Facility Built In Up-lighting for your Wedding

HARTFORD, Conn. - April 7, 2014 - PRLog -- We have seen quite a few facilities installing their own uplighting.   Just because they can cook a chicken dinner does not make them a lighting expert.  It would be no different if they purchased DJ gear and said one of their wait staff would be DJing your wedding.   It’s not always the right choice for your needs.

Let’s break it down – placement is everything when it comes to uplighting.  The goal is to enhance the room’s architectural features.  If they install their lights so they are lighting up the window – exactly what will the light bounce off of to give you that color?

When we go in a survey a room for our lighting installation, we look for columns, entrance areas, light placement behind your wedding cake and head table.  We want to bring attention to certain items and others, like air walls – we would not light to draw attention AWAY from items.  We want to balance one side of the room to the opposite.   Many facilities will install lighting just on one or two walls and completely forget to do the balcony, inner wall columns or other important features to BALANCE THE ROOM.

The other issue with many installed lighting – it just is not quality gear or it is not bright enough.  What happens if the built in lighting DOES NOT WORK or a cable built into the wall fails?  With our lighting – it is all WIRELESSLY controlled.  If one light fails – the room does not go BLACK.  We can quickly swap out a light or fix a cable issue and you will never even notice.

We were at a facility recently with built in lighting – the lighting was NOT ON at the start of the reception.  It abruptly came on at the end of dinner – and then the facility cycled through about 6 different colors until they reached the blue color that the couple wanted.   It was like FLASHING THE LIGHTS on and off at the end of an event to signal people to leave.  A smooth transition from off to their color – faded in would have been acceptable.  The room should have been lit for that wow factor when guests first arrived.

For uplighting to be visually correct and so that you do not have to wait until it gets dark outside (sunset can be as late as 8:00 or 9:00 on your wedding day), a light fixture really needs high output.  A LUX rating of 10,000 or more (at 1m) is necessary.  Most entry level lighting is only rated at 4,000 – 7,000 LUX.  That means – you will not see the color on the wall until it is pitch black outside and facility lights are turned WAY DOWN.

Our lighting is THEATRE GRADE high output fixtures with 13,000 – 35,000 LUX rating.   We have lit the outside of building in broad daylight.

What is the bottom line?  Know what you are getting into whenever you make a decision about your wedding.  There are always options and bringing in a professional lighting company is not much different in cost compared to built in inferior lighting.  Make an impact at your wedding with lighting.