Showing posts with label wedding decor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wedding decor. Show all posts

Thursday, July 29, 2021

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After a year of postponed and downsized weddings, the wedding industry is seeing a surge of couples looking to plan 2021, 2022, and 2023 weddings. As a result, experts say the demand for venues, vendors, and goods such as flowers and attire has never been higher.

My newly married daughter - Holly and her husband Andy

 Photo credit: Eve Dunlop 


For some countries, the wedding season is well and truly underway! The UK wedding market is gradually adjusting to the new normal. COVID safety is now a guidance rather than a law. Dancing is finally acceptable, and there is currently no limit to the number of guests that are allowed to attend.

Pre-COVID, weddings would typically take place over the weekend, however, with a greater demand on vendors and venues, weekday weddings are becoming more popular. This change allows couples to still have their dream weddings without having to schedule as far out. This is also a huge benefit to the wedding professionals who been negatively affected by the pandemic.

2021 Wedding Trends

THE DECOR

One of the clear wedding trends for 2021 is the inclusion of luscious greenery. Tables dressed with cascades of foliage or ceremony arches displaying masses of leaves and greenery are the go to for sophisticated wedding adornment.

Balloon Decor by Shannon Kilford, Born to Party, Sydney, Australia

Balloon Decor by Shannon Kilford, Born to Party, Sydney, Australia

Balloon Decor by Shannon Kilford, Born to Party, Sydney, Australia


Topiary Column Design by Sue Bowler, CBA 

More Outdoor Weddings

Stylists and wedding planners are also reporting an uptick in bookings for outdoor weddings. This has probably occurred as a consequence of the strict event guidelines and social distancing requirements for indoor spaces. With tents and marquees,  home-based garden weddings are a favourite for a romantic, airy ambience without the headache of adhering to indoor guidelines.




Say Goodbye to Some Traditions

Couples are choosing to opt-out of many classic wedding traditions, including speeches-giving, cake cutting (or even having a wedding cake), wedding parties, and even formally structured ceremonies. The cutting of these traditions started out of necessity because of the limitations due to COVID, but it is predicted that some couples will shed the pressure of these demands altogether, focusing instead on crafting an experience that is truly a reflection of who they are.

From everything that I have read on post-pandemic weddings, it would appear that there has been some significant changes from the traditional style wedding, although I am sure that some couples will still favour this style. I suppose what this would imply would be to expect the unexpected and be prepared to react to the new requests and demands that brides make.

Wedding Business Boosters

For more great information, Qualatex has a series of Wedding Business Boosters that cover a variety of different wedding based topics. Click on the images below for a direct link to each of the posts.







And finally, Qualatex has prepared a fabulous wedding flyer that you can use as a style guide for prospective brides. This is available to download HERE - or visit https://us.qualatex.com/en-us/news/?tag=1












I hope that you have found this post to be helpful and informative! 

Happy Ballooning! 

Sue
Follow me @suebowler

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Wedding Balloons and the Great Outdoors

A few years ago I was the decorator of a wedding in which the bride was very specific with her decor ideas, thanks to Pinterest! Don't get me wrong, I love Pinterest, and think that it is a great source of inspiration. But I also think that many of shots that can be found on the site, especially of wedding designs, are staged and therefore are not always as practical as they appear in the picture!

So what do you do when a bride asks you to recreate beautiful but unrealistic decor that she has viewed on Pinterest? 
Unfortunately, unlike the bride, I did not see beautifully arranged sets of helium filled balloons. I saw the potential for a tangled mess of balloons!

Honesty being the best policy, I decided that it would be in both of our best interests to explain all the potential problems of creating what she wanted, in this case having helium balloons outside, while also providing better ideas and suggestions of what would work well instead.



Topiary and Greenery Column by Sue Bowler


So what factors should you look out for when decorating with balloons outside?


Here are a few great suggestions and solutions from a group of industry experts from the QBN Facebook Group.


Monday, June 19, 2017

Balloons at Weddings — Elegant or Tacky?

