Weddings and Lighting Options/Styles...???

[DjBetta]

Seems like there is 2 camps of weddings and/or bride's preferences when it comes to lighting...

1. Those who have a lot of money to splurge and want a 'Club' like atmosphere for their dance floor. Therefore requiring lots of lights and accessories.

2. Those who have less money and/or are on a budget and want a 'Intimate' like atmosphere for their dance floor. Does not require as much lighting or accessories.

How do you properly gauge what a wedding's lighting style probably might be so that you can foresee what kind of lights you should get if you don't have them yet or not get so that you don't end up buying something you don't need and/or rarely use.

I get that the bride being on a budget and therefore requiring less lighting is actually a 'plus' for me as a DJ because that just means less work. However...at the same time I don't want to be under prepared or not have something at the last minute when the bride requests for something specific.

I have been trying to get into lighting more but I get confused because most of the weddings/brides I get are usually more on a budget and do not have a lot of money. Therefore...they do not require a lot of lighting so I don't know what to get and not get.

I mean...there are some weddings where all you need is some of those outdoor string lights that a lot of people use to decorate their backyard and that seems to work fine for the most part if the bride wants an atmosphere that is 'intimate' and 'homie' feeling.

Basically...I am trying to find a way to 'satisfy' brides/weddings without spending too much time, effort and money into lighting if I don't have to. I would reckon its those Bridezillas or the ones with a lot of money to splurge that are the ones that are most complicated to satisfy.

What would be a good 'base line' lighting style or 'must have gear' to have so you can 'cover' most weddings without too much gear, effort, time and resources...?

[conanski]

Uplighting.
I have a wedding DJ that is doing this at almost every event now, sometimes it is 8 fixtures sometime it is 20 or more. I do moving heads for him as well sometimes but not as often. If you want these with the least amount of work possible you want battery/wireless versions, setup in 5 minutes and you can make the room dance with color. I have non battery wireless units mostly as I find the battery units don't hold charge long enough.. I often setup events in the morning and these usually only have a 6-8hr run time and would have to be plugged in anyway. I control these with software on a laptop but a hardware controller can do it too. Before I had the wireless units I did uplighting with static color to match the decor, that also got lots of favorable comments from decorators and guests, it really helps make a venue look more upscale be it a barn or a highend hotel ballroom.

OH. Show a bride pictures of a room with and without uplighting and it sells itself, they will take it every time at $10-20/fix.

[DjNeedleSharp]

Biggest thing is just get what you need to be DYNAMIC. It may not be the most exciting... but it is going to allow you to do many different kinds of shows with a totally different look and feel. About 8 years ago I bought 20 x Blizzard Puck Q6 Lights. They were AWESOME. Can light my Façade, speaker and lighting scrims, do static uplights, DMX uplights, put on a T stand for floor wash, mount vertically on a pole in each corner of the room to wash the walls and ceiling really well. Just SO much you can do with them. I've bough much more expensive lights since then including expensive movers and expensive wash lights- but nothing is more versatile and used more often than those LED pars.

These days, if I were to start all over, I think I would pickup
6-10 of These: https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=612749
and 2-4 of These: https://www.monoprice.com/Product?p_...seq=1&format=2
Then, just add on 2-4 Chauvet Intimidator spot 350's and call it a day

Very Versatile rig for $2500 to start, and up to $5k tops which would be able to cover 90% of gigs with 300 people or less. Would be a great base to add rentals onto late on as well for the few larger gigs a year. This setup can be configured for a club style rig, just as easily as it is used for a super classy and intimate with room wash and then use as spots for first dances, and then really easy small movements for "dance" time.

Don't forget how great a well placed "breakup pattern" can look on a single large wall at a venue or a huge upcharge for all 4 walls. You can rent Traditional "Source 4" Lekos or buy them used CHEAP and then just plug in directly to the wall (I recommend a 500 watt bulb if no dimmer). plan for 2 on each wall and 1 stand in each adjacent corner of the venue. Total cost for a VERY big look would be about 2,500 (8 x used S4's OR 8x ADJ Ikon Profile New, 8 gobos, 4 stands) when all said and done. You could probably charge close to that for a SINGLE event for just that look alone. Add on a custom monogram or 2 and you are putting on a lighting rig that would compete with high end production companies (w/o the movers and rigging).

Do all the above, and you should be able to easily charge $2,500 in your market and make the lights do whatever you want the client to do. Fast, slow, BOTH. The full setup would take maybe an hour to setup? Most the time you will just be using half though so 20 minutes probably.

PS- IMO $10/fixture is wayyyyy too cheap to charge the customer for uplighting. I wish I had someone local that would come setup for that cheap and I would love to contract that out and charge 3x or 4x

[Dix]

I somewhat agree with almost every post here in some respect.

First, every bride is different, therefore, every wedding is different. I never base one wedding on the other. Each wedding is unique in some way.
How do I know what lighting to recommend to a bride? I talk to her. As equally, I listen to her. I treat lighting like I treat music. The type music depends on what the bride expects. I get anything from hillbillies to elegant.

Lighting is no different. As noted in other posts, budget is a big deciding factor. But also, is the number of guests. I wouldn't recommend the same lighting for 40 guests as I do for 400.... regardless of budget.
If the bride says, "my family doesnt dance much". I dont recommend much.... if any lighting.
The reception is only going to be 2 hrs. I dont recommend much.... if any lighting.
However, if its a Catholic wedding with 400 people for 6 hrs, I am going to recommend dance lighting. From here, it depends on what the bride wants & how much she wants to spend.

As a rule, I normally try to make it look like a wedding reception, not a beer joint. I try to make it wedding appropriate. I try to make it as simple as possible but just as importantly, make it enhance the dance experience & the celebration (party) atmosphere.... which is what dance lighting is supposed to do.

As for uplighting, I agree with DJNeedleSharp, no way I'd charge $10 - $20 per light. My rate is $40 per light. If they are wired, that pays for my time to set them up. If they are wireless, it pays for the extra cost of the lights.

[conanski]

PS- IMO $10/fixture is wayyyyy too cheap to charge the customer for uplighting. I wish I had someone local that would come setup for that cheap and I would love to contract that out and charge 3x or 4x

$10/per is what I charge DJs when they are adding uplighting to a sound rental, $20/per is my rate for uplighting only. Like anything this is very market specific so your milage will vary. There are operators here charging $50-$60/per for uplighting to corporate/govt clients, great business if you can get it but you generally don't service those clients with cheap ass fixtures you need IP65(outdoor) rated stuff which cost twice as much so the rate of return isn't as good. I got my IP20(indoor) hex wireless uplights for about $100 ea and they have already paid for themselves.

[sndscientist]

i tell brides all the time "You no not want anything with a beam at a wedding" including moving heads, derbys, and spots with the exception of a mirror ball effect sometimes as they can reek havoc with pictures. brides don't want their pictures ruined by having little colored spots all over their $9k+ wedding dress.

[conanski]

i tell brides all the time "You no not want anything with a beam at a wedding"

I did a wedding before Christmas with 8 moving heads.. 4 beams and 4 spots, the other 4 are behind me at the back of the room.

[KLH]

Uplighting... it sells itself, they will take it every time at $10-20/fix.

I'm seeing uplighting being a new standard for all gigs nowadays - weddings included.

I'd personally go for an uplight with wireless DMX so that they can be part of the dancefloor lighting show... or a show on their own.