- Blog
- Bios
- Boards
- Classifieds
- DIY
- Gallery
- Vendor Reviews
- Shop Weddingbee
Weddingbee Blog
One thing I love about our venue is that the owner strung lights along the beams in the barn. It’s a nice touch, but he chose really small lights so it’s not really as “wow” as we wanted our decorative lighting to be. Here is a picture of our venue while it was still under renovation while the lights were up. There are also two wagon wheel lanterns that will light up the space, but they aren’t very decorative.
This week Father Sunbeam will visit our reception venue in the evening, to help us decide how we can use decorative lighting in the space. After considering ideas far and wide, we thought a good place to start would be to see how many outlets we’ll have access to and what the hanging possibilities are. Below are some lighting inspirations I’ve gathered over the past few months that we are mulling over.
Hanging light bulbs. I will say this is my favorite idea. The only problem is the ceiling of the barn/reception gets pretty high, making hanging lots of individual anythings difficult without a huge ladder. I’m also not sure how the wiring would work. Would we need an outlet for each?
Paper lanterns. This is an idea that I like, but feel like I see it everywhere. I said that to Mr. Sunbeam and he had the perfect response: “In your case you see 1000 weddings a day online, but our guests have probably seen one to two this year at best. The chances that they will think lanterns are overdone is extremely slim.” It was such a good point. So maybe we’ll have lanterns, but I like the idea of bunching them together instead of sprinkling them around throughout the space. I’m picturing bunches of maybe 5 lanterns hung in 7 different spots around the barn. This is the closest image I could find to the idea.
Lastly, string lights. This is an unexpectedly expensive option. If we go with the C7 string lights, we’ll need around 20-30 strands, which will likely cost us at least $500. But just look at this inspiration photo; how can could we not consider doing this?
Wowza. What a beautiful picture. What sort of lighting ideas do you have for your venue? Are you going to put up the lighting yourselves or do you have a team/venue/coordinator that will do it for you?
I love the hanging lights and string lights for that venue!
We’re having a bunch of different kinds of lighting for ours– antique chandeliers hung from trees, various hanging lanters, uplights, strings, etc. Sort of a boho/shabby-chic vibe, I guess.
I like the lights for your venue in the barn that are already up.
I actually found a site where they have a lot of different ideas!
http://www.banadir24.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=633&rowstart=0
What do you think?
Your venue is so gorgeous. Hanging light bulbs and string lights are my first choice- but I know the paper lanterns would look heavenly as wel. Can’t wait to see what you choose!
I like the hanging lightbulbs and the string lights. I’m surprised the string lights are so expensive. they don’t seem like they would be that bad/
i like the string lights the best! but it’s very expensive, so the paper lanterns will be my second choice.
@Jessie516: The C7 lights are surprisingly expensive. If anyone sees them for cheap let me know!
@firemuffy: Thanks for the link!
I like option #2 - the bunches of paper lanterns. Yes, we do see them all the time, but Mr. Sunbeam makes a valid argument. And you could do the throwy LED lights in there, which would be cute.
I think keeping a budget in mind the lanterns are definitely your best bet. I also think the grouping of lanterns is less common in weddings than the usual rows of lanterns so you will still be relatively different!
I think I also needed to hear Mr. Sunbeam’s point. He’s so right! I think a lot of brides think stuff is “overdone” because of reading blogs/magazines, but how many non-brides would feel the same way? Perhaps certain things become overdone because they’re also the best way of accomplishing particular goals–in this case lighting. It sounds like the easiest and most cost effective way to get some wow lighting on those high ceilings is with the paper lanterns. I’d definitely go with the paper lanterns.
I feel in love with paper lanterns, but the small little lights are darling!!
love the hanging light bulbs and the string lights.
not sure exactly which kind of string lights you are looking for, but here are 25-light sets for $9.93 a piece!
http://www.buyhardwaresupplies.com/?t=5&m=g1&itemNumber=9827791
btw. i’m from erie practically hometown neighbors!
whoops…WE’RE practically hometown neighbors!
Mr. Sunbeam’s response is so cute, and totally correct! It’s funny, I went to a wedding a year ago with paper lanterns and didn’t care for them, but now I see inspiration photos everywhere and they look so great. And I just helped plan a shower where the MOH used lanterns and it looked great! I think my tastes are changing.
Mr. Sunbeam is so right - I have to remind myself about that.
I am doing paper lanterns, and a couple of friends and I made 400 little throwies in less time than it took us to watch a movie a few weeks ago. But then we had to go through and get them hung inside the lanterns, and there is the matter of how we’re going to hang them from the ceiling on the day of the wedding. The paper lanterns are really cool looking (in my opinion) but also quite time consuming. But, they will save you a lot of dough! I bought about 150 and hope to resell them for about half of what I bought them for. The throwie ingredients are very affordable. Make sure if you do this that you check out Mrs. Tiramasu’s posts about it. And pm me if you have any questions I might be able to answer!
I think any of your lighting options would look great in your venue. Can’t wait to see what you choose! 
The little lights at your venue are stunning. I’d probably leave well enough alone. However, your FI is right, & I 2nd the lantern clusters.
Kevin and Leisl’s wedding on Martha Stewart had kinda the same vibe you are looking for with the lanterns. Their reception was in a barn, and they hung the paper lanterns bunched in a long row over the table. I thought it looked fabulous!
I love the idea of hanging lanterns in groups! It’s so cute and the example picture is just beautiful and adds an interesting height element!
The string lights look lovely–maybe you could resell them afterwards?
I really like the strands of lights - and you’re right, even for $500, how could you say no after that inspiration photo?
| Visit our sister sites | eHarmony Online Dating |
eHarmony Advice Dating Advice |
Project Wedding Wedding Songs |
JustMommies Pregnancy Calendar |
Mrs. Sunbeam, San Francisco/Grove City, PA Age and Occupation: 26, Grad Student & Office Manager Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Motion Designer Engagement Date: May 10, 2008 Wedding Date: September 2009 Venue: Harbison Chapel & The Maple Lane Farm About Me: Mr. Sunbeam and I are high school sweethearts. We both come from a small town in PA but are growing to love the California lifestyle. He loves wine and I love cheese... the perfect combination! When I'm not drooling over wedding blogs, I'm attending grad school, out being a foodie, or attempting to "walk" our cat at the park. Two things guaranteed to excite me are wedding cakes and breaking out my suitcase to travel. Mr. Sunbeam and I are personalizing our hometown wedding to celebrate our high school sweetheart status and PA roots with a few CA touches. After ten years of dating we couldn't be more excited to call each other husband and wife!
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | 30 | 31 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
Latest Gallery Pics