Weddingbee Blog

As soon as you walk into the F.U.E.L. House, you’re standing on our dance floor. It’s gorgeous, but it’s also very monochromatic. White marble floor. White walls. White ceiling. Perfect, really, for a bride who wants to blend in very easily with her surroundings.

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We knew lighting would be essential, and discussed our options with the special events production company that’s affiliated with our DJ. It was nearly one year ago when the lighting pro agreed to meet us at our reception location, and together, we planned out the design.

During our sit-down dinner (which will be upstairs, with views of the dance floor from the wrap-around balcony), we discussed a pretty simple look — orange uplighting around the second floor — since the sun will still be setting.

After the meal concludes, we’ll encourage our guests to join us downstairs. Parent dances will come next, and immediately following both of these, we’ll open the dance floor — and flip the switch on the other lighting effects, which will include downstairs uplighting and floor and ceiling washes. For the washes, we were hoping for an abstract or random pattern, not a monogram or “solid” color. Our lighting pro assured us this would all work out and look great. He’d achieve the gobo by making a pattern appear “fuzzy” or “blurry”, and agreed that purple would be perfect for the effects we’d be adding later in the evening.

Recently, though, Mr. Bruschetta met up with our lighting pro at the F.U.E.L. House to pick the particular gels, and learned that our plan might have to change. The lighting pro expressed hesitancy at following through on the purple “party” lights, and suggested orange instead. He mentioned that orange is far more flattering for skin tones, and that if we used purple, my dress would appear violet-hued in all the pictures taken on or near the dance floor.

Um… what?! Why hadn’t he mentioned this earlier? And is it even true? I’d had my heart set on purple lighting downstairs. But I definitely don’t want to end up looking like this…

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… or this…

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… in our wedding photos!

The mister and I discussed a backup plan — purple uplighting on the second floor with a purple ceiling wash, and an orange floor wash with orange uplighting on the first floor — but I’m just not as jazzed about it.

So I’m turning to you, hive, for help. Is there a way to have purple lighting without my dress appearing this same color in photos? Feel free to share links to pictures you think might help sway me one way or the other!