Weddings are big business, and wedding lighting is an integral yet often overlooked part of the creation of that special day. With careful planning, the correct choice and placement of wedding lighting such as the latest LED effects will set the overall mood, and allow you to highlight specific areas and details in the venue.
Lighting a wedding to suit a certain design or atmosphere can be challenging, with the size and scale of wedding venues varying greatly, from rustic barn conversions to the grand hall of a stately home, to a plush marquee, each presenting a unique problem for wedding lighting that requires a specific solution. Pricing is also important, with numerous other aspects to pay out for at a wedding, it's important to find budget wedding lights that still maintain the quality that you'd come to expect for your big day.
Wedding Lighting: Indoors or outdoors?
The market for ever more luxurious and personalised weddings and wedding receptions has grown massively in the UK in recent years, with the pressure on event planners and wedding venues to create the perfect atmosphere to order.
The traditional pairing of church weddings and hall receptions has been superseded in these modern times with a variety of themed weddings and grand venues becoming the norm. Making use of the long summer evenings has seen a large rise in outdoor weddings too, and with that comes the need for creative wedding lighting solutions.
With the large range of wireless uplighters available for creating colour wall washes and soft glows, there are many different ways to create the perfect wedding lighting within a set budget.
Indoor Wedding Lighting
The main purpose of successful wedding lighting is to harmonize a large area, to give it an intimacy and atmosphere. With the correct placement of wash lighting to highlight walls and ceilings using battery-powered uplighters, a spectacular yet subtle effect is easily attainable, with total freedom of location from wire-free operation.
For more direct highlighting of feature areas, the use of Par Cans in their various designs is a must, with smaller LED PAR lights being perfect for placement inside the base of the popular covered plinth podiums, or the larger Par units that can easily switch from a subtle room glow to full-on disco lighting for the reception.
On the subject of the reception, depending on the choice of DJ or live performer, they may not have lighting to suit your design. This is easily remedied with the use of LED effects systems, which can include things like laser lights, or the ever-popular moving head lights for that full-on nightclub look.
Outdoor Wedding Lighting
Many modern weddings are performed outdoors these days, with large marquees and the popular Tipi style awnings becoming the must-have for a summer wedding. Lighting these outdoor venues requires the use of a variety of lighting effects for the internal covered areas, and powerful par can lights for the lighting of the external areas.
Unlike a traditional venue, an outdoor wedding requires the exterior area to be usable all through the evening, which can create challenges from a lighting perspective when trying to combine practicality and a design aesthetic, and keeping a cohesive look to the lighting between the outdoor and covered areas.
With the UK weather always being a concern, a range of IP65 water-proof par cans available gives you the peace of mind that a sudden downpour won't damage all your outdoor wedding lights, along with a range of powerful weatherproof floodlights for lighting paths and car parking areas for larger venues.
With any outdoor wedding lighting, power and cabling can be a worry. With a large selection of lighting accessories that covers everything from power cables and signal cables, to stands and clamps, you can be sure to get everything required for the wedding lights layout you want.
Wedding Lighting: Uplighter or Gobo? What's the difference?!
Long-lasting and powerful LED lamps that provide super bright output with low running costs. LED lighting effects differ from standard home type lighting as they produce bright colour palettes and feature controllable patterns.
With lots of names, types and designs of lighting equipment to mull over, here is a quick reference guide to the modern wedding lighting terms to help you on your way:
Uplighters
Designed specifically for decoration purposes, uplighters give you the ability to create a subtle, or vivid, lighting effect to walls and ceilings. Particularly effective in wedding marquees, and available as ultra-convenient battery powered uplighters for cable-free placement around a venue.
Spot Lights
Simple and classic lighting, the use of spot lights is the easiest way to highlight a specific area. They come in several colour outputs and are low cost since the switch over to LED lamps, making them an excellent choice.
Gobo Lighting
A Gobo is a name for a metal template or mask, which is used in front of a gobo projector to produce patterns or logos onto floors or ceilings. Gobos can be custom cut to suit, so are perfect for names and initials which can be projected onto the dancefloor or wall for that personalized touch.
LED Par Cans
Since the swap to LED lamps, the once-simple Par Can light has been transformed into a multi-purpose unit, suitable for every type of event lighting and particularly suited to wash lighting of large areas. With built-in lighting shows and conveniently sized enclosures, the modern LED Par Can light is the go-to fixture for many event lighting professionals.
Moving Heads
Fully automated lighting systems. Moving heads have the look of a robot arm, turning and spinning from set programmes or in time to the music. Traditionally a night club only light due to the cost, they now are well within many budgets and will transform your wedding reception party.
For modern wedding lighting, shop from our fantastic selection of lighting and effects online at ElectroMarket, with lighting packages offering you a huge range to choose from.
The ElectroMarket team are here to answer your calls and enquiries to ensure you purchase the correct wedding lights to best suit your specific needs.
