Sunday, April 7, 2019

Brides & Grooms, Avoid the Blue Smurf

Hey friends,

In this blog article I want to talk about uplighting, when to use it to enhance your event venue, how much to use and yes even when not to have lighting at all.

Many DJ services offer room uplighting and we are commonly asked about it: What is it? Do we need it? How much does it cost?

Room uplighing typically comes in the form of LED lights that are strategically placed around the perimeter of the venue and usually angled to shine upward on a wall, a curtain or other backdrop. Understand that there are different types of lights that provide a variety of features and effects, so ask your DJ about the type of lights they own and what they can do with them, the various color schemes that can be created, etc. Typically, they need to be plugged into a wall outlet so DJs pay close attention to where in the room they can run power cords without getting in the way of guests. We love venues with many electrical outlets. Lights can also come battery powered which gives your DJ more options but those units tend to cost 3 times what a corded light costs and may be more expensive for you to have. We use a combination of corded and battery powered lights using corded whenever possible and reserving battery operated lights for logistically challenging places in the room.

The goal of this article is not to go into depth about the types of lighting available but to have you think strategically about what you want the room to look like when they're set up. Most people admit that they don't know how many lights are appropriate to have and so they leave that up to their vendor to decide within budget. Many DJ services charge per light so, of course, they don't mind giving you as many as possible for your event if you can afford it. More lights, more money!

I caution you not to overdo the uplighting. A room that is heavy on uplighting sometimes glows with that particular color, which is fine to a point but you don't want to risk a situation where you and your guests end up looking like blue smurfs. You remember those little guys, right? They're cute but, well they're blue...

This is me, blue smurf
The problem is exacerbated when your photographer can't get clean  photos at your reception because they are so polluted with the glow of uplighting. This may not be an issue for you, so if you simply don't care, that's fine, go crazy with uplighting. But if you're paying a considerable amount of money for a professional photographer to take photos of your special day, why make their job harder by paying your DJ to create an overly lit room? I've chatted with a number of photographers about this and some agree that it makes editing photos a chore yet others don't seem to mind. I would simply advise you to have this discussion with both your DJ and your photographer to get some consensus on how much lighting is just right. Some photographers bring additional white lights if they know in advance the room will be dark and enhanced with uplighting. Your DJ can minimize this problem by alternating some of the lights with pure white to offset the effect.  I tell clients that uplighting should be used in moderation to enhance the room's features and complement your color scheme but not to excess - unless of course, you want to look like a blue smurf.

To be fair, part of the magic of uplighting is that it can make a drab looking room look much better. If however, your venue is already very beautiful in a unique way you don't need much additional lighting to make its features stand out. You may not need uplighting at all. In fact, if you overdo the uplighting in an already beautiful room you risk minimizing the features that you want guests to enjoy.

Again, have this chat with your DJ and photographer. Tell your DJ that you want uplighting in moderation to enhance the room but not to overdo it to the point that it looks like a sci-fi movie set.

I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions about uplighting, wedding and event photos and more. Please leave a comment and we'll continue to explore this topic further.