Balloon Artist Transforms Newport Beach, One Party At A Time

NEWPORT BEACH, CA — It's the week before an enormous 5oth birthday bash. Sunny Bunny Balloon owner and designer Nicci Dewez is prepping the biggest party she's ever designed. The premier installation would be big, bold, covered in cassette-shaped balloons, mylar balloon stars, and pops of color in hot pinks and teals. Custom prompts of favorite 80s tunes would complete the look of her design.

The installation would take six people to create and two days for the complete setup.

It's been a wild and bumpy ride since she hung her first balloon swag during the pandemic, she tells Patch.

Dewez and her husband live in Newport Beach—right on the water—with their two children: Sunny, their daughter, 6, and 4-year-old son, Ace.

She has worked from home since they were babies. Diving into her artistic side, she designed and sold custom-decal-covered baby blocks over Etsy, working at her kitchen table.

Later, when her block supplier stopped selling, she was left with loads of custom decals and nowhere to stick them.

"I started wondering if I could put decals on balloons but quickly discovered why many people don't do that—it's really difficult!" she says. Then, she figured out the magic combination for decal-ing balloons and started practicing with friends and family. By March of 2020, she had a bustling balloon decor business. Three parties were booked for March that year, from recommendations, which would be her biggest month yet. Then, the world stopped turning as coronavirus reached Orange County.

Eight days after the pandemic shutdown there were no more parties as the world shifted to quarantine mode.

"I had a lot of balloons and a weird pit in my stomach," she says. "I told my husband that I was going to spend the afternoon ballooning the house to cheer up the neighborhood."

That was a Friday afternoon.

"My Instagram went crazy and people everywhere were requesting happy balloons on their houses, too!" she says. Sunny Bunny Balloons, named for her 6-year-old daughter Sunny, launched from that moment.

In Newport Beach and beyond, her balloon sculptures became the backdrop for drive-by celebrations and now parties in real venues and homes.

The 80s Karaoke birthday bash is just the latest in a long line of elaborate events.

She's designed backyard jungle parties with balloon vines that swept with the wind.

She's completed a Mermaid's Tale under the sea, complete with mermaids reading to young partygoers and whispy jellyfish-like tales that blow and add life to the creation in Orange County breezes.

She's done elaborate entry displays for birthdays, weddings, baby showers, for businesses and families, including a Taco Two-sday party.

The 80s Karaoke party would be her biggest one yet. An almost two-story balloon sculpture would greet all who entered the 80s karaoke bash.

She got a feel for what they wanted and an inspiration board mock-up for the design: bright neon colors, neon lights, MTV-worthy staging.

Plus, the giant blow-up cassette tape floats nicely in the swimming pool at the party's end, she says.

A staff of six assisted with setup, as well.

"The roller coaster ride is something I could have never predicted or planned for," she says. "The amount of growth and change is like nothing we've experienced or been through before."

These days her husband, whom she describes as a Buddhist runner, has swapped his weekend running hobby to be a stay-at-home parent to build her dream. His love letter to her in this Instagram post shows the heart behind their marriage.

Dewez has an artist's soul, and she pushes the envelope on each gorgeous balloon display.

She helped tell the story of families going through life events during a pandemic. From numerous 2020 graduation displays to her hoppy Easter design, complete with a decal of a bunny wearing a mask.

In fact, Instagram tells the full story of her overwhelming growth and success that began with a balloon "hug" for her neighborhood.

"My entire business lives on Instagram," she says. There is no storefront. "I can work with anyone from anywhere!" Here, she chats over private messages, interacts with other artists and clients in real-time and books her large-scale events. Each balloon display is a temporary sculpture with a price tag to match.

"I did a ton of work for free and gave away my time to build my name up to this price point," she explains over Instagram. "These large, detailed installs are my art and soul."

Her installations take between six hours to now two days to complete.

She is still learning the ropes as a new business owner, from design challenges to maintaining the right insurance and payroll. Even more, she does her best to stay fresh with new techniques to keep her designs fresh and relevant in a quickly changing environment.

When you create something extraordinary and temporary, the photos are what live forever, she says.

Though each installation is gone in less than a week, their visuals remain on social media forever, according to Dewez.

"I find motivation in getting featured by big inspiration pages," she says. "When I'm featured, it's the best day ever!"

During the phase of crazy growth, the biggest challenge remembers to be present in her own life as a mother and wife. "There is never an end to the artistic process," she says. "My brain never stops." Still, she and her husband work to find the balance in their lives.

With a business named after her daughter, she is considering her son, Ace. At age 4, he constantly keeps her and her husband on their toes. "Perhaps we can create a business in his name, too."