So I threw this party.....

This has been in draft for MONTHS.  But I've got a 3 hr layover (in the C Terminal of Reagan--yuck), so without further ado....

So back in February, I threw a little Valentine's Day party.  It was very, very pink.  I needed wanted to practice a balloon installation, and it was high time I got to have a party.  The starting point was a desire to use this cool silver dessert tray my brother gave me (Two's Company, via EBTH) and a pink sequin tablecloth I saw on Amazon.

I made the cupcakes and I bought the macaroons.  We dressed up some favorite junk food in fry boxes.  The roses are from Wholeblossoms.com.  I bought them by color (cheaper than variety).  I bought a few bunches of the different "pink" colors (light pink, dark pink, coral) but I would recommend sticking with just one category.  My bunches didn't blend together as well as I had hoped, so I stuck the different colors in different arrangements/locations.  Also, the tablecloth is just OK.  Not as sparkly as the pictures on Amazon.  Those are plastic tablecloths framing out the sequin tablecloth for extra width and light blocking--it is covering a set of french doors (it makes sense for traffic flow).

The big story here are the balloons.  Hundreds and hundreds of pink balloons.  I used this tutorial from The House that Lars Built and hooked a chicken wire frame to the wall (on preexisting hooks or nails, etc.).  I also used this balloon tape for the balloons over the window bench.  Mostly  b/c I wanted to try it--I think it is perfect to keep around for a more casual balloon install.  The balloons came from eBay, aliexpress (those marbelized ones!), and Party City. We had 3 ft balloons partially filled, lots of 18" balloons, hundreds of standard 11" balloons, and then 5" balloons to fill in the gaps.  This balloon pump is required.    

Overall, blowing up balloons and installing them, took AT MOST 8 hours.  But I was working solo.  Also, I left it up for a full week and besides a few of the glue dots failing, it looked perfect.  So this is one install that can be done ahead of time (at least indoors).  One of the random things delaying this post was that I meticulously counted all the balloons, by size, used in the LR installation.  And someone threw away my sheet.  I was sure no one would toss such an OBVIOUSLY important document, so I thought for sure it would turn up.  But no dice.  I can only say I multiplied the length of the install x 6 (i.e., 6 balloons per foot) and then used their expected diameter to come up with how many I needed.  

The dining room installation was a last minute decision, but I enjoyed the excess.

We had plenty of champagne, Diet Dr. Pepper, and La Croix.  Because it was my party.  And yes, I had napkins printed.  I'm too lazy to find a detail shot but they said "You Look Fabulous".   

And what did we do?  We made Valentines, naturally.

  

Photos by Tyler Hromadka/Lumatic Imagery.  And a styling credit to Charlotte (who assembled favors and foiled all my tags) and churchmember Sarah, who flew in from NJ to help set up.