DIY wedding balloons for table decorations

littlecat29

Hi all, has anyone done their own table decoration balloons? I want 3 balloons per table x 10 tables, 2 purple and 1 ivory - i prefer the matt look not the perlescent type - can any one recommend a website to buy them from?

How long do they stay up for? They are for the 7pm evening reception so if i blew them up by midday are they likely to last??!

Do i need a special type of balloon for helium???

Many thanks!!

nikki1520

We got ours from confetti.com, and a bottle of helium from a local party supplier- normally you have to put down a deposit for the bottle, as these are the expensive bit. Confetti did a range of matt and pearlescent gallons, in just about every colour I could think of. We did our own favours and place cards too.

my hubby put them up in the morning- were still going strong about 18 hours later. Don't forget to buy weights to ho.d them down, and ribbon too.

nikki1520

Doh- colours. Blooming iPad!!

hayley11

I was going to do them myself, the ballons are pretty cheap on ebay and they have helium too but it worked out the same to get them from a shop, so we didn't bother. We had to look around though, some places were so much more expensive than where we did get them from.

littlecat29

Thanks for that - what size were your balloons Nikki1520? i keep reading that they only stay inflated for 7 - 9 hours which would mean i'd be blowing up balloons whilst having my photo's taken!!! :-)

Mrsanders

I got balloons from ebay and helium from hobbycraft but really wouldn't recommend the helium from there, they didn't last long at all. It was my mum's 70th birthday saturday and her balloons are still going today! I'll see if I can find out where they came from because they've lasted at least 84 hours now! :eek:

pinkteapot

Balloons are either made of foil or latex. Foil ones last for weeks or months when filled with helium. Latex balloons are the normal balloons you have at home that you blow up. Most can be inflated with helium (look for ones that say 'helium suitable' on the ebay listing).

Latex balloons filled with helium don't last as long, but should last longer than 7-9 hours. I threw a hen party for my friend at home and bought a load of balloons on eBay. I took them into a party shop in town to have them inflated with helium and they said "Is the party today?" Their advice was that the helium would last 15-18 hours. I had them inflated at about 10am. They were still going strong at 2am.

By morning (after 24 hours), some were still up but others had half gone down and were looking a bit sorry for themselves.

Just one thought - on the day you should leave yourself as little to do as possible! You should be being pampered and relaxing. Is there anyone else who can do the inflating/decorating for you?

If you take them to a party shop to have the helium put in them, make sure two of you go. I had a bunch of 15 balloons inflated with helium and had great fun walking with them back to the car and trying to get them in the car. Actually, 15 balloons only just fitted inside our car so you'll need a big car!

nikki1520

The balloons were a bit bigger than the standard size, and were suitable for helium. It's all to do with the spacing of the molecules- normal latex has gaps that allow helium through, so you need a slightly thicker one to prevent leakage!