When to Order a Christmas Balloon for the Holiday Season

Order in the first week of November if you want the balloon flying when your season opens the day after Thanksgiving. That date comes from working backwards through the two fixed lead times: production runs three to seven days after artwork approval, and shipping takes two to five business days. Early November also leaves room for one artwork revision, which is the step most first-time buyers forget to budget for.

The backwards timeline

Add those up and a balloon ordered in the first week of November comfortably reaches a lot that opens the day after Thanksgiving. The same math applies to pop-up gift shops, light displays and holiday markets — any seasonal operation with a fixed opening date.

Why December orders fail

Order in December and the balloon arrives for the last fortnight of your season. For a six-week retail window, that is the worst possible time to be late: the traffic you bought the balloon to capture has already passed. If your opening date is fixed and immovable, treat the first week of November as the deadline rather than the target.

Cold weather behavior you should expect

Gas contracts in cold weather. On a frosty morning the balloon looks soft and firms up again by afternoon. That is normal, not a leak, and chasing it with helium at dawn is the wrong response.

Two handling rules matter in a winter season:

• Do not fold or unfold the balloon while frozen.
• If you need to box it mid-season, bring it inside and let it warm first.

Material choice affects how well it survives the cycle: polyurethane tolerates repeated freeze-and-thaw, while PVC cracks at the folds.

The cost argument for ordering early (and keeping it)

A $1,512 blimp used for six weeks is expensive. The same blimp used for six weeks a year for ten years is not. It deflates, folds and stores flat in the carton it arrived in, and customers report still flying the same balloon after fourteen years — a seasonal balloon spends most of its life in a box. Ordering early in year one is what makes that multi-year arithmetic work.

How to place the order

Call 1-800-791-1445 or email with two pieces of information: the size you want and whether you want it printed. Printed balloons need artwork approval before production starts, so have your lot name or logo ready when you make contact. More detail is available at marketingballoons.com.