Getting the right lighting for your wedding venue is crucial as it can 
make or break the ambience of your big day. If you are having an afternoon wedding and are relying on the sunshine streaming through the windows, it may come as a shock when the sky goes cloudy and you have to switch on those highly unflattering fluorescent tubes.
Your wedding venue lighting should help to create the mood you are aiming for, whether that is romantic and cosy or cool and funky. Check out what lighting your wedding venue has on offer, and if you aren’t happy with it consider hiring one of these alternatives:
- Fairy lights are a very simple yet effective way to light your wedding venue, and they are fairly cheap to hire. They are ideal for wrapping around pillars, beams or banisters, and can be placed in trees at an outdoor wedding. They give off a romantic and flattering glow that will make your wedding venue a cosy place to be.
- Backdrops with embedded light can be used to adorn an entire wall at your wedding venue, or simply to create a feature of the top table. These work best in a modern venue and can provide a great place to have your indoor photos taken. Starlit backdrops are also great for hiding a wall or section of your venue that you don’t like the look of.
- Coloured mood lighting can be the perfect way to change the atmosphere of your wedding venue and provide decoration at the same time. You can coordinate your lighting with your wedding colour scheme, and can alter the colours during the day to highlight the different parts of your reception. Have soothing green lights for the meal, vibrant pink for the cake cutting and a multitude of colours for the dancing.
- Tables that are lit from within are a new and very fashionable way of decorating your wedding venue. You can hire light up cocktail tables just for your drinks reception, or you can go the whole hog and light up your dinner tables too. Just make sure the lights aren’t too bright, and the colour is fairly easy on the eyes.
- Candles are the perfect way to create a romantic atmosphere; everybody looks good by candlelight.
Using candles as your table centre pieces is a popular lighting choice, but do check with your wedding venue to make sure they allow the use of candles. If you are having an outdoor wedding, use candles in metal lanterns hung from trees or poles, or for a dramatic effect hire flaming torches to mark the entrance to your venue.
- A light up dance floor might sound a little tacky, but it can be a fun way to get your guests up and grooving, and will bring a novelty touch to your wedding venue. Depending on your theme you could hire a multicoloured dance floor, or stick to classic black and white checks for a calmer effect.
- A projector can serve many purposes in a modern minimalist wedding venue. It is very fashionable to project coloured patterns onto the walls of a marquee to create ‘wallpaper’ which changes as the reception progresses. You can also project photos of the ceremony, snaps from the hen’s and buck’s nights, or pictures of you and the groom during your courtship.
- Fireworks can certainly add drama to your wedding reception, and if your venue allows them they can be a great way to mark the arrival or departure of the bride and groom. Look for a company that specialise in firework displays for events, and see if they can put the display to music.
- Chandeliers are the perfect way to light an old fashioned wedding venue, although they also work well in a minimalist venue such as a marquee. If your venue doesn’t already have chandeliers, these can be hired for the day, but just check with your venue that you are allowed to install them, and get the supplier to do this for you.
- Paper lanterns are a simple and chic way to add light and texture to your wedding venue. Whether you choose Chinese lanterns in bright reds and pinks, or more subtle round paper lanterns in various sizes, they can detract from a boring ceiling and add a whole new dimension to your wedding venue.