In this section we'll run through some ways you can customise parts of your displays for a specific event or theme.

Specific colours are perhaps the easiest effect to achieve with fireworks because there are many items available that concentrate on single colours. Times when you might want to focus on one particular colour might include:

	Team celebrations (the team's colour or colours).
	Wedding anniversaries (gold, silver, ruby etc).
	Romance (pink!).

Fireworks generally contain gold (or yellow/orange), silver (or white), reds (or pinks) and greens. Gold and silver are very common colours in fireworks as these are the natural colours given out by the ingredients used. In the last few years blue, which used to be rare in fireworks, is now widely available.

As manufacturers compete aggressively with their products, new colour effects are emerging including twists on yellow (true "banana yellow"), purple and lilac, and pastel hues of red, blue and green.

Our reviews advise if a particular colour is predominant. Here are some pointers:

	Cakes and candles: These will contain just about every colour you could want, use our review video clips as a guide. Nice gold effects include comets or gold willow, silver effects are common with silver comets being another nice effect. Many colour-specific star candles are available, and a lot of cakes also concentrate on one single colour. The 2003 Firework Awards winner for Best Firework for example, Kimbolton's Lake Of Sapphires is a mostly blue effect. Sometimes catalogue descriptions are not very accurate in terms of describing colour, and many effects are multicolour (so the theme is lost) so again, refer to our reviews to check.
	Fountains: Gold and silver conic fountains are a very effective way of introducing these colours to your display. Coloured conics are less effective as they mainly eject small coloured stars. Bengal flares are very small coloured fountains (basically just a coloured flame) and can be used in a line to create a nice colour at ground level.
	Rockets: If you want a particular colour with a firework you will need to pick it carefully. Avoid rocket packs where there are multiple effects but they are not labelled. Larger, specific display effect rockets are a safer bet. Gold willow is available in many brands and normally looks stunning (Black Cat's Whoppa, Bright Star's Crown Jewels etc).
	Mines, wheels and SIBS: These types of fireworks generally contain a mix of different colours and effects so are not suitable for imposing a specific colour theme (but still look great in the display).

A small selection of the almost infinite variety of colours available in consumer fireworks

Glow sticks come in a wide variety of colours including pink and red, and these would make a really nice alternative to sparklers to keep a consistent colour theme going - and as they last for up to eight hours the kids can take them home too!

Indoor colour can be created with coloured streamers or confetti. For celebrations requiring the theme of silver, indoor ice fountains look stunning.

Don't forget that simple coloured lighting can be very effective, both indoors and outdoors. You could look after the fireworks and employ a third party company to create some great lighting effects, for example. Lasers are the ultimate colour effect, if you can afford them.

If you are trying to reproduce a particular colour and are stuck for ideas, post a request for help in our forum (if you're a paying member). We have many enthusiasts and members of the fireworks trade who might be able to point you in the right direction.

A specific number theme is often required to celebrate birthdays or anniversaries. By far the easiest way to do this is with made-to-order lancework. This consists of lots of small coloured fountains which are arranged on a wooden frame to spell out the number.

Although lancework, because it is hand built, can be expensive compared to other fireworks, it is completely customised to your event and therefore worth every penny if you want to get a specific message across.

Give your supplier plenty of time to build your lancework. Remember to budget/cater for the timber required to mount the lancework as high as possible so it can be seen by everyone.

Another way to represent numbers is to use a cake or candle with a specific number of shots. The only complication here is that unless the audience are aware of this, the effect will be lost. You will therefore need to introduce this specific effect, eg. a 25 shot salute to celebrate the 25 years of marriage. You could start, or end, your display with this.

If you have a very specific theme in mind, consider employing professional displayers. They can use a number of fireworks not available to the public to create a desired effect, including stage or theatrical effects and smoke.

In a stunning sequence from Shugborough 2003, Sandling
electrically fired a sequence of coloured shells from left to right that exploded in time to the music.

Music can really enhance a particular theme or display, but enthusiasts have found it very hard to pull off a good display to music. This is because consumer fireworks are fused with a delay for safety, and it can be almost impossible to get spot-on timing. A professional crew on the other hand would electrically fire the display in time with the music. Some even have firing systems that are programmed to work with the music itself, and the results can be stunning.

We hope that you have found the information in this section useful and wish you a safe and enjoyable display. Don't forget to read our extensive safety section for help setting up and firing your display.

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