Lighting Up the Night

To cut costs, we've given up many things that had originally been built into our pre-injury, full-income budget. Our $8.00/piece chiavari chairs? A thing of the past. A lavish floral budget? Significantly depleted. Wedding album? We can wait on that.

With 14' ceilings, a seating capacity of 600 people and a carpet that is ugly as sin, we were desperately looking for something that could make the room feel more intimate and give it a certain, je nais se quoi.

Originally we thought tall centerpieces would go a great distance in "filling up" the room. Something like this budget-friendly number, perhaps?

Image via A Night in Bloom Event Floristry

While tall centerpieces help to create "drama," I realized we would need to seek something else that would create a more intimate space and take away from the "vacant" feeling that a large ballroom so often has.

After seeing some lighting inspiration like this, we knew exactly what was missing from our vision:

Image via Syracuse Dram Weddings By Wanna Jam DJ Productions

Up-lighting!!!!!

Doesn't that look amazing?! I was really shocked at how much of an impact the lights make. In every example, the lights transformed an ordinary ballroom into an exquisite area that was warm and inviting. The lights also give a very "polished" feel to the room for a relatively small cost, which is great since we are cutting back on decor to keep the budget in-check.

We started our search at the venue, which would provide us with 16 LED lights for $50/piece. The total cost, not including a lighting professional for the event would come to around $1,040. This is the baseline cost I based all other quotes off of.

I wasn't surprised that many quotes came back in the $1,200-$1,500 range, with various inclusions, considering that many professional DJ companies offer this service, and have high overhead costs. I searched high-and-low for a vendor that would beat our venues cost. Finally, I found a brand new company run by a technician who is just branching out on his own and offering a 50% off sale to get his company off the ground. Score! With his company, our total lighting costs will come to $650.

Par Cans (Image via Musician's Friend)

For full disclosure, LED lights provide an option for wireless lighting that emits less heat and affords you the ability to change colors throughout the night. A cheaper alternative would be to use par cans. The cans require wires to plug the lights into the wall, emit more heat and limit you to one color option for the night, but are a great alternative to LED lights for a fraction of the cost. Both options can easily be rented and placed in the venue on your own with relative ease to save even more money!

We're super excited to have found such a great deal on lighting and help get a new business started, but most of all, we're excited about how well the lights are going to set the mood to P-A-R-T-Y!

Have you thought about up-lighting for your reception? If you used up-lights, was the price worth it?