How do you envision your wedding? If it’s something you’ve been thinking about for a while, you may well have a clear idea of how you want it to look. Like many people, you may anticipate an atmosphere of powerful romance, and when you visualise your wedding day it may take on a dreamlike or magical quality. Wouldn’t it be nice to realise such visions? Wouldn’t you like to design your wedding so that it imparts a sense of that magic to your guests?

Apart from music, few things work to create mood and atmosphere as well as light doesc. If you want to craft a particular sort of atmosphere for your wedding, lighting is essential. Of course, it’s also quite complex. Lighting design is an art form, full of nuance and subtleties that may difficult for the beginner to grasp. So, how can you tap in to the power of light in order to create the wedding of your dreams? In this week’s blog post, we’d like to explain the basics. We hope you’ll find it enlightening!

Find a Professional

As we mentioned above, lighting design is an art form, and it can be difficult to achieve the effect you’re looking for without training or experience. For really spectacular lighting, your best option may be to hire a professional. Your first stop here should be any event planner or vendors you’ve hired already. Wedding planners, photographers, videographers, and florists may also have exprience with lighting design. If not, they may be able to recommend someone they’ve worked with before. You can also consult your venue, to find out if the venue management can put you in touch with someone who has experience lighting this particular space. Your venue may even offer a lighting plan as part of their package. It should be easy to find a lighting designer this way, but if not, consider making enquiries with someone involved in the local theatre community. Lighting is an essential element of theatre production, so this can be a great way of finding a talented lighting designer.

Consider a Variety of Lighting Techniques

There are many different types of light, and these can be combined in different ways to achieve the effect you’re looking for. Candles, for instance, can create incredible ambience with their gentle flickering. Electric lights, on the other hand, come in a number of varieties and have advantages of their own. For example, they can be used in combination with colour gels to produce a variety of striking and exciting hues. They can also be used with gobos, stencils which can be used to decorate your venue with images and designs etched out in shadow and light. These ideas barely scratch the surface of what is possible. Working with a talented lighting designer will allow you to take advantage of a wide range of lighting techniques.

Work with Your Environment

Every space is different. As any lighting designer will tell you, lighting any space requires a tailored approach. This makes it vital that you and your designer visit your venue well in advance, in order to develop the lighting plan. This may even require several visits, and you should be sure to visit at a time when the level of natural light is similar to what it will be on the day itself. You also need to take account of any fixed lighting in the space, and figure out how it will play into your plan. Remember also consult with venue management as your developing your plan, and gain their approval for everything you plan to do; this will help to avoid unforseen problems arising on the day.

Consult Your Photographer

We’ve mentioned above that, if you’ve hired a photographer or a videographer, they may also have sufficient experience to act as your lighting designer. If this is not the case, and you hire a separate lighting designer, it’s a good idea to include your photographer or videographer in the process anyway. Consulting your photographer about the lighting plan will enable them to plan how they’ll shoot the event, as well as provide input that will have a positive effect on the final outcome of their work. Encourage your photographer, videographer, and lighting designer to work together for best results.