Balloon Canopy by Sue Bowler, CBA.

There are divided public opinions regarding balloon decor at weddings. I have actually heard people calling balloons "tacky," and on occasions I can understand why people might think this.

When we walk into a traditional style wedding there is one colour that usually dominates the room — white! White table covers with white place settings or even a white marquee and often held in very neutral venues. So when colours are added into this very pure environment, it needs to be subtle and blended in carefully. 

So how can we make our wedding decor elegant? When I design wedding decor,  it is important for me to keep the decor very neutral. I like to create the majority of my designs using White or Ivory and Diamond Clear balloons. Today, silver is often used at weddings. This can also be considered a neutral colour.


Adding Accent Colour


So when a bride tells us the colours that she is planning to feature at her wedding, think of these as being the accent rather than the dominant colours. Consider using only 5" balloons when adding colour, and simply add just a hint rather than a big block of colour. Another tip is to offer the accent colour in tints, tones, and shades rather than just one single colour. For me, colour blending is more elegant than using one single hue.

To learn more about colour, check out my post: Beginners Guide to the Elements and Principles of Design - Colour.

We are very fortunate with balloons that we can create a multitude of colours simply by putting one balloon inside another to create new and unique colours. This is known as custom colouring, a technique that I love and use very often in my designs. 



These are columns that a group of students made as part of the Complete Wedding — Series 2 Course that I teach in the U.K. and around Europe.



The accent colour in this design is blue, but if you look carefully, you will see that the 5" balloons all vary slightly in colour. This was achieved by using the custom colouring technique mentioned above and therefore creating additional excitement and interest within the design, without the colour being domineering or overbearing.


Here is a chart that shows you how to create some very exciting colours. If you right click on this image, you should be able to save it to your computer.


Wedding Arbour by Sue Bowler, CBA.

Here are two more examples of wedding decor designs where the wedding colour has been added in as an accent colour and also using the custom colouring technique to create the tints, tones, and shades of a single colour. In both of these designs, I used fabric and greenery to add colour and texture to the designs.


Light-Up Wedding Column by Sue Bowler, CBA.
Today, there is a whole revolution of exciting new design ideas and concepts using balloon at weddings! Rose Gold is a colour that is becoming very popular, and in response to this, Qualatex® has introduced a fabulous range of Rose Gold Hearts, Round, and Star shape Microfoil® balloons.



To find out the full range available in this colour, click HERE.

We all love Qualatex Bubble Balloons! These are just perfect for weddings! Ruti Grodzinsky, CBA, of Designed by Ruti — Balloon Decor, Israel, recently created this fabulous decor, combining Bubble Balloons and asparagus fern for a beautiful, elegant wedding. I love the simplicity and elegance of Ruti's design, and I am really loving this Bubble and greenery look!

I recently published a post - Look at Colour Trends for Spring 2017. This shows some other great examples of this new greenery trend with balloons.





Keeping the colours subtle and reacting to trends is a great way to succeed in the wedding market.

I personally believe that balloons at weddings can be extremely beautiful and elegant. Just keep the decor neutral, light, and airy, and keep colours as an accent detail, rather than the main player. 

To promote your wedding services, ensure that you have a good social media presence, especially on Pinterest and Instagram, as they are both very visual and highly used by brides to be!

Happy Ballooning!

Sue
www.suebowler.com 

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Adding those little finishing touches to wedding decor!

I recently had the honour of decorating a wedding where the charisma and personalities of the bride & groom oozed from every corner of the room. Their love of traveling was reflected on each table showing a different photograph of their travels to faraway places, as was their enjoyment of fun and games  through the "guest book" written on wooden Jenga pieces! Every part of the wedding had their personalities stamped all over it, and for me it showed that a great deal of thought and love had gone into planning their very special day!

Finishing touches can really make a difference, they add the personal touches to a wedding and we can do the same when we create our decor!

Here are a few ideas that you can use to add that little extra touch when decorating weddings and other elegant events!







