The Summer Event Lighting Guide
Summer events are finally back, and we couldn’t be more excited. Whether you’re a seasoned event planner or you’re putting together your own back yard get-together, you have a lot of ways to create the perfect atmosphere. One really easy way to make or break that is lighting. From dealing with rental companies to creating DIY solutions, here are some tips and tricks for adding a professional ambiance to those summer evenings, whatever your budget.
Soft Light.
It’s the easiest way to make people look and feel great, and the reason why photographers use soft boxes and every blogger now owns a ring light. Light from a larger source, or from multiple sources, softens shadows and makes skin tones more smooth. There are easy and inexpensive ways to incorporate soft light into a party without it looking like a photoshoot. String lights or market lights are an obvious answer, providing multiple sources of incandescent light that provide a festive atmosphere with a warm, flattering glow. You can also light parts of buildings and trees so that diffused light bounces back into your event area. The more you can keep your guests out of direct, bright light sources the more comfortable they’ll be.
Add Some Color
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Adding colored light to an event space can really add to the atmosphere, but can also get tricky. As a rule of thumb, use natural warm white as ambient light for your guests and save the color for architectural accents. Saturated colors can quickly look unnatural on skin tones and won’t look flattering in photos, but can be great for adding vibrant background tones. Uplights are cost effective and provide a lot of impact. On a larger scale, areas of your event away from your guests, such as trees, architectural features, water features etc. will look great with a wash of color. You can either rent professional lighting fixtures or buy inexpensive color changeable LED lights online. Try using colors that are complimentary to the ambient warm light such as blue, magenta, and red tones.
Going Pro
If you’re hiring a lighting company to provide gear for your event, know what they’re bringing and what you’re being charged for. Going through quotes can get confusing and sometimes things end up getting missed out or unnecessary gear is left on. Don’t be afraid to ask for more details and information. Beware of generic “Lighting Packages” and bulk pricing as these leave room for corners to be cut. Make sure the company is transparent about the gear and services they’re providing so that you can be confident that everything you need is going to arrive on the truck.
Here are some key terms that you should know:
LED Uplights: LED fixtures generally have the advantage that you can quickly and easily change the color of them. A lot of LED uplights are also battery powered so you can use them to add lighting accents without cables ending up everywhere.
Gobo Lights: these fixtures use a steel template (a gobo) to project a pattern onto a surface. You can get custom gobos to project an image or logo onto a wall or dance floor. You can also use stock gobos to project subtle patterns throughout your event area, ranging from dappled foliage to more abstract designs. These can add cool texture and dimension to your space if applied tastefully.
Pinspots: great cost effective tool for highlighting centerpieces and scenic elements with a narrow pool of light while keeping the rest of your event area dim. Use these to draw guests’ eyes to details that you want them to notice. Similar to the uplights, there are some decent LED battery powered options out there that’ll save you having to hide cables everywhere.
Moving Lights: if you have a band or DJ performing you might end up looking at moving lights. There’s a plethora of different makes and models out there that range vastly in budget. Ask what you’re being quoted for and a quick internet search should tell you if the rental rate is decent or if you’re being ripped off. The important thing with moving lights is to have an operator running them from a console to control movement, color etc. so that you can make sure they add to the atmosphere rather than distract from it. Leaving moving lights on standalone “party mode” generally just looks unrefined. Less is more. Once you have a rig setup, haze or fog machines will make the beams from these lights visible for more of a concert vibe.
Overall, have fun with your event lighting. Make sure your guests look and feel good with some soft, warm light, and get creative with your surroundings. Use pools of light to accent details that you want guests to notice, and use color to transform ordinary textures and surfaces into a vibrant evening environment. There’s no wrong way to do it, but of course if you need help, professional services are just a call away.
