Oliveaire - South Asian Events


Oliveaire provides the hospitality industry a channel to explore the ethnic event market influenced with culture and tradition. Clients are able to depend upon our knowledge and understanding of the unique needs of the customs, meal preferences, and accommodations generated by these events. Our team, with its ethnic background, has been our cornerstone in provding our clientele the best service in the wedding and special event market.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Lighting Up Your Space

Have you seen some gorgeous event pictures recently? Take a closer look and you will probably notice that there is some type of lighting element as part of that event. New technology in the lighting field has opened the door to many possibilities for lighting that were simply not possible, or affordable, as recently has five years ago.

Today lighting your wedding reception means so much more than flipping a switch. You can put your touch in almost all lighting elements. “Lighting creates a mood” says event designer Preston Bailey, and when it is done well, lighting can make everything, including your wedding flowers, cake and guests look better. Now that you have seen the captivating pictures and have decided you want to incorporate lighting into your event, what do you do?

Find a company that specializes in lighting.
To obtain suggestions in your local area you can ask your event designer or wedding florist, many of them do their own lighting. If they do not, more than likely, they work with a lighting professional in the industry. You can also check with your contact at your reception venue, they will either offer options in-house or a recommended vendor list for lighting professionals they work with.


Learn lighting lingo
Here are some lighting terms that you will hear regularly:
Pin Spot - A focused beam of light that shines directly onto an object, like a centerpiece or wedding cake, as a highlight effect.
Color Wash - There are a few different types of light fixtures that can create a "wash," which is basically a blanket of colored light covering an entire area.
Gobos - Circular stencils that are put over a light to project a design or pattern. Popular gobo designs are monograms, dates, or any other wedding motifs.
LED - Short for light-emitting diodes, LED lights are currently popular for weddings because they use much less electricity (and don't get as hot) than regular, incandescent light bulbs. They are also available in a wireless feature so they are even more discreet.
Uplights – These are commonly LED lights that are placed around the perimeter of your venue to cast an illuminating glow around the room. Today’s technology allows for these to stay a static color all night or change as different activities occur in the room such as cake cutting, first dance and the late night dancing.

Assess Your Site
If you're planning an evening reception, make sure to visit your site at least once when it's dark outside. Look around the room and see where the fixed lighting is focused. Lights that illuminate the walls, windows, and ceiling can draw attention away from the center of the room -- and you want to keep everyone's eyes on the tables, dance floor, and each other. Ask if the site has dimmers for their overhead lights or if their florescent lighting can be turned off. Also, make sure there won't be any service doors kept open, which could flood the space with light and ruin the effect.

Use Color
As well as the multiple colors in your wedding gown think outside your wedding palette when you use colored lights. Try to incorporate colors that you have incorporated in your centerpieces to keep consistency throughout the event. Your own wedding outfit, table linen and backdrops are other features to look to when thinking of colors choices for your event.

Choose the Right Lights
It is always important to keep in mind the layout of your reception venue. High ceilings versus low ceilings will dramatically change how the lighting will enhance the room. Pin spotting in a room with high ceilings can really accentuate your floral centerpieces and finally, gobos can be fun with monograms on the dance floor or patterns on the wall. Work with your lighting designer to figure out which type of lighting fits your budget.

No matter what lighting you chose know that lighting puts your other elements on steroids. If you spend $25,000 on flowers, and $10,000 on lighting done properly, it will look like you spent $75,000 on flowers. Again the sky is the limit on lighting and it is only going to get better with time.

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