Toñy Moncada: Creating Magnificent & One of a Kind Balloon Decor!
When Toñy Moncada, CBA of Globofiesta, in Elche, Alicante, Spain was approached by a client to decorate their three month old son's Baptism, she never would have imagined the amazing balloon journey she was about to undertake!
I interviewed Toñy last year for the Very Best Balloon Blog, entitled Introducing Toñy Moncada. At the time Toñy was teaching at the OnArt Event in Barcelona.Whilst observing her class, I was both inspired and captivated by her style. She was using techniques that I had never seen before, and she has meticulous attention to detail. I discovered then that Toñy is very passionate about balloon art and creative dècor, a fact which is obvious to anyone who meets her. She loves to work very closely with and build solid relationships with her customers, and excite them with her creative designs and ideas!
As with all jobs, there were a few challenges. The first of these challenges was colour choice, as the invitations and posters had already been designed and it was important that the decor coordinated with it.
The combination of colours were:
In total, Toñy used around 10,000 Qualatex balloons, from 5" to 3'!
With added lighting, this backdrop proved to be the perfect photo opportunity for the family and guests.
Often a photograph does not do justice the full scale and size of the decor, so I included this photo of Toñy to show you how big the organic curtain and frame was.
As someone who loves to design centrepieces, I wanted to know more about Toñy's brilliant idea, which I thought worked perfectly with the decor.
She explains her idea here:
I asked Toñy how long did take her to create all this fabulous decor?
This is what Toñy's customer said:
This is Toñy's biggest job to date, and she obviously really enjoyed every aspect of it, from conception through to the absolutely stunning end result! Did she worry that she hadn't ordered enough balloons? Of course she was - I would be too! But like a true professional, she did the math and worked it out (and checked with a few ballooning friends too).
I often hear decorators saying that they don't get the big jobs, but I say, never say never! Toñy's customer did not know what they wanted in terms of decor, but they did want something special and unique. Toñy waved her creative wand and sold them the dream - stunning, memorable decor that no other medium could have achieved!
Congratulations Toñy and thank you for sharing your beautiful photographs and experience with the Very Best Balloon Blog!
#suebowler
I interviewed Toñy last year for the Very Best Balloon Blog, entitled Introducing Toñy Moncada. At the time Toñy was teaching at the OnArt Event in Barcelona.Whilst observing her class, I was both inspired and captivated by her style. She was using techniques that I had never seen before, and she has meticulous attention to detail. I discovered then that Toñy is very passionate about balloon art and creative dècor, a fact which is obvious to anyone who meets her. She loves to work very closely with and build solid relationships with her customers, and excite them with her creative designs and ideas!
"What made me decide the type of decoration was undoubtedly the venue that had been chosen for the event - a room with large ceilings, which we had to transform completely! It was clear that it should be organic decoration."
Toñy at work, preparing the many 1000's of balloons that she would need for this installation. |
As with all jobs, there were a few challenges. The first of these challenges was colour choice, as the invitations and posters had already been designed and it was important that the decor coordinated with it.
The combination of colours were:
- White with Dark Blue inside
- White with Sapphire Blue inside
- Grey
- Gold chrome
In total, Toñy used around 10,000 Qualatex balloons, from 5" to 3'!
Toñy created this fabulous backdrop, which was so much more than the balloons: check out the curtain!
"I wanted to create a curtain with different fabric textures and colours, so it was like an organic style curtain. After a little experimenting, the idea was born! It fitted with the theme perfectly: nothing else would have worked as well. The venue needed the walls covered in order to create the effect we were looking for - and we got it!"
With added lighting, this backdrop proved to be the perfect photo opportunity for the family and guests.
Often a photograph does not do justice the full scale and size of the decor, so I included this photo of Toñy to show you how big the organic curtain and frame was.
"The height of the room also proved to be another challenge, but I have found that the greatest challenge of all is to make sure that the client is satisfied and happy."
As someone who loves to design centrepieces, I wanted to know more about Toñy's brilliant idea, which I thought worked perfectly with the decor.
She explains her idea here:
"The idea of the centerpiece was born for several reasons. Balloons were a significant part of the dècor, and therefore it was important that they should also be included on the tables. One of the latest trends is to work with acrylic and also with gold accent details. We used acrylic to make the welcome poster, and other decorative details. It was an idea that had been in my head for some time and this was the opportunity to make it come true."
Simple, but very. elegant centrepiece design by Toñy Moncada |
I asked Toñy how long did take her to create all this fabulous decor?
"It took approximately 20 hours to have everything ready. Before going to the venue we had already pre double-stuffed all the balloons, and the wires were cut in 5m lengths which made it easier to move for placement. We also pre-made the bases for the helium balloons for the children's table, and the crepe paper ribbon tails were ready."
"I would like to comment that it is true that working with double-stuffed balloons is harder: the air inflator inflates slower, tying is more difficult. But it has other very positive things: the balloons duration is very long and in perfect condition, they take longer to oxidise, which allows you to work several days in advance."
This is what Toñy's customer said:
"I would like thank you Toñy for your work, it was all spectacular! When you work with professionals like (Toñy), you can see the difference between the people who love their work and the rest. Many thanks for your involvement and for making that day even more special."
This is Toñy's biggest job to date, and she obviously really enjoyed every aspect of it, from conception through to the absolutely stunning end result! Did she worry that she hadn't ordered enough balloons? Of course she was - I would be too! But like a true professional, she did the math and worked it out (and checked with a few ballooning friends too).
I often hear decorators saying that they don't get the big jobs, but I say, never say never! Toñy's customer did not know what they wanted in terms of decor, but they did want something special and unique. Toñy waved her creative wand and sold them the dream - stunning, memorable decor that no other medium could have achieved!
Congratulations Toñy and thank you for sharing your beautiful photographs and experience with the Very Best Balloon Blog!
Comments
Thank you for this post on Tony's amazing work! As always, my question is, "How do you sell this kind of job?" Does the customer say for example, "I have a budget of $XXX ?
When I discreetly ask, "What is your budget?" I get the usual response, "We don't know what balloon decor costs... show us what you can do!"
I've done several jobs on which on first encounter the client appeared to have an unlimited budget but when you present your ideas & pricing, they usually ask what can I do for $xx. - which is often less than $600!!
This is probably the most difficult aspect of my business. No-one in this industry has answered this question - it's like the industry's best kept secret!