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