One of my first tips would be to find out what flowers will be featured at the wedding. Even though the wedding reception may be predominantly balloon decor, there will still be some flowers such as the bridal bouquet. I love to use silk flower heads to add that little finishing touch to wedding decor.


For me, balloons at a traditional wedding should be elegant and soft and not bold and over-bearing. If a colour is to be used, then it should be added carefully into the decor to ensure that decor remains elegant and graceful.


Thursday, July 9, 2015

Wedding Balloons and the great outdoors!

I will be decorating a wedding later this year. The bride has been pretty specific with her decor ideas with thanks to Pinterest! Don't get me wrong, I love Pinterest and think that it is a great source of inspiration. But I think that many of us are aware that a great deal of the shots, especially wedding designs are staged and therefore are not always as practical as they appear in the picture!

So what do you do when a bride asks you to provide large helium filled balloon bouquets that are to be positioned outside the entrance of the venue that you are decorating?

Unfortunately, unlike my bride,  I don't see beautifully arranged sets of helium filled balloons. I see a tangled mess of balloons flying horizontally!

Honesty being the best policy, I decided that it would be in both our best interest to explain all the potential problems of putting balloons outside, but also gave some great ideas and suggestions of what would work well instead.

So what are the potential problems when decorating with balloons outside?


Here are a few great suggestions and solutions from a group of industry experts from the QBN Facebook Group.


Friday, April 24, 2015

Deco Bubble Design Ideas for Communions & Weddings!

For a little extra inspiration for the communion season, I have added some links to some great downloadable PDF instruction sheets of designs working with Qualatex® Deco Bubbles, and although the designs shown are wedding themed designs, you can simply switch the product and replace with some of the great communion latex designs! Remember that Luc describes communions as 'little weddings'!

To download the instruction sheets just click on the link at the bottom of each of the designs.

Monday, April 13, 2015

Part 2. Working with Colour Trends - Shades of Blue

Let's look at what other colours are 'hot' for 2015?


Pantone® has released their top colours for the spring season and have chosen the theme
  "En Plien Air" ("in the open air").

Cool, refreshing and calming shades of blue will be trending this season with Aquamarine topping the charts!


Blue is a very popular colour combination for many different occasions, some of the more obvious ones being the celebration of a new baby boy, male birthdays, "Under the Sea" theme parties and of course the famous "Tiffany" theme...

U.S. Patent No. 6,758,715

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Working with Colour Trends - Marsala

Colour play's an important part of our lives, so how are we influenced by colour trends? 


Each year specialists from many industries including fashion, pop culture, technology, music and travel scour the globe in search of emerging colour trends. Colour trends are not, as you might imagine, found by simply seeing what's it hot in the fashion world, they are actually inspired by global influences that reflect the spirit of the time.

Each year Pantone announces the Colour of Year. The colour is determined by a select group of people who between them, debate and eventually chose the colour on it's agreed merits.

To give you an example, in 2013 Emerald was selected as the Colour of the Year. It was felt that the colour Emerald represented growth, renewal, and prosperity and in turn could be associated with the changing  economy as it began to recover.



The 2015 'Colour of the Year' has been named Marsala - a "naturally robust and earthy wine red'.


Pantone suggest that this colour will "encourage creativity and experimentation" and is "both dramatic and at the same time grounding".






Thursday, July 24, 2014

How to make a 'Puffed Heart' using Qualatex Quick Link Balloons.

Wedding days are filled with love, romance and happiness and what greater symbol of love than a heart!

As many of you know working with the Qualatex Quick Links was a whole new world for me as well as a huge learning curve but an exciting journey, one that I am enjoying very much! I posted my first Quick Link blog last October  'How to make a simple Quick Link Heart for the uninitiated Quick Link users' , this shows how to create 2-dimentional hearts that are perfect for hanging as backdrops at a wedding and other suitable occasions.


