8 Things Lighting Can Do for your Wedding

Planning a wedding is a stressful and expensive undertaking, and we get that. In all of the hustle and bustle of food, guest lists, clothes, and music, seeing one more ‘must have for the big day’ can be the elopement breaking point, but hear us out. One of the biggest missed opportunities that we see in so many weddings is the lighting, and it makes us weep.

One of the biggest sells for wedding lights is the great balance of practicality and aesthetic. Lights are a huge bang for your buck and can cut down on the time and money spent on other decor while still giving you the right look and feel.

As the wedding industry gets bigger and bigger, there have been a growing number of companies that specialize in wedding lighting.  Don’t want to pay $40.00 for a lantern? Want the perfect cafe lighting but don’t want to worry about trying to hang them yourself? Not really sure how many lights you need and where to put them? Any professional lighting company worth their salt will have a large inventory of rental goods, staging expertise and knowledge to help you with all of these problems.

 

From the desk of one such professional, here are our 8 biggest reasons why we think all weddings should consider their lighting situation. 

1. Better Pictures

It’s pretty clear why this is our number one. Everyone can get behind great looking, crisp, photos. We spend thousands on our photographer, and even the best in the business can struggle to get those breathtaking shots if the lighting is poor. Let’s be clear, we are not suggesting shining strobe lights and pointing weird white umbrellas on the first dance or lighting the cake up like sears tower. Think more giving the space a gentle glow with uplights, lit decorations, and subtle pillars that can make a world of difference for your photographer. They can spend less time trying to find the light and more time trying to find you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Use Light up displays as decor

Table centerpieces and staging props are the details that really let the couple’s personality shine. Make those decorations work for you and do more than just look pretty! Most receptions, both indoor and outdoor aim to create the perfect level of mood lighting for the room as a whole, which usually means poor visibility for the individual. Lights at the center of the tables mixed into the decor can help create a small, intimate space for a table of guests while still preserving the overall feel of the room. Good lighting gives the room variation and prevents us from seeing the space as one big blur of too many details.

 

 

 

 

 

3. Use lights to guide and transition the wedding

Want people to get out on the dance floor, stay away from the DJs equipment, or not park in the garden at your reception? Use lights! Talk to your lighting professional about where you want people to go and when you want them to be there.  A good lighting designer can shift the focus of the room to the spaces that you want to highlight and draw people to the most. For example, when it’s time for the first dance, they can lower the light at the tables and highlight the dance floor in a subtle, but eye-catching transition. For outdoor weddings, hanging strands of lights as pathways to the different spaces at your reception is an easy way to guide and push your guests into staying where you want them and keeping them away from the places that you want to avoid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

       4. Add Easy Color

Colored lights are an easy way to bring out accent colors in your wedding. Swatches of color on the dance floor, behind the tables, and next to the horderve tables where decorations are more limited can really bring the different elements of a room together. Up lights are great for simple additions to the walls that decorate a huge amount of space. Wall lights are the perfect touch for a more subtle decor or a great addition to a bigger display.

 

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

      5. Save money on the venue

Lighting decor has the ability to transform a space to unrecognizable proportions. Indoor venues are often limited on what can be put on the walls, hung from the ceiling, etc. Often, the venues that do have the rigging in place to hang fifty paper lanterns are not cheap.  Some companies, ours included, have a rigging system that allows us to create what is essentially a false ceiling. We can then hang whatever we want from it.  The structure is entirely free standing and can be tailored to most sizes. The structure works indoors and outdoors and has opened up endless opportunities for people to save on their venue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Outdoor spaces are going to need it anyway

Planning ahead can help create a transformation from the ceremony during the day to the reception of the night. Light, and the absence of it can literally change the entire feel and dynamic of the space. Light is a powerful tool and one that can easily be used against you.

Couples adore the aesthetic of barns and tents and love the practicality of having such a big space to work with. The biggest set back to these venues is the lighting. Very few tent companies -at least in our area- offer lighting options for their tents. The few that do normally offer a set of two large downlights that are utilitarian at best. The reception becomes dark and hard to navigate, people struggle to see each other, and a camera flash blinds the crowd every fifteen seconds.

 

 

 

 

 

     7. Lights take your wedding to the next level

Lights are what can make your space look ethereal and romantic, as well as put together. Think of the way that darkness and light are used in theater and the arts. Stages are transformed into entirely different worlds and time periods. These same principles can be used to shape the way your wedding feels and looks. Trees that glow from high above tables can take your breath away. Shadows dancing on the edges of the room can make your space right out of a dream.

 

Because most people don’t have a lot of experience in non-practical lighting, it can make a huge impression on your guests and mood. It’s the big element that links all of the table decorations, flowers, and meticulously ordered dishware together to create the look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

              8. Safety

• Lights, without all the bells and whistles of design and aesthetic, light up dark places. If you are planning on having an outdoor wedding, or have elements outdoors, be very conscious of the fact that pathways from one space to another run the risk of getting dangerous fast. Using lights to lead to bathrooms, parked cars, etc. are something of a necessity in these conditions. The last thing that any couple wants on their special days is to worry about a guest tripping on their way to the bathroom and hurting themselves. By clearly sectioning off the no-go areas and lighting up paths to the various areas, lights add a layer of safety as well as style to the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We hope, if nothing else, that this article has gotten you thinking about the different things that good lighting can do for your wedding. It’s your special day and we are in the business of helping you make it the best it can be. We wish you the best of luck going forward. And try not to elope just yet!