Metropolitan Weddings Podcast
Metropolitan Weddings Podcast
Meet The Wedding Pro - Meagan with Pop In Color Party Co
What if your decor could evolve with the night—classic and elegant during the first dance, then vibrant and pulsing with the beat once the party starts? That’s where Meagan Stringer takes us. As the owner of Pop In Color Party Co. in Springfield, Missouri.
We trace the journey from early Amazon balloon kits to polished installations that anchor photo moments, then step into the world of event rentals: shimmer walls in gold, silver, black, white, pink and more, plus floral panels that wedding clients love for their neutral, camera-ready tones. Meagan breaks down the real-world shift from same-day setups to late-night teardowns, how she chooses inventory that photographs well, and why standardizing colors, panels and processes makes scaling possible without losing the creative spark.
The spotlight lands on her newest obsession: licensed LED marquee letters. These sleek, app-controlled letters color-match to garlands, offer 180 animation modes, and even sync to music—transforming receptions, graduations and brand activations into immersive experiences. We talk placement, pacing and mood: starting the evening in clean whites, then ramping up to movement and color as the dance floor fills. You’ll hear how giving clients app access boosts engagement, why certain dark tones don’t render well in LEDs, and how these marquees turn decor into a living, breathing vibe.
If you’re a bride, groom, planner or creative vendor, you’ll get practical ideas for building a cohesive look. Come for the inspiration, stay for the playbook on turning visual moments into lasting memories. If you enjoyed this conversation, subscribe, share with a friend who loves event design, and leave a review to help more listeners find us.
Okay, hello everyone. We're excited to be here today with a newer company that we're getting to know as well. Would you like to introduce yourself and your business?
SPEAKER_04:Yes, hi. I'm Megan Stringer. I'm the owner of Pop and Color Party Co. Um originally we were pop and color balloon design, but over the past six months I have added um like backdrop rentals and uh and my favorite thing is marquee letters. So we own um Stellar Marquee, Springfield, Missouri. And so to go under one umbrella, we are pop and color party co now.
SPEAKER_02:Nice. Love it. So you started out with balloons. How did that get started?
SPEAKER_04:Um I always this I always admit this and I I swear I probably shouldn't. So I at least say there's two types of party people in this world. You have the DIYers and will not pay a dime for anything, and then you have the ones that are like, I'm gonna pay, I don't care what it is, I want it to look good. I was the DIYer, even though I'm really not that crafty at all. Um, and so I was like, I'm I'm gonna figure out this balloon situation. And I started out with those Amazon kits and the string uh things you tight, and I was like, There ha like there's too many people that do balloons. There has to be a better way of doing this. And so I was like, I actually didn't mind like inflating them. I thought that was kind of fun. So I'm like, you know, let's let's keep trying this. So I did a lot of research, lots of, lots of research. I even um actually I still pay for it, but I have a balloon class that I and I enrolled in and um have done lots of education with, and um just kind of learned what worked for me and I loved it and people liked what I was doing, and my husband's like, you should charge people and do like this professionally, and I was like, There's no way anybody would pay me to do balloons. So I did a little bit of a outreach on my Instagram, and um a friend of mine, or acquaintance friend, she um owned a boutique here in Springfield and was like, Hey, I'm having a Mother's Day thing. If you want to set up and um have balloons out for that, that can help get you launched. I'm like, okay. And so I did, and it was during grad season, so I already like immediately booked some graduation installations and um it just kind of spun out from there.
SPEAKER_02:That makes sense. You get had good timing on that. Timing is everything.
SPEAKER_04:I did. That's good. I do, I do think I did. And and also I do think a lot of uh I don't quite understand like the Google outreach, things like that, but my husband, as being a business owner, um, he definitely, um, with his business background that he's run his own business for years, he knew the Google stuff, and so he was like, I'm gonna get you on Google and and start this, this, and this for you, and run these ads. And he's and I think that's truly what kind of made the balloon business something.
SPEAKER_02:Shout out to the hubby. I know. Good job.
