I love a good party.
Quarantine makes me not only miss parties but long for another one very soon. Since the start of COVID19, I have looked back on all of the amazing parties that I have attended and the ones that I hosted or helped host.
I noticed that my photos really focus on the guest(s) of honor and the details, and decorations. I am a firm believer that small intimate parties are just as worthy of beautiful decorations, and great food that should be photographed. And truthfully, when you look back you’re going to see the most beautiful memories and whether there are five, fifty, or five hundred people in attendance won’t really matter as much as the beautiful memories that remain.
Today, I am sharing a citrus themed baby shower. It’s SUCH a versatile theme that is beautiful for a shower, a birthday, a wedding… you name it. I did something similar for a bridesmaid luncheon and both events were just lovely. I have also been to a citrus themed wedding, and it was amazing. The great thing about citrus is you can make it very colorful and quirky (similar to Lilly Pulizer) or very simple and clean with a lot of white, or even a little rustic.
This particular party was a gender-neutral baby shower. Mom called the baby “satsuma,” so it was special to bring in little oranges for the occasion.
I focused on lots of white and added burlap because the party was held at her mother-in-law’s new farmhouse. We are lucky to have access to lots of cheap citrus in Florida, so the majority of the decorations were purchased day-of from our local Publix.
How I make my balloon garlands:
Once I have my theme, I buy various sizes of latex balloons on-theme. I blow up all of my balloons using a pump to the good old fashioned way. I try to blow up the balloons within a day or two of the event because the balloons will deflate. Depending on the theme, I may add balloons with different textures and sheens line mylar or different shapes.
There are many ways to make a beautiful balloon garland, including chicken wire, or fishing line. I prefer stringing my balloons on fishing wire then adding layers of balloons or flowers with Glue Dots.
It takes a little practice, but you want to inflate the balloons almost to maximum capacity to have a full look, but you don’t want to over-inflate because the balloons could pop.
Once I have my balloons tied-off, I start stringing. I personally like my garland to go from large to small so I start with the second-largest size, then mix the largest and second-largest, and the third-largest and second-largest, and so on until I have the length that I am going for.
NOTE: If you have to transport the garland, you may want to consider constructing it in sections that can be transported in one or more cars. I have more than once asked a friend or two to transport my garlands as nothing else fits in the car!
I will reserve the smallest balloons and any specialty balloons for the end and use them to fill in the garland by gluing them on using Glue Dots, but again, be mindful that you don’t pop them! I will also add the specialty balloons.
To hang it, I use a photo back-drop frame and clamp the fishing line to the frame. But Command Hooks are also very useful. Even a very large arch is fairly light, so a pack or two of Command Strips will do the trick and not leave damage to the party venue.
To finish the look, I will add balloons with helium floating around it. Sometimes I tape the balloons to create layers. I will also throw balloons onto the group to just add even more dimension to the decoration.
I am a huge fan of Publix’s, Fresh Market, and Whole Foods’ floral markets. Whenever I host a party, I generally spend the morning of the party at one or more of these stores. I like to grab one big, full flower (like hydrangeas), an accent flower (like roses), greenery, and another filler like baby’s breath. For the citrus theme, I also grabbed bags of citrus including lemon, lime, two sizes of orange, and grapefruit.
Once I arrived, I started cutting the citrus. I laid out the greenery and added the citrus in groups of three. I placed food, dessert, and other decorations on top of more greenery and added flowers and more citrus around everything.
I made simple arrangements but first adding the greenery, then the filler, then the small flower then the larger flowers. Finally, I added fresh flowers to the balloon garland.
The favors for guests was succulents, which was a sweet little touch.
I love this theme and I love seeing it done. If you host a citrus-themed party, tag me @mrsmakeitrainka!
PS. See what else I’ve pinned for this theme on Pinterest.
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