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[mike putorti]

Do any of you lighting professionals practice wedding lighting?

My fiance and I were perusing the forums on The Knot.com and some of the brides were discussing the lighting of their weddings/receptions.  One poster mentioned she was paying over $2000 for someone to throw some light on centerpieces and some accent lights on a couple of columns.  

Have any of you heard of such a thing?  Seems like a lucrative business to get involved in.

Mike Putorti

[len woelfel]

I bet it's being subcontracted by her coordinator, her venue, etc.  The Chicago area, where I've been a wedding dj for 26 years (and only 3 more parties to go before I retire from it), no companies advertise specifically for that one product.  The venues will offer it, or the tent companies, etc., but no companies offer this by itself that I have ever seen.  One venue I know of has some tuelle (that gauzy stuff that looks like fishnetting with a narrow weave) and tiny lights (we called them Italian lights) swagged across the ceiling.  It's always up, but it's rumored they charge $200 just to turn it on.  

[Dan Glass]

I have been providing lighting for local weddings for a few years now.  Depending on what style of lighting effect you decide on can really drive the price up.  Centerpiece lighting is a pretty simple lighting idea but the main reason it may cost alot is labor.  If you are lighting each and every table this can take some time if you want it to look good.  Cables have to be run above the ceiling tiles and each tables will have a single light hung directly above it.  The end look is quite nice because often times there is no need to use the house lighting (i.e chandeliers).  When I am quoting a lighting package and they are requesting centerpiece lighting I will also suggest just using some leko's with patterns to light a few tables at a time.  If the ceilings are high enough then the lights are out of the view of the guests.  

I am one of the few companies that actually contact the brides directly rather than relying on the venue or party planner.  This usually saves the happy couple and gives me the ability to speak directly to my customer.  

Dan Glass

[Bonnie Lackey]

We rent a lot of lighting for weddings.  Often there is someone in the family that will calls the equipment and we work up a design together.  I have provided lighting for weddings that was as much as $12,000.00.

The trend right now seems to be custom gobos (which have to be made specific to the couple by an outside vendor) and moving lights.  We have now started added LED lighting because some many reception venues don't have a lot of separate circuits to power lighting, sound, band, hair dryers, coffee makers, etc.  The nice aspect of LEDs is you can zero in the exact colors of the wedding.

Bonnie Lackey
Lackey Sound and Light, Inc.
http://www.Lackeysound.com

[Dan Glass]

I too have found that most venues lack the proper amount of power to light the reception.  I am using fluorescent color changers to save on electricity.  Custom gobos are also very popular in my area and I am finding that more and more brides are deciding to light for a theatrical effect rather than traditional atmosphere.  

Dan Glass

[Adam Feldstain]

50% of my work is wedding lighting. - Table pin spotting, uplighting, FOH lighting for the entertainment. Even 4 6 or 8 moving heads. We do some very high budget weddings. We get them both directly from the client and from the halls.