SPEAKER_04:Don't tell him I said he's smart.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, I didn't hear you say you were smart.
unknown:That's true.
SPEAKER_01:We don't want we don't want to inflate his head or anything. No, we don't.
SPEAKER_02:So how long have you how long did you do that before you decided, hey, I kind of like this industry. I'm gonna start introducing or backdrops next.
SPEAKER_04:Um, you know, it took me a while, I think, to do the backdrop. I and I'm still a little uh hesitant about it. I'm like diving into this this uh vent rental world, and it is totally different than just like balloon garlands. Balloon garlands, nobody wants to pay you to pop a balloon. So I set up, I'm there, I'm done, I'm I don't go back. Um, and that's been very convenient. And so now that I do the backdrops, I think it took me about probably six months to buy my first. I started out with shimmer walls, and I think about six six months-ish, I bought my first shimmer wall, but I don't really feel like it got very much traction. And shimmer walls are kind of making a comeback or like a presence known at parties and even weddings and stuff now, depending on the color that you rent out. Um, they're becoming very big. So I I think I have like six colors now. Um but the the rental business when you have to go back at the end of the night to tear down is is new to me. So learning all sorts of things.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that's the fun thing that all the wedding merchants learn. They're their dream is the front end, the back end is always like a oh. Yeah. I don't want to move the furniture back.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. No. I know. And my first uh tear down for floral wall, because after I when I purchased um lifestyle by Simone, I purchased her floral walls. So I have those for weddings, and there was a wedding booked out, and I told my husband, I was like, Oh, I have to tear down the floral wall, and it's I think 10 30 time, and he's like, Oh, well, we'll just all go with you. So we need to go to So me and my husband and my three children loaded up in the car at ten thirty at night, and he was like, Yeah, we're not doing that again. I'm like, Okay. So it was a learning experience for us. Yeah. Um, yeah, no, so what we need to we're definitely probably gonna end up getting that part hired out eventually.
SPEAKER_02:Well, good. I hope you can. That'll be good. That'll help you to uh be awake for appointments in the morning, etc. Exactly. No. So you've got I I love the like the timer walls for events and all of like the selfie stations and um just uh obviously everybody loves taking pictures and having those moments and coordination with the event that goes hand in hand with the uh balloon decor, kind of like softing the edges of all of your decor walls and different things like that. So those two I could see definitely went hand in hand with each other. I'm really excited to see what all you have. You have six colors. Can you name them real quick?
SPEAKER_04:I think I have six. I know I have uh gold, black, uh silver, which is like an ice silver. It's so pretty. It's probably my favorite. Um white, pink, and I'm in the works with burgundy.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, burgundy. Okay. So those are all fun party colors. I love it. Um and then next, so are all all your backdrops are shimmer?
SPEAKER_04:Uh so and then I have the floral walls.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, okay. I missed that somehow. So your floral walls are they like a specific color? Or do you change it in and out?
SPEAKER_04:They no, they are. They come um in panels of uh they're beautiful florals. Now, I have only purchased one myself. Mine that I purchased is like an all-white and cream. Um, and it's it's very pretty. And then I then I guess inherited when purchasing Lifestyles by Simone her floral walls, which the one that I think most people see or rent is the all-white one with green. Um, that is the most popular in the wedding industry. I think that gets um rented out the most. I have a feeling the white one will too. Um, but we have a a peach one, like a peachy color one, and then um a pink one. It's very like dusty pink. And then there's like a half um blue one. So like I think the the idea is to pair, like if it was a gender reveal to pair the half blue with the half pink because they're the same florals. Yeah. One's pink, one's blue. Um yeah. I got you.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, that's cute.
SPEAKER_04:So and then Yeah, and they're they're all on my website. I have photos of everything um on my website. So uh I set them all up because I wanted to see what they look like too. Um and and so yeah, they're very stunning for floral walls.
SPEAKER_02:I love the floral walls, they're super cute. Especially with like a neon sign or some balloons.