When I found out that I was teaching at the 2014 World Balloon Convention earlier this year I decided that I would make it my mission to learn how to create a 3-dimentional 'Puffed Heart' for my Wedding Excellence class and was very happy with the results! Of course hearts are not just for weddings and can be used for many different events such as Valentines, Engagements and Anniversaries!

The heart shown below was created using 12" Quick Links in Rose & Goldenrod and for the connectors I used Caribbean Blue this created a triadic colour harmony, and it looked great!




This heart is quick and easy to make, it took me less than 30 minutes from start to finish using a Precision Air Inflator.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Sue's Wedding Album!

As the most important day of the bride and grooms life it is essential that as a professional event decorator we are able to design a wedding day to remember!


Very Best Balloon Blog
Elegant Entrance Decor - designed and created by Sue Bowler CBA

I have been designing and creating wedding decor for many years. When I exhibited at my first wedding fair I made some very silly errors. Rather than working with an elegant and fairly neutral colour palette to create my display decor, I overwhelmed my potential clients with every balloon colour that Qualatex offered, which as you can imagine did not make for a very pretty display!

If you would like any tips on how to prepare for Wedding Fairs I have written 3 blogs on the subject:

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

The 'Art' of Fantasy Flowers!

Fantasy Flowers... love them or hate them?


Sue Bowler
Mother's Day Design created by Sue Bowler CBA


I know that this is a bit of a 'bold' statement, but it's true, there are those of us who can see that using this technique can enhance a balloon design and there are those who don't think that they have any place in the balloon industry... which one are you?

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Learn How To Make This Beautiful Wedding Arbour


Elegant Wedding Arbour


Sue Bowler
Wedding Arbour - by Sue Bowler CBA



So what is an arbour? By definition, it is a shady garden alcove with sides and a roof formed by trees or climbing plants over a wooden frame. My wedding arbour above gives you the same sense of a garden frame but with the elegance of light and airy balloons, silk flowers and soft organza.

So what is its purpose? An arbour such as this could be used as the focal point at the wedding ceremony, if you search "wedding arbours", you will see that there are so many different styles - is this an area of decor that you are missing out on?


Product List



39286 - Just Married ARP* Diamond Clear 5” 
39208 - Just Married ARP Diamond Clear 11”
43552 - Diamond Clear 5”
43597 - Pearl White 5”
43788 - Pearl White 11”
43603 - Metallic Silver 5”


99326 - Magenta 5"
43960 - Silver 260Q
22932 - Pearl White 160Q
Organza Ribbon
Silk Flowers



* ARP - All Round Print

Method of Construction



The easiest way to make this design is to start by making all 4 columns first; please note that the 5” balloons listed above are a random selection and not a formal pattern: please also note that the Magenta balloons are double stuffed with Silver over the top to create this very soft colour. Starting from the base of each column, work upwards: 



TIP: I always recommend that you 'wrap' you poles and any frames that you are working with using the same colour of balloons that you are putting on to the frame. I use either 260Q/ 350Q when I wrap, or 646Q to stretch over.

Cluster 1. 5 x 5" Inflated to 3"
Cluster 2. 5 x 5" Inflated to 4"
Cluster 3. 5 x 5" Inflated to 4.5"
Cluster 4. 5 x 5" Inflated to 4"
Cluster 5. 5 x 5" Inflated to 3"

This creates a really nice shape, a little different from the usual graduated style.

You now need to add:

4 x 260Q Silver
4 x 160Q Pearl White

You will need to decide how much of the pole you want to cover with this double spiral, personally, I would tie a scrap of 160Q on each of your poles to determine this point to ensure that they all the same!

Start the spiral by using the 4 x 260Q Silver and wrap these around the pole. 

To create a double spiral you need to add the inflated 160Q at the same time as the 260Q but wrap them individually once you have created the first spiral with all the 260Q.

You are now going to add a further three clusters:

Cluster 6. 5 x 5" Inflated to 4"
Cluster 7. 5 x 5" Inflated to 4.5"
Cluster 8. 5 x 5" Inflated to 4"

Now create a second double spiral, and take this spiral up to 6" - 15cm from the top of each of the poles.


