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wedding lighting

Purple up lighting at a wedding reception, a simple change to the lighting would illuminate the bridal party.

Why Wedding Lighting is so Important. (we even spelled it with capital letters)

Proper lighting doesn’t magically happen.  It has to be planned out.

Wedding Lighting if used properly at your wedding, will enhance your event. If you take a look at the below image; the lighting folks in the poker industry have figured out how to use white lighting to show what they want to highlight and use blue lighting to minimize what they want the photos/videos to show.

2010_Main_Event_Ten-Handed_Final_Table

The above image and representations depicted above are the property of the WPT. Notice how blue darkens the crowd and white lighting emphasizes the action on the table.  The same technique is possible at a ceremony and/or reception.

— Accent Lighting Vs. Stage Lighting —

Accent lighting is typically colored lighting such as Up-lighting.   The top picture with all the purple is up lighting.  (notice how difficult it is to see the table in the above picture.)  Up-lighting does not help video or pictures. Try spending some of your lighting budget on white lighting for the dance floor, cake cutting and any other areas where important activities will be happening. 

Stage lighting or Action Lighting is your white lights that draw your guests to an important event such as the table in the poker picture above.  A white light over the cake cutting, or maybe your action lighting is white lighting that illuminates the dance floor. What ever it’s used for, the white lighting separates that event from the accent lighting elsewhere in the room.

When planning your lighting for your wedding it’s important to know how and what lights to use. If you use blue lights, people will be blue, red and people will be red etc. The key is to balance out your colors with white lighting.

How to approach Wedding Lighting

When you watch David Tutera’s weddings on TV, thousands of dollars invested in the lighting and installed by a professional lighting service. Here is a good example; notice the stage lighting in the ceiling. He still has accent lighting to color the walls, but there is definitely white lighting in the ceiling for the stage.

Wedding lighting matters

Here is an example from one of my favorite shows, “Married at First Sight.” Just on one side of the room, there are four round lanterns, a light over top the sweetheart table. And we can assume the other side of the room has the same. This scene is well-lit from the ceiling. This is possible at your wedding as well.

You may not have to invest that much. But having someone who knows how to light a room using various lighting techniques for each wedding and reception event is crucial.  You want the pictures and video to be the best while maintaining the flavor of your special day.

Some other considerations for lighting; Lighting your event properly lets your guests enjoy your wedding more. If they can’t see each other or what’s going on, then they miss out. There’s also a safety element to lighting your event properly. If the venue is too dark, people do fall, trip over things. It does happen.

So our advice is to check with your photographer, cinematographer, lighting vendor about your lighting plans.  They will help you achieve the best end result using your lighting investment.  You can achieve safe and fun lighting without sacrificing the mood.  It just takes little planning.

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