SPEAKER_03:Super cute.
SPEAKER_02:So then you decided I've I've I don't have enough pickups to do at night, so I'm gonna launch into marquee letters.
SPEAKER_04:I did. Um I I always am looking. I follow a bunch of balloon artists on Instagram and um some that are idols to me, I love what their work. And I noticed about a year ago, uh, the LED marquees started to pop up. And I was like, oh my gosh, those are the coolest things I've ever seen. They're so pretty, very clean, very sleek, very modern. Um, I was like, Springfield needs these. Springfield needs these. And I sat on it and I waited, um, and it was over a year. And I happened to, I started to look um at like maybe just building my own and having them shipped here. And those prices were crazy. And one of the um party companies I follow out of Arkansas, at the same time I got the prices back on building my own, the place in Arkansas that I follow that I absolutely love, um, launched that they were now licensing marquees, and they're calling them stellar marquees, and they're the LED list. And so I booked a consultation with them to talk to them about possibly being a licensee, and it was amazing. I absolutely love it. I love them. Um, and so we kind of we signed the contract in December and I finally got them in the end of April, and they are the coolest things. They're so easy to set up and they're so fun. I fact I which I'm not supposed I guess I'm like I always let my clients, if they want to, um, they have you can change them almost any color, any color but like dark colors. So you can't do like maroon, you can't do gray, you can't do black. You also can't do warm white, but you can do any other color on the spectrum, and it has like a toggle switch that you can. I have sat with a balloon, like we did like a balloon backdrop for graduation, and I did a 25, and I sat and was able to color match the mint green balloons in the garland with a mint green color in the light.
SPEAKER_02:Wow, that is so fun.
SPEAKER_04:They are so fun, but on top of that, you can also there's a hundred and eighty different like features that they can do, like colors that can flash or move, or um, they can be like rainbow colors that are moving, and um they they just have so many fun features, and then you can also, if they're near like the DJ, you can pair them to the music where it picks up the music so then they can flash with the beat of the music for like the reception. It would be so fun. Mine, that is super fun.
SPEAKER_02:I want that. That is so cool.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, yeah. So they are the most fun thing. I had my father-in-law actually got married um a couple weeks ago, and I because I have the app on my phone and there are my lights, I sat there during the reception and changed them to different things. And I was just hearing people like, oh my gosh, that's so cool. Like they didn't know I was sitting in the corner doing it, but it was a lot of fun. And so um they're just a blast. I just but you have you do have to be there to change it. So I've been giving my clients the app to download so that if they do want the opportunity to change it, they can do it themselves.
SPEAKER_02:That would be me though. I'd be the person with the app that was like, ooh, it's time to change the lighting.
SPEAKER_04:I think I changed on my father-in-law's butting at least four times. I changed them to different things.
SPEAKER_02:So I was like literally just the other day, I was talking to Don about uh like I you sent that picture of your letters and I was like, oh, those are different. So if anybody hasn't seen these and doesn't know what they look like, you've got to go on your website or your socials or whatever and see a picture of what you're talking about. But the fact that they have all these features behind them. So the color changing is the going with the music. I love that. Can you imagine? Like you start out your rehearsal and you've got just like the white light and you know what I mean, like behind you, but then as the night goes on, they become more playful and like more a part of the party. And then that's exactly what we did. Yeah, they have a life.
SPEAKER_04:That's fine. They uh they adapt and evolve with the actual wedding itself or the reception itself. Like we did the the solid white for um the father, like the the their first dance and um everything like that. And then once the people went out and the dance, they had green as part of their colors, so I changed them to like the motion green, and so they kind of beat with the music, and then then I was like, oh well, let's go back to white. So then I did like a motion white one, and there's so many different ways that they can move, even without like pairing it to the music, you can still make them move where they actually look like they're going with upbeat music. Um they're just so fun and they add just like a like a vibe that I I don't know if anybody's really until you you see it, you don't realize how much of a vibe they are.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, like a reception. Can you imagine like the reception videography with like the dancing and the lights and the you know what I mean? Like super fun. Yeah, that'd be fun to relive too. I like that.
