4 Lighting Ideas for Events

Are you stuck on coming up with lighting ideas for events? Read on.

Lighting can make or break your event experience. It is so much more than just putting a spotlight on your performer or a few stage lights here and there.

If the lights are too bright your event may seem stark and cold. If your lights are too dark guests may miss important elements of your event and design. Lighting creates ambience, displays video content and can be used to highlight architectural elements or styling pieces to build a visual experience that will leave your guests in awe. You can also use lighting to direct your guests attention to events going on within your event, or to grab their attention.

Four lighting ideas for events

1) Uplighting At Your Event

Uplighting is a great way to create an atmosphere at your event. Rooms can look bland if you do not use perimeter lighting. This is especially important for a simple more basic venue such as an empty ballroom, gallery, or conference centre which can tend to be bland if you do not add in lighting and colour. These venues do not have a lot of character to begin with you will need to build ambience with more lighting and decor. It’s a great way to tie in a colour that goes with your theme and create a wow factor upon guests entering the room.

What type of events are great for uplighting?

• Awards nights and gala dinners
• TV shows and ‘on the couch’ type speaker events
• Charity dinners
• Sporting events
• Weddings
• Cocktail Functions

See also: Colours Matter: Harnessing the power of colours to captivate audiences

2) Using Gobo’s

Gobo’s are a great way to add an element of design and depth to your event. Simply stated a gobo is a beam of light with a metal stencil over it that creates a pattern.  As technology progressed, glass gobos were developed that could incorporate colours and detailed imagery.

Gobos can project any design or pattern including abstract shapes, patterns, pictures, and company logos. You can project gobos onto ceilings, floors, and walls, they are a great way to add visual interest.
While gobos are great for transforming your event by giving it a dynamic atmosphere and feel, they can be used to promote your brand. Seeing your brands logo in bright crisp lighting will create a visual impact that surely will not go unnoticed. Gobos can go almost anywhere and are highly flexible, work perfectly with many types of events from conventions, to galas and even weddings displaying the happy couples’ initials.

What type of events are great for gobos?

The versatility of gobos makes them the perfect lighting technique for all types of shows.

• Brand logo for sales conferences and product launches.
• Wall design for gala dinners.
• Bride and groom initials at weddings.
• Logos for awards nights and conferences.

3) Create A Light Show

A light show is a really fun way to grab your guests attention. Light shows are often combined with the first two lighting techniques. However, unlike the first two lighting options these lights will be constantly moving and flashing because a lighting engineer designs a custom show specifically for your event. Vivid Sydney is one of the world’s biggest lighting shows. There you will find every type of lighting technique under the sun. Lighting shows are often used at corporate events before an awards ceremony or speeches to quite the crowd and build excitement for the main event. We also use them to create an amazing dance vibe at galas and high energy concerts. Light shows make a very memorable experience and keep the energy high at events!

4) Highlight Design with Pin Lighting

Pin lighting is an excellent way to direct attention to certain parts of your event. Using a spotlight creates a dramatic effect that can transform centerpieces, decor elements and table settings into incredible pieces of art. Not only do pin lights add drama to your event lighting, but they also provide separation that is often needed between dark table linens and centerpieces allowing the centerpieces to pop and stand out. Pin lighting will make your event design a more dynamic visual experience.

Discover more Lighting techniques and insights for your event – download our expert white paper Event Insights – Making Your Event Shine.

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This article was first published on HelloEndless