decorations will be much shorter.