When I was 10 years old, my mom went on a trip and brought back a beautiful snow globe for me that played the tune to “you light up my life”. Anytime I hear that song, I remember my mom singing the song to me as she turned the music key to the snow globe. Sadly, after all these years, I have no idea where that snow globe went. sorry mom!
What “lights up my life” now? Specialty lighting!!! Oh yes, nothing gets me going like up-lighting and pin-spotting, and all the little goodies to add warmth and depth to your venue and make your wedding truly stand out. One thing I have learned in this business is that lighting and linens can totally make your decor really pop. Nothing at all against floral, but I look at floral as the accessory to the little black dress (which is your linen and lighting). So they all work hand in hand to make this outfit (wedding design) spectacular! Oh…don’t you worry; we will talk about my obsession with linen in a later post!
Okay yes I am a cheater, because I didn’t even do lighting for my wedding. (I know, I know!) My ballroom was very unique as it had reddish, mahogany walls…and my wedding colors were white and aqua blue. So I hoped lighting could “fix” the wall color. I remember asking Preston Bailey about this dilemma when I met him at a bridal show…and he said “honey short of painting those walls, no amount of lighting will change that red color…now you could fabric drape the walls and then you can do lighting, but I don’t know if that’s in your budget.” So what is a cost-conscious girl to do? How do I pull of that same warmth that specialty lighting brings to the decor? Lots and lots of candles!!! Oh yes, I stocked up on almost 200 candles to decorate my 50 guest wedding. Trust me, if you can’t squeeze lighting in your budget…this is definitely the way to go!!
Below are some photos to give you an example of various lighting ideas:
Now here is some dreamy blue lighting from the knot
Look at the warmth of this wedding at the Ritz shot by super-cool Boutwell Studio!
This photo is courtesy of Rancho Las Lomas, the candlelighting gives such a glow to the room
Here is a cake shot from my own wedding shot by HyStudio! (notice those reddish walls)
by simplymodernweddings
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