Lighting. “It’s the je ne sais quoi of a wedding,” Sandy Mulrey from DesignLight says. It’s the secret wow factor. Keep reading to find out just how lighting can impact your wedding.        

When guests walk into a wedding venue, they’re not always able to pinpoint why they feel so warm and welcome, or why the tablescapes look so exquisite, or why their eyes are drawn to the unique architecture. Well, it’s the lighting! Sandy says, “It enhances the aesthetic of any space, making every element look its best.” As your wedding planning commences, don’t underestimate the power of lighting. When choosing a venue, it can be helpful to consider lighting and its three purposes: decoration, function, and direction.          

Look at the lighting early on 

Lighting is not always prioritized as wedding plans unfold. But Sandy encourages couples to “Think about lighting while selecting a venue.” In each space, ask the following: What time of day will you be there? Are there windows or shadows? What existing light is already in the room? Is there architecture you want to be illuminated or features you want to distract people from? Is it a historic venue with restrictions? Do you have specific lighting visions? “If your dream has always been to have a canopy of light overhead,” Sandy says, “that won’t work in a ballroom with 9-foot ceilings.”

To get an accurate impression of a room’s lighting, Sandy recommends “that couples see their venues not just on a perfect sunny day, but on a cloudy day.” Approaching spaces with a lighting perspective can help to determine its transformative potential. 

Lighting as a decoration

Now to refine your lighting needs further. Lighting serves three purposes. Firstly, it’s a decoration that can reinvent a venue. At weddings, the lighting solutions are tailored specifically to fit the couple. “There are a lot of different lighting components to choose from,” Sandy says. “Anything from chandeliers, string lighting, dance floor lighting, lighting projections, pin lighting, which is when we focus a light on the floral arrangements to make the flowers pop.” Fabric design also comes into play, as it goes hand in hand with lighting. “It can soften the ceiling as well as cover unattractive walls,” Sandy explains.

The professionals will make suggestions on the lighting solutions that would suit the venue. After getting a solid understanding of their options, Sandy says, “couples pick what’s most important to them.”

Lighting for function and direction 

“As well as being decorative, lighting is functional and directional,” Sandy says. It’s a definitive message that tells guests what portion of the evening they’re in. If guests walk in and see “amber tones and candlelight instead of moving and color changing lights,” she says, they’ll understand that it’s time for dinner and not dancing. Lighting can be manipulated in creative ways to signal transitional periods. For example, Sandy describes a time when they “disguised the ceiling with little points of light, like stars, that was revealed as the sun was setting.”      

Not only does light tell people where they are, but where they’re going. “If you’re getting married in September the sun will set earlier,” Sandy says. “Guests need to find their way to the bathroom, or back to their cars.” Lights can be arranged in a directional manner to make navigation easier.

So, if you are yet to think about the lighting at your wedding, or aren’t sure if you need it, remember this: serving multiple purposes, lighting can be the mysterious “je ne sais quoi” that takes your wedding to the next level.

Design Light

Design Light

BKB

Design Light

Alex Paul