SPEAKER_04:Yes, I know.
SPEAKER_02:Well, sounds like you uh like in just your short venture here have already found several things that were needed in our industry. So good job.
SPEAKER_01:Yay!
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yay! I I love that how you've like learned to that you've started out as a balloon company and you've evolved and changed your name and decided what you love and don't love and what the industry needs and filled filled the holes. Good job.
SPEAKER_04:Thank you. Yeah, I really really love what I do. So it's not a and it's not a job for me. Um I enjoy the creativity with it. I love seeing the way things come together and um I don't ever see myself not doing it. So whenever we were talking about like investing in other things, investing in another company and investing, well I guess two companies. Um we just say that we always like I like it so much that I knew I didn't want to be anywhere else. That makes sense. Or like stop doing it.
SPEAKER_01:Well, we're glad you're doing it because you're bringing in all the fun. So Thank you.
SPEAKER_02:All right, we're gonna see how fun you are. Oh, we got some quick fire questions. Are you ready?
SPEAKER_04:Oh no, okay.
SPEAKER_02:All right, I want you to rate the following items on a scale of one to five, five being the best. Okay. Humidity.
SPEAKER_04:Humidity. Yeah. Oh zero. Um I have natural curly hair, so it is. Oh man, yeah, I'm with you.
SPEAKER_02:It does not help me. All right, baby shark. Rate it one to five.
SPEAKER_04:The song?
SPEAKER_02:Baby shark.
SPEAKER_04:Yep, the song. Like baby shark baby shark's a song.
SPEAKER_02:You have kids. I thought baby shark would be like your nemesis.
SPEAKER_04:Uh yes, no, I would say it's a it's like a one. Um, it gives me PTSD.
SPEAKER_02:Does it get stuck in your head?
SPEAKER_04:Yes, and thank you for that.
SPEAKER_02:You're welcome. Uh Christmas.
SPEAKER_04:Oh, five. I'm an ultimate Christmas decorator. I have like thirteen Christmas trees in my house.
SPEAKER_02:Well, wait.
SPEAKER_04:What?
SPEAKER_02:Are you being for real with 13?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. Um actually I might be more because I did add a couple outside on my my front and back porch. But um every room in my house has a Christmas tree.
SPEAKER_01:And are you and Adam Williams related? That's all I want to know. Because he would have 13 Christmas trees if someone would let him.
SPEAKER_04:That is so funny. No, I my um I met my husband at a young age, and his mother is the ultimate Christmas decorator, and and we just kind of I just kind of evolved to being like her and You went bananas. Yeah, we went bananas. A lot of I do get to I do get to inherit a lot of her Greek Christmas record because she tends to um change it out quite a bit. But no, that's if you go on my personal Instagram, I it literally says in the description of me ultimate Christmas decorator with a Christmas tree.
SPEAKER_01:So what she's saying, wife of mine. Yeah, she likes happiness. I didn't say I didn't like happiness. I like happiness.
SPEAKER_04:Oh, you cannot tell me that staring at a Christmas tree in November is actually I start decorating the day after yeah, Halloween, so that's 1st of November. Yep, yeah if I can. Yep. Um That's the appropriate timetable.
SPEAKER_02:Yep.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, but it takes me about two weeks to get everything out and up. I have a whole unfinished fun unfinished storage room in my basement with all my trees. I keep them like I keep them built up, but like the ornaments are off of them.
unknown:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, they're hard.
SPEAKER_04:And they all have different themes, so they're not like they're all a themed tree.
SPEAKER_02:We I think we yeah, we figured would you kid I'm like, is it easier to name the themes of the trees? Uh than it was your color walls? What do you got?
