(WTAQ) — Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. Some couples may have a tradition of exchanging cards, flowers, or candy. So what do you do when you want to keep that tradition alive, but also make it new and interesting?
‘Love is in the air,’ ‘Roses are red violets are blue,’ Be my valentine.’ We’ve all heard that before. But to bring your a-game this Valentine’s Day season, how about the spectacle of having that cutesy message come from a gorilla?
Balloon Magic in Appleton will give your sweetheart a wild surprise.
“The gorilla is very popular. We go to your home, office, restaurant, so everybody kind of gets to get in on the joke. He brings a balloon bunch, there’s a message card attached, they let you take pictures, and a memory is created,” said Elizabeth Ballon, owner of Balloon Magic.
But if you’re looking for more of a magical surprise, you might seek the services of Penelope the Unicorn.
“She’s been very popular. I thought that it would mostly go to kids, but we’ve done quite a number of adult women. And we’ve done a few number of guys too, who have received it very well,” said Ballon. “She’s bright, she’s shiny, she’s got rainbow.”
Ballon says they do hundreds of these deliveries every year and reactions are priceless.
“They’re like ‘Oh no, I can’t believe you did that to me! I’m going to kill him.’ That often comes up!”
After you’re done bamboozling your sweetheart, indulge their sweet tooth.
There’s a hidden gem in downtown Kaukauna with a wide variety of all kinds of treats.
“We’ve got ice cream, chocolates I’ve been making since I was a kid, candy that I remember from when I was a kid, and gummies, because that’s my favorite,” said Stacey Hummell, owner of Sweet Treats Candies & Sweets.
Hummell makes about 60 different kinds of chocolates in her store; which can be mixed and matched in their Valentine’s Day chocolate gift boxes. Valentine’s Day means they’re hard at work making chocolate covered strawberries. Hummell estimates that last year they sold over 800 berries.
However, the first thing to catch your eye once inside the store is the wall stocked full with eclectic gummy candy.
“They just grab a bag and a set of tongs, mix and match with the 140 varieties that we have,” said Hummell.
Part of that 140 variety includes gummy dentures, lobsters, jumbo eggs, cows, and more.
On the ice cream side, flavors like This $&@! Just Got Serious, Exhausted Parent and more are part of their Valentine’s Day Date Night Flights.
So, you have the spectacle of the gorilla, the indulgence of the sweet treats, now enter the aroma of the flowers — purchased from a truck.
“I would love to create something beautiful; whether that’s a wrapped bouquet or something in a vase, I always love something unique,” says Sami Schmidt, owner of Daisy’s Bloom Bar based out of Neenah.
Daisy is a yellow vintage 1969 Dodge truck.
“I ended up finding the truck on Facebook market actually, so I got pretty lucky,” said Schmidt. “And then a few of my friends helped me custom build out the back end so that I could basically take my flower buckets anywhere.”
Daisy’s Bloom Bar flower truck is the first of its kind in Wisconsin. In winter Schmidt mostly does indoor events without Daisy, but if you order the ‘Dodge Doorstep Drop Off’, Daisy brings the flowers right to you any time of year.
So between the spectacle of the gorilla, indulgence of some new Valentine’s Day sweets, and the aroma of custom flower bouquets from a truck, there are several options for taking the traditional Valentine’s Day gift, and putting a refreshing spin on it.
But more importantly, experiences like these are ways to create new memories, spend time together, and say ‘I love you’ to that special someone.
Daisy’s Bloom Bar.
PC: Daisy’s Bloom Bay Facebook
Gummy buffet at Sweet Treats Candies & Sweets.
PC: WTAQ
Penelope the Unicorn from Balloon Magic.
PC: Gorilla Gram/Balloon Magic Facebook Page
Gorilla from Balloon Magic.
PC: Gorilla Gram/Balloon Magic Facebook Page
