A French-Inspired “Red Balloon” Birthday Party from A Reason to Get Together

Simply and utterly charming! That’s what made this sweet birthday party catch our attention and win our hearts. Inspired by the 1956 Oscar winning French film “The Red Balloon,” this party setting was styled by Julie Ann of Julie Ann Events for her daughter’s 4th birthday, and shared on her blog A Reason to Get Together. (We also featured a kitchen-themed bridal shower that she had designed some time back, which was just as charming!)

The simple party elements, all lovingly hand-made and home-baked, were closely centered around the red balloon theme. A wonderful example of “less is more,” proving that you don’t need a whole lot of fancy decorations—just ones that are well-chosen and sure to keep the little celebrant and guests happily entertained!

Pretty Touches of Red!

To acknowledge the inspiration for the party theme, Julie Ann displayed framed images from “The Red Balloon” film. Such a whimsical decor idea! Then, from there, everything else was a celebration of bright, cheery red—from the vase of carnations, to the strawberry drink, paper straws, wrapped wooden forks, flaglets, and the red and grey tassel garland hanging above the kids’ table.

One accent piece we love, though, are the letters spelling out the birthday girl’s name. Julie Ann spray-painted these (originally black from Hobby Lobby) in white—making them a sweet, somehow ”French” touch!

Vignette Style Cake Display

The party cakes got a delightful little display all their own! Presented vignette-style with a white dresser table and well-worn white door, the two cakes were a red velvet layer cake decorated with fresh red flowers and a lovely crepe cake that was perfect for the French theme. Love the dainty cake stands, too!

Completing the little scene were an Eiffel Tower replica, a toy horse, and a fancy frame for the movie photo—all spray painted white. As Julie admitted, “White spray paint was our best friend for this event.” And the final effect is so pretty with a single giant balloon as accent!

Fun Favors and Activities

Again, Julie Ann’s choices here were easy, affordable, and so prettily presented! A recurring polka-dot motif echoed the red balloon theme in the paper goods—straws, napkins, favor bag toppers, and labels.

The favors themselves were bags of red gumballs and red bottles of bubbles trimmed with a little paper balloon. And for party activities, each child had an inflated balloon for a make-a-balloon-face project (that ended up being a hit as they ran around with them, and popped a few!), plus a cutout for making “stained glass” balloons out of clear contact paper and tissue paper.

Now do you see why this party charmed us so? You can enjoy Julie Ann’s 3-post series on this delightful celebration here, here, and here. We’ve loved following her creative blog for years now!