Picture a backyard birthday: bunting between the trees, a bouncy castle full of air, and over the lawn an arch of balloons in every colour of the rainbow. The arch is where everyone ends up. The kids run through it all afternoon, and the grown-ups line up under it for the photo.
If a friend asked us who could build that arch, we'd send them to Vancouver Balloons, the Main Street shop that has been on the same stretch for nearly twenty years. What drew us to them is that after nearly two decades on one street, the shop is still finding new things to make.
Isaac runs it. Everyone who works with him calls him the Balloon Man, he writes on the shop's website, where he puts his own balloon work at nearly twenty years. The shop makes garlands, arches, columns and sculptures for birthdays, weddings, baby showers, graduations, grand openings and corporate events, and the business itself goes back to 1986.
The shop found him
Isaac came to a shop that was already part of the street. "It was destiny," he says. "The shop found me." He was drawn to the place because it spoke to him.
"There was already a brilliant team of creators here," he wrote to us, "including Kate, a wonderful painter with a very earthy style. She has since passed away, but two of her paintings are still in the shop."
It was destiny. The shop found me.
The hybrids started with the price of helium
Isaac counts two things as his signature creations: the hybrids and the arches.
He came up with the hybrids as helium prices kept going up and he wanted to make something different. The bottom is an air-filled balloon arrangement that stands on the floor; above it float the helium balloons, on their strings.
The shop doesn't support releasing helium balloons into the air, its website says, because of the risk to power lines, wildlife and forests.
The arches have been used for movies, commercials and corporate events. For years, he built the arches for the Sun Run. Not many people can create those, he says. They took years of knowledge, the stamina to work for nearly 36 hours straight, and an amazing team that helped him year after year.
What he wishes people knew before hiring a balloon professional is how many little details go into a setup. He's generous about it, too: "Doing it yourself can be a great way to keep costs down and add your own personal touch." Businesses and movie sets often come to the shop, in his experience, because they need someone to take care of all those details.
The flamingos pushed his imagination
The setup that has stayed with him is the flamingos. There were two, built from pink balloons in every shade from blush to raspberry, their necks curving into a heart where the beaks met, and tall enough to need a scissor lift.
"That setup really pushed my imagination," he says. "I didn't have a set plan and created it on the spot." Having the frame helped, he adds, "but seeing how everything came together was really rewarding."
Something new to see on Main Street
"There's always something happening in the studio," Isaac says. The shop doesn't wait for a holiday or a particular season to decorate. The daily creations go out front, and he tries to change the displays as often as he can, "so there's always something new to see."
When he isn't at an event or a setup, the shop's website says, you'll find him at the studio with Matilda, his St. Bernard.
As for nearly twenty years on the same stretch of Main Street: "It's very humbling to be part of this community," he says. "I love being among the shops that give people a reason to walk up and down Main Street, browse, and stop in."
Back in the backyard, the bouncy castle is coming down, and the grown-ups are lining up under the arch for one more photo.
Find Vancouver Balloons at vancouverballoons.com and on Instagram at @vancouverballoons.
Photos: Vancouver Balloons.
The Spotlight is where the Journal writes about the Vancouver Event Pros we'd send a friend to, like Isaac.
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