Lighting is one of the most important yet simultaneously the most overlooked elements in wedding decor. Whether for an indoor or an outdoor wedding, lighting impacts everything from ambiance and atmosphere to photography and guest safety.
Creating a lighting plan requires more than a few string lights and some bulbs. Instead, wedding lighting design is an intricate task requiring various lighting equipment and expert skills.
Professional lighting by Illuminating Design can bring your wedding vision to life.
Setting the Stage: The Integral Role of Lighting in Weddings
Lighting impacts a wedding in more ways than one. Imagine a romantic wedding setting with gorgeous rustic decor and a soft beige and sage green palette. Now imagine bright white and blue lighting that dances around the venue's walls. The hues and brightness will trample the wedding theme and prove quite distracting. The same applies to other wedding themes — a classy black-tie wedding can be understated by a lighting plan that doesn't incorporate enough brighter light for the evening.
With the right wedding lighting, a romantic wedding theme will be sublime. Warm yellow or orange lighting will soften the atmosphere by creating ambiance. Instead of bright white lighting, romantic wedding lighting concepts lean toward warm, soft lighting undertones. In black-tie weddings, uplights and sophisticated chandeliers create a dramatic mood and a formal glow.
Beyond supporting the theme, lighting can also impact the guest experience. When the lighting plan prioritizes key points, like the stage or dancefloor and the couple's head table, it highlights the wedding's essential elements and makes those details more memorable. A well-lit event will make guests more comfortable and engaged in the experience.
Lighting Techniques That Will Make Your Wedding Glow
A variety of different lighting is used to pull together a wedding venue. The different types of wedding lighting include:
Fairy lights: Also referred to as string lights, twinkle lights and bistro lights, fairy lights are the most versatile and cost-effective lighting choice. Wedding planners favor string lights because they are perfect for romantic events and outdoor weddings.
Uplights: Wedding venue uplights are exactly what they sound like — lights that beam upward. These event lights are placed on the floor near venue walls, and the wall color can be changed to match the wedding theme's palette.
Chandeliers: The most luxury lighting type of all, chandeliers are often used in wedding venues as statement lighting decor to illuminate the dance floor or other central areas.
Pendant lights: Similar to chandeliers, pendant lights are elegant suspended ceiling fixtures, although they only have one bulb.
Spotlights: Brighter spotlights are often essential to light up particular areas in a wedding venue. Spotlights are especially useful in large wedding venues.
Pinspot lights: Also known as pinspotting lights, these are perfect for brightening dimly lit spaces, table centerpieces and other smaller areas.
Gobo lights: Gobo lights are customized to recreate the couple's initials. The light shines through the custom template to create a pattern or monogram on the walls, ceiling or dancefloor.
Color wash: Unlike other types of event lighting, color wash provides a uniform color throughout the venue without highlighting any particular area.
LED Lighting: While this isn't a type of lighting but rather a type of bulb, LED lighting is a cost-effective and energy-efficient choice for weddings. LED lights also provide more vibrance than traditional bulbs.
The right selection of these types of lighting can elevate any wedding venue and theme. Whether you're after a romantic rustic theme, a formal evening affair or a traditional big white gala, the right lighting is essential to tie the venue and theme together.
Balancing Elegance and Budget in Lighting Design
When brightening up your wedding venue, it's essential to budget for lighting costs. Each lighting fixture has its own price tag, and you might not need every kind of light. These lighting recommendations will help you budget for the wedding of your dreams:
Uplights: These lights are on the more affordable end of the spectrum. A subtle setup should use one uplight every 20 feet to 25 feet, while a dramatic setup can use one uplight every 10 feet.
Gobo Lights: Custom gobo lighting offers an element of novelty. Because these lights are custom-made, they may come with heftier price tags.
Texture lighting: Texture lighting creates patterns that mimic textures. These lights can be relatively affordable, especially for smaller wedding venues.
Spotlights: These essential wedding lights are available in different qualities, with high-quality products costing more. Because they are essential, you should budget for at least one spotlight.
Pinspot lights: Tiny pinspot lights are typically quite affordable, although they aren't central lighting sources.
Fairy lights: Fairy lights are the most accessible lighting option. However, you will need several meters of fairy lights to light up the venue, which will increase lighting costs.
Chandeliers: Depending on the extravagance, a chandelier can be quite pricey. Because this central lighting piece serves as decor as well, it's often a worthwhile cost for certain wedding themes.
Pendant lights: These lights can replace chandelier lighting as an affordable alternative.
The factors that influence wedding lighting costs are:
Venue lighting: Venues that offer existing lighting will require fewer essential light sources, allowing couples to focus their budget on decor that costs less.
Venue size: Large venues and a longer guest list will require a larger lighting budget. The best way to cut back on your spending is to focus on essential lighting solutions.
Number of tables: Because some designs require each table to have its own light sources, more tables may increase your lighting needs.
DIY lighting solutions offer affordability as a key factor. However, DIY installations may not yield the same desirable effects as professional lighting solutions and installations. Instead of hoping to save by doing it yourself, consider excluding non-essential light sources.
When choosing professional lighting installation from Illuminating Design, you can rest assured your wedding day will be illuminated with the right amount of ambiance.
The Illuminating Design Experience: Lighting Tailored to Your Love Story
At Illuminating Design, we offer tailored lighting experiences with elegant wedding lighting setups. We will customize artistic lighting to complement the colors you choose for your special day. There's no need to try and pull together a lighting plan on your own — we'll tailor a custom selection of lights that complements your wedding theme and the venue.
We are committed to providing the highest quality lighting services to our clients. We will work with you and your budget to create unique wedding lighting ideas for your wedding.
Our lighting products are commercial-grade lights that keep up with modern wedding trends. We cater to large and small weddings, and our lights are perfectly suitable for indoor and outdoor wedding venues.
Create a Lasting Impression With Exquisite Lighting From Illuminating Design
Illuminating Design has been illuminating various events in the Metro Atlanta area since 2004. With two decades of experience in luxury lighting decor, we can transform your wedding with superior lighting to create a custom wedding ambiance.
Our goal is to engineer and install artistic, elegant lighting displays that will enchant your guests and make your special day memorable and magical. Contact us online or call 404-454-8944 to learn more about our innovative wedding lighting solutions.
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