Did you know that the largest balloon retailer in North America lives right here at home in West Ashley?
As a mother of five with a plethora of experience planning and hosting events for her family and local community, Charleston Balloon Company’s Senior Designer and CEO, Jill Shortreed has been active in the event and balloon industry for nearly 25 years. She is now an industry leader and public speaker; teaching other small business owners how to take their business to the next level—just as she did. Each day, both Jill and her team at Charleston Balloon Company strive to change the way that the world views and experiences balloons.
“Balloons have a place in the event industry and the best event planners that we work with do not make it an afterthought but part of the initial planning process” states Jill.
You may now be asking yourself, what is Charleston Balloon Company? Charleston Balloon Company is not a party store. You will not find cups, plates, candles, cards, or candy. What you will find is balloons, and only balloons. As the largest balloon retailer in North America, you will find a store filled with over 7,000 products, 75 different colors of latex balloons, and hundreds of new designs on display in their shop and across their social media.
Specializing in only balloons makes the Charleston Balloon team masters at crafting event decor that will elevate a birthday, bachelorette weekend, or any event into an unforgettable memory. Their Instagram-worthy decor makes them in high demand with clients booking up to a year in advance. Their balloon arches, over the top balloon arrangements, and personalized confetti balloons continue to make them the number one go to balloon delivery service.
Jill says, “If you want balloons, we make it happen. Sometimes it feels like we can defy the impossible with our balloons!”
And that’s no exaggeration.
Charleston Balloon Company truly defies what people expect from balloon arrangements. Some of their favorite events include transitioning a large, empty banquet room for a sweet 16 into an under the sea spectacle filled with bubbles & mermaid themed decor; a pool party where guests entered through a giant shark’s mouth, and ceiling filled with a stunning assortment of silver balloons for a private, corporate dinner.
“We love taking balloons to a different level from what people think balloons are,” Jill says. “My favorite thing to do is put balloons where people least expect them.”
The multiple large-scale balloon installations and event inquiries that Charleston Balloon receives every day require a team of experienced balloon artists and professionals to make it happen. And they have their process of granting clients’ wishes down to a science.
Depending on the magnitude of the requested decor, clients often come into the shop for a consultation with a vision in mind. The Charleston Balloon Company team asks a few questions to get into the client’s head to begin a collaborative design process together. Larger-scale events can even receive a digital mockup of their decor, and the Charleston Balloon team will bring that digital rendering to life to make the client’s balloon dreams come true.
While it’s rewarding to bring a vision to life with balloons and a bit of magic, the most rewarding part of Jill’s job is creating an emotional experience with balloons.
“Even if someone is having a horrible day or is ordering balloons for a sad reason, a balloon creates an emotional happiness that no other product creates,” she says. “When a child runs up to find balloons at their front door, the amount of emotion attached to that is indescribable.”
With internationally-recognized credits, multiple prestigious awards, and a portfolio full of large and small-scale projects for both private and public events; Charleston Balloon Company continues to pave the way for the balloon industry each and every day with their highly requested services.
Today, the family-based, independent, woman-owned company is thriving with hundreds of events per month and a wide variety of clients. From foil shaped numbers and latex balloons to large arrangements, installations, and much more, Charleston Balloon Company truly does it all, and does it well.
To learn more about why they “Get Invited to The Best Parties” and how you can place an order for your next event, visit their website at charlestonballooncompany.com.