SPEAKER_04:Oh yeah. Um so my kitchen tree is like a vintage Christmas tree. It has like vintage banna, vintage, vintage like um road signs. Oh, they kind of look like road signs, but they're like your lane. Um that's in my kitchen, and then my living room is a 15-foot Christmas tree. It is kind of um red and white stripes, so kind of like a candy cane tree, but not like gaudy. It's very pretty and and ornate. Um, my formal dining room tree is more classical. It was it has a black, velvet, black and gold velvet. Um, so it's just more of a like the pretty golds and things like that. My bedroom tree is a gingerbread tree. It is so cute. Oh my gosh, this is awesome. My youngest daughter's tree in her room is um it's a felt ornament, like um they're felt ornaments, but it's a um nutcracker theme. She has nutcracker. bedding to match.
SPEAKER_03:Okay.
SPEAKER_04:And it's so cute. And then my basement tree is a main living room tree. My husband is an avid hunter and since I took over his trophy room is what he c called it, our office in the basement, he had to move his deer and everything out in the main living room. So his tree in the basement living room is an antler tree. It's it's a it has um like camo wooded ribbon that like goes through it with antl we actually have like shedded antlers in the tree.
SPEAKER_02:Listen and uh ladies that are listening to this with your fiancees that are hunters, I'm really sorry about the idea that just came across there.
SPEAKER_04:It's actually a really funny tree. It's a really pretty tree. They're like no I don't want an antler tree I don't want an antler tree. My middle child her room is like mint green and pink so her trees has um the mint green pinks and then my oldest daughter is like a white and gold tree with um like white feathers and gold and then my back porch tree is um it's it's more simple and it just has um like we just do like pine cones and like wooded same bird trees. I I love Christmas Christmas is a five but you may have she took Christmas to a 10 this sounds like a lot yeah you may have I don't know I don't know where you're at with this and I you know surprisingly enough I do not have a tree in my balloon room which I do plan on changing that but everybody tries to convince me just to make the Christmas trees out of balloons. I mean so maybe I'll do that but I'm I do have limited space during it for inflation so I try not to fill in my office too much because that's very inflate but um but that is probably the only room besides the bathroom if you start putting Christmas tree in the bathroom we're gonna have an intervention.
SPEAKER_03:You can make it out of toilet paper out of toilet paper.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah that is true that is true I had to think I could probably put one in a small corner in my bathroom that might be another option eventually one day but okay Mrs. Claus what's the best stocking stuffer Quickfire Oh you know I don't like stockings um I'm so confused by you I know I just there's I think I actually struggle stuffing a stocking um I usually usually result to candy I feel like uh for kids how many candy husband I usually do cologne or gift card um and then his normal favorites like his Snicker bars and Twizzlers well I have had uh I've had a really good time getting to know you and your Christmas idiosyncrasies I didn't know when we started this podcast that you are auditioning for Mrs.
SPEAKER_02:Claus but I think you're gonna get it I know I mean whenever we did the one meeting we kind of spiraled on my amount of dogs so this time we can spiral on the amount of Christmas trees we have over your amount of dogs that's the next podcast oh I know I know I know about her dogs next podcast we're getting around to hear about it stay stay tuned you think there's a lot of Christmas trees just wait until you find out the dogs exactly in order to get a hold of you to like talk about uh having you come out and do balloons or flowers or these really fun marquee letters how do they get a hold of you my best way of getting a hold of me is going to my website which is still currently poppincolorballoons.com I have two inquiry forms on there one on the section under stellar marquees and the other one is just in the um uh like reach out like where it says like reach us or something like that.
SPEAKER_04:But um that is probably the best way to communicate with me because it it pairs with my calendar and kind of keeps me up to date so I'm not missing anybody. I've noticed since becoming busier Facebook and Instagram don't notify me of messages as often um so that's kind of making me a little nervous but first step always go to my website second step I don't mind doing the texting texting is also a great way of communicating.
SPEAKER_02:Awesome. Thank you for spending some time with us today I know you're really busy so it was fun talking to you.
SPEAKER_01:Yes absolutely it was great yeah all right well we'll talk to you again soon okay sounds good bye Megan bye thank you for joining us for Metropolitan Weddings Engage podcast.
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