Will these balloons ruin my wedding?

[Plickers]

I am getting married in a historic, landmark in Aug. The venue has been quite strict on the things they will allow. It has been annoying at times but it’s a compromise we have to accept.

I want to add a fun element to the disco. I have found these balloons and think they are perfect. I showed the venue wedding coordinator and they said they’ve had bad experiences with balloons (wtf?) in the past so “they wouldn’t”. I feel this is overly dramatic. How hot can it get? It’s a medium sized period room (enough space for 85 people to dance).

The party room is going to be very low lit with up lights. I think the led balloons will be just right.

Do you think the venue is being ridiculous?

Heat can cause them to burst.

Also how do you get them down?

OP mentioned she didn’t mind tacky, so can’t really complain if posters say they are tacky

Those balloons are awesome. Go for it.

Yes, but did you ask them what they mean by "because of the heat"

• are they saying they burst too easily?
• are they saying the room gets too hot to be comfortable?
• is there something else that happens?

You can make a far better judgement on whether you think their concerns are valid or not, if you ask them what their concerns actually are.

I’d imagine they won’t be enamoured by the tidy up operation afterwards and the fact that pissed up people will probably be standing on tables / chairs / each other to grab them down during the party

What do they mean by because of the heat? Is it fire risk or about ballons might be melting and dripping on the floor or people might touching them and get burns? You have to ask them to clarify. I like the vibe to be honest, it feels like fun but if the balloons are going to melt and drip and I will have to pay for floor damage - of course I won’t go for it.

Just a genuinely unbiased paper exercise but...

Against:
-Helium is running out.
-Helium can kill if guests decide it's funny to huff it.
-Balloons can float up to the ceiling and cause problems getting them down if they are very high.
-People might take them outside / they may escape and when they deflate animals may eat them resulting in a painful and unnecessary death.
-They are environmentally unsound.
-Some may well deflate / pop leaving just a few behind looking a bit sad.
-The venue has kindly suggested they might be an unwise decision.

For:
-They look pretty and would give you the vibe you are looking for.

I get the vibe you’re going for OP however I’ve dressed a few events using these kind of balloons and it’s an absolute pain getting them to look like the pics and then they never last. The lights go out quickly and the heat does cause them to deflate. I don’t think the venue is lying about that.
It’s a shame really because I think in the right setting they look ace. Maybe you’ve found some decent ones, in which case I’d say just go for it!

I'd ask them for some clarification on what they mean by their response as a starting point; eg what problems, tell them (honestly) how many you intend to have and where and and get a final and proper confirmation from them as to whether they will allow this - a yes or a no, in writing.

I worked for a party planning company when I was younger, did lots of balloon displays and helium balloons for events and it isn't incorrect to say that heat is potentially a significant issue - they often do pop in high temps or in direct sunlight and float time/quality is absolutely affected by humidity, light and heat. There's some variance depending on what's used - eq the material of the balloons themselves helium vs air - and there are a number of tricks you can employ to get longer out of them to try to mitigate that but there is likely to be an impact on appearance and even more so if these are done well ahead of time and left in situ until the evening (for example)

As others have said you'll also need a plan to clean them up at the end in most venues they can't be left.

I'd edit that to say "They could look pretty and might give you the vibe you are looking for, as long as they don't immediately sink and deflate which lots of people said might happen in the heat"

It is true that it's warmer up near the ceiling. I have one of those ceiling airers on a pulley for washing, and the difference in how fast clothes dry up on the ceiling airer vs on a clothes horse on the floor in the very same room is amazing. And that's just in a normal house, even without the heating on or anything.

A lot of people have balloon phobia including me.
My autistic dd had to leave her school leavers party due to all the balloons getting popped at the end.

eco unfriendly to the nth degree

The thing is, they've apparently said she can have them but advised against it, whereas I assume that if that was the reason, they'd just disallow it.

A period property and balloons? NO.

H&S wouldn’t let you retrieve or put those up on ceilings that high using a step ladder - they will need to work from some sort of a platform with hand rails :)

As pp have said, they're very environmentally unfriendly.
I went to a wedding where they had balloons and people thought it was funny to pop them, so they were just bits of rubber strewn everywhere.

Will all end up in landfill.

Dreadful and tacky. Difficult to remove if they float up to a high ceiling, or worse if in the rest of the building. Could cause environmental damage outside. Drunken numpties inhaling the helium.

Not remotely in keeping with a pleasant venue.

HRTFT but I believe helium expands in heat and so the balloons will likely all pop?

Your day though OP if that is what you want and you don't mind the sounds of multiple popping balloons and guests falling over on balloon remnants.

These ones are nicer but can they be just light up balloons not the trailing parts? They are jelly fishy like someone mentioned.

I think they are spectacularly awful- so tacky and look like something an influencer would get from shein (and am praying you are not my future DIL)

You need to have another conversation with your venue wedding coordinator. They will know exactly why the balloons are not a good idea in the historic building. If you can’t have balloons, do you have any alternative decorations for your wedding evening party?

I’ve been to several weddings in historic buildings and I’ve never sat there thinking ‘what this party really needs is some led balloons all over the ceiling’

Will you clean up afterwards as in take away all these balloons with you ; dispose responsible ecological way, clean up popped LEDs?

A lot of venues have this rule. At dds christening they banned any balloons that had anything inside like tinsel or glitter due to clean up they also banned anything with confetti.

If you don't mind tacky, can't you just go to your local pub? Assuming you don't live in Kew or Hampton.

the damage is done when they are bought. the waste of helium, then non compostable single use plastic, batteries....