Wedding and Event Lighting

When you’re helping create the wedding of someone’s dreams, it’s important to be educated on all the details.  This week I’ve been so captivated by lighting and the ways it can transform a space….kind of like how the right lighting in a photo can make something ordinary look absolutely beautiful.  Without the right lighting, the recipe for the look you want is incomplete…you gotta get it right!

You can't tell the walls are yellow any more!

A venue may be used to host hundreds of weddings, but it doesn’t always have to look the same!  Your wedding should reflect your personal style and the lighting can serve as the perfect complement to the space, décor, and the overall feeling you want to convey.  I recently looked at a venue that had, what I consider to be, the ugliest wallpaper known to man.  Everything else was great…but overshadowed by those nasty walls!  With the right lighting, this wouldn’t be an issue.  That’s important to keep in mind…a space may have some undesirable features, but you can downplay those or even make them disappear with the right lighting.

As part of my mission to be an educated planner, I paid a visit to Hollywood Lights here in Portland.  Ed (the rental manager) and one of his associates gladly took the time to show me around a bit and further educate me on different aspects of lighting.  They demonstrated by turning their warehouse space into a nightclub dance floor, which was complimented by one of my favorite songs by The Cure and a fog machine.  These guys are passionate about what they do and they have fun with it!  Ed talked about the different emotions that lighting can invoke not just in the space itself, but also in the pictures taken within the space.  He provided me with a nifty swatch book of different colored light filters to assist me in finding what will be good for a space.  I asked him what he would say in one sentence about lighting and here’s what I got, “Lights can convey any mood.”  It’s so true!  The lighting in a space can completely transform how you feel when you’re in it, or when you see pictures of it.  Though the day will end, it will live on through memories and photos.

So I found that there is a science to lighting and I can’t be a complete expert on the topic, but I am now more educated and know I can turn to Ed and his team for consultation…and lights! 

I found the photo above on the site for J&M Entertainment...they also had this great video:

Also, check out my “Lighting” board on Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/reveriepdx/lighting/

I hope this has inspired you!

Thanks for stopping by J