You are going to repeat the same cluster format as clusters 1 - 5, however you cannot add these clusters until the top arch frame is completed and added onto the columns, as part of this cluster series is on the pole and the other half on the arch frame

The easiest way to make the arch frame (top part of this design) is to make it up on the floor prior to adding to the four columns!

You can use aluminium rod or a plastic conduit, just make sure that it fits into your poles.

Determine how big your arbour needs to be and this will determine how long your rod or conduit needs to be allowing enough extra to secure to the poles, aluminium rod can be purchased in different lengths, 4m usually being the longest.

Sue Bowler
Lay your aluminium rods or plastic conduit on the floor and cross them over at the centre, see diagram below.


Mark the place at the ends of each of the rods to indicate the point at which the frames will be added/slotted in to your columns (most column poles are hollow, so it is easy to slot in your rods, if they are not hollow then you will need to secure the rods to the outside of the poles using duct tape), I would allow a minimum of 12" - 30 cms to make sure that it fits securely. Do not worry about bending your rods to create the arch as this will naturally happen when each of the ends is slotted into the columns. You will need to add a second mark (I have indicated this in red), this is the point where your repeat cluster (1-5) will finish, you will probably find that it will be the last two clusters that will extend onto the arch top, once you have made your marks, you can add the final spirals.



The spirals on the top part of the arbour are only single spirals using 2 x 260Q Silver and 2 x 160Q Pearl White,  I felt that the double spiral would be visually too heavy. Depending how big your arbour is going to be, you may need to only 1 set or if bigger 2 sets, if you use two sets then fill the connection join with a cluster of 5" balloons inflated to 3".



In the centre of the arbour, I have added a double bubble topiary ball using 12 x 11" Diamond Clear with 12 x 11" Pearl White.
Sue Bowler
Double Bubble Topiary Ball 




Add the topiary ball at the centre where the two rods cross over... you just push the ball into position.



Add Organza, ribbons and silk flowers to the arch top, but I recommend that you add all this detail before you position the arches into the columns. I have also used 5" Magenta inside 5" Silver to add a little more detail. I created under-inflated 'Bubbles', made up into clusters of three as accent colour and detail.



You will need a minimum of two people but ideally four people to lift the top into position. Carefully slide each rod into the column and secure with duct tape. 



Add the remaining clusters to each of the columns (repeating clusters 1-5 to complete the design. 



Now finish the design by adding organza, silk flowers and the three balloon clusters to each of the columns to complement the arch top.
Sue Bowler
Accent detail - organza, silk flowers and a balloon bubbles.



Well, this has to be one of the hardest designs to 'recipe'... even though it is actually quite simple to make!

Happy Ballooning!



Sue












Thursday, March 1, 2012

Wedding Decor... a little Inspiration for 2012 weddings

It won't be too long before the 2012 wedding season is truly upon us, so I thought that a little bit of wedding inspiration might be a good idea!
Sue Bowler
Designed by Sue Bowler CBA


"So how do we 'find' our Wedding decor inspiration and get some fresh idea's"? 
I always try and do as much research as possible, check out what's 'hot' and in fashion with both colour and themes.

Start by doing a little bit of 'surfing' around the web, you can find a whole host of information and idea's! Just use key words like Wedding Colors 2012, Wedding Trends 2012, Wedding Theme 2012, just keep trying different words, you'll be amazed at what you'll find out... save the websites that you like best to your favourites so that you can easily find them again!

For 2012 wedding colours I found many great sites, including Martha Stewarts Weddings, which has some great information, like these Perfect Palettes, click on the link below to see more great information from her website!
On-line Resources
www.marsthastewartweddings.com
Use the great resources that are ready available on www.Qualatex.com such as The Wedding Business Booster for fantastic decor idea's and great business tips!
Wedding Business Booster
If you are a QBN Member you have many other additional resources available on the Qualatex website, like these great downloadable photographs (and many more) from the resource centre that you can easily accessed from the lefthand side of the homepage... simply click, sign in and see what's available!

