Todd, John, Kenwyn, and Tara had the honor to entertain at the White House’s 2012 Independence Day celebration. This was the fourth year in a row that we’ve been invited to this event.
The president and first lady hosted military service members and their families on the South Lawn of the White House at their annual 4th of July picnic. The 1200+ guests were entertained with balloons, giant ‘presidential characters’, amazing fireworks, the Marine Band, and country music star Brad Paisley. The president thanked his guests for their service to our country and then shook hands and took pictures.
Our team of balloon artists arrived early to go through the rigorous security detail, and found ourselves mostly alone in the president’s backyard. That is, except for the snipers on the roof and the staff setting up tables, tents, flowers, and sound systems.
We quickly went to work building two eye-catching balloon sculptures: A patriotic balloon dress that Tara modeled, and a balloon flag with a balloon caricature of the president. Guests admired the balloons and took pictures with ‘the president’ using the White House as a backdrop.
The dress was also a huge success. Hundreds of guests took pictures of (and with) Tara. One blogger wrote, “The best patriotic outfit pool spotted was a woman … wearing a tank-top dress completely made out of small red, white, and blue balloons — no joke.” Similarly, someone tweeted:
A lady at tonight's White House picnic wore a patriotic outfit: a tank-top dress completely made out of small red, white, and blue balloons
— West Wing Reports (@WestWingReport) July 5, 2012
You can see a video of the fireworks and read more about the party at on the Official White House Blog and on Obamafoodorama. In the meantime, enjoy some of our pictures of the party.