Free resource for QBN members


Learn and be inspired by others by investing in training & knowledge.

Attend the World Balloon Convention or a Qualatex Event, or alternatively take a 1 day wedding course or learn from professional Balloon Design DVD's.
For those of you attending the World Balloon Convention there are some great wedding design classes such as Magical Wedding Moments with Steven Mayhew CBA and Weddings with Italian Flair! With Alberto Falcone CBA

DVD's


very best balloon blog
Great NEW Weddings  DVD by Colin Myles CBA www.smileyballoons.com

Sue Bowler
Master Series DVD
Courses 

The Wedding Series 1 & 2
This is a series of courses that I have written for Qualatex. They have been designed to maximise sales opportunities from brides and increase demand for more creative and profitable decor!  To find out more and where these courses are being taught visit www.thequalatexevent.com website. For other great courses visit 'Shows and Events' on the Qualatex Website.

Wedding Series Course www.thequalatexevent.com


The Qualatex Facebook Group is also a fantastic source of inspiration! I have selected a few pictures from the photo gallery... there are so many great pictures it was hard to choose!
A huge thank you to all of you who submit your pictures to inspire others and a special big thank you to the designers of the photographs that I have used below! 


Alessandro Patene
Beautiful Framed Heart by Alessandro Patane CBA of Balloon Express  Shop Sicilia, Italy

Nadia Azar
'Balloon Tree' by Nadia Azar, Balloontastic Creations, New Jersey, USA

Funtastik Balloons
Wedding Arbour by Funtastik Balloons, Florida, USA

Jose Lutman
Elegant Hearts - Jose Lutman CBA, Mulhouse, France

Jose Lutman
Just Married Hearts by Jose Lutman CBA, Mulhouse, France

Luz Marina Paz Bucio
Elegant Columns & Arches by Luz Marina Paz Bucio, CBA, Fiesta Party Corp, Indiana, USA

Matthew Lewis
Free Standing 36" Wedding Heart by Matthew Lewis CBA - Matthew Lewis Displays, Coventry, UK

Svetlana Lugovaya
Svetlana Lugovaya ,Orenburg, Russia

Nadia Azar
Elegant Centerpiece by Nadia Azar, Balloontastic Creations, New Jersey, USA

Tania Torres
Bride & Groom Sculpture by Tania Torres CBA , Balloon Express Shop, Sicila, Italy

Tania Torres
Elegant Swan by Tania Torres CBA, Balloon Express Shop, Sicilia, Italy

Ballooncake
Bride & Groom by Ballooncake CBA

Stunning Ceiling Decor by Matthew Lewis Displays, Coventry, UK


Rosanna Cedeno
Fairy Tale Cake Table by Rosanna Cedeno, New York, USA

All Occasions Sunderland Uk
Elegant Columns and Wedding Cloud by All Occasions, Sunderland, UK

Nadia Azar
White Butterfly and Heart Column by Nadia Azar, Balloontastic Creations, New Jersey, USA 
Colin Myles
3' Just Married Hearts-A-Round by Colin Myles CBA, Smiley Balloons, Dundee, Scotland
I hope that this has given you a little inspiration for the forthcoming wedding season? Don't forget all the fantastic Qualatex balloons that are just perfect for weddings... here are a few of my favourites!

Ivory Rose & Butterflies #31254 



Deco Bubble Scroll Filigree All Around #23593
Sue Bowler
Deco Bubble 24" Elegant Roses & Butterflies #29718 with Just Married Butterflies-A-Round 11" Latex 
But please do not let me influence you :) Check out the great range of Wedding latex, Microfoil® and Qualatex Bubble balloons! Download the 2012 Qualatex catalogue today if you do not already have i

Looking forward to seeing many of you at WBC 2012 in Dallas... !

Sue