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I had planned to do the registry posts back-to-back, but that last one was a little heavy on the emotional/dramatic side. 
Let’s lighten things up - literally (ha)!
Lighting is something that most wedding gurus say is absolutely essential for an event. For me, it was just something I never figured would fit into our day. I assumed it was ridiculously expensive, that our parents wouldn’t go for it, and that our venue probably couldn’t accommodate it.
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
After reading wedding blogs for quite some time, this term kept showing up. Uplighting. What the heck is uplighting? Well, as I’m sure you know, it’s quite literally lighting that faces up! After doing some more digging, I found that some people use uplighting everywhere in their room for a very saturated look while others use it only to highlight architectural features or certain areas of the room (like the dance floor, for example). Miss Parfait recently did a post on uplighting as well, and she has some pretty awesome inspiration photos.
State College has two rental companies. One I am very familiar with because we used them all through college for various events, and the other I’ve never heard of. I tend to stick with the former. After searching through their rental catalog, I found just what I was looking for - par can uplights! At a very, very reasonable cost.
During our recent visit to Happy Valley, Mr. Burger and I stopped in to chat about the lights. They were available, the price was right, and they had gels in every color of the rainbow! They explained that they required set up, and that each light needed its own outlet. Yikes. I knew I would have to check with our reception venue to see if this was possible. The good news was that they offered to give me one of the lights and multiple gels to test in the ballroom, so that I could pick a color that was just right!
So during our tasting, I sprung the idea on our parents and asked our reception site coordinator about feasibility. While puzzled, the parents went with it (like always, thanks guys!), and the coordinator said that it was totally do-able (and had been done before, which always helps ease my mind).
With that, I leave you with some cool pictures of uplighting - a big bang for your buck if you ask me!
Are you jumping on the uplighting bandwagon?
Yes, we are! I’m SO excited about this! We are actually purchasing our own Par 38 cans and gels and-get this-it’s under $150. I’m playing out with colors, I think we’ll go with turquoise but Amber is so very pretty in every setting.
I think it’s great that people can get uplighting at a fraction of the (stupidly) expensive prices! 
great pics! I do love the look of uplighting, but won’t be using it. Our venue is nothing close to the traditional ballroom and there are windows EVERYWHERE - I was told the light would just filter out of the window and be useless as the effect would be totally diminished.
Bummer I know, but at least I got to say to my fiance “Ok I’ll live without the lighting and we can take it out of the budget to save $”
I dont know if it would fit in with our venue.. 
I really want to explore options though!! Thanks for your post!
I never would have thought about lighting, but my planner is a huge fan and has won me over
i’ve heard so many good things about lighting, but it’s not in the cards for us. sad. what colors will you be using?
I should probably find a lighting guru. Our venue is pretty boring so the lighting will be critical.
I wish we could. When we met we were both working in a theater so we could set that kind of stuff up all the time for differant groups. But right now I think I’m going to do everything outside or as close to it as possible, so no pretty lights for me.
Yes! We’re doing uplighting too. We’re going with red and only using them sparingly, but I’m really excited about it! Off-white looks beautiful from the company though…so tempting.
I think it’ll make for some beautiful photos! Am I going to add “lighting” to the ever-growing list of things I don’t need, but secretly want? Um, yeah.
I think lighting is beautiful, and wish we could fit it in our budget. Now come to think of it, our venue is a historical society. The lighting would probably take away from the natural beauty of the ballroom.
Nope, no one has been able to convince me to spend $500 for uplighting and a monogram in lights. Its pretty but just not my style. We are going with el cheapo luminarios instead cause I like them better.
We checked out our venue when it was holding a wedding with uplighting and fell in love, it really makes a difference in the room. Now to debate on if we should get pinspotting on the tables as well…
You know how every bride has to have their “One thing” no matter what…well the lighting was my BFF’s thing!! She was so dead set on having it that she worked it in her budget! It does make a difference I think…its beautiful!
@Ebonee Monique
i would like to hear more about how you are doing it yourself! my dad said no to the cost of renting etc… but if i can DIY it for 150 bucks then YES!
How cool! We actually didn’t have it in the budget to do much with lighting, so we did a lot with candle light.
I <3 lighting… I regret not splurging for it at our wedding!
Uh, I had never considered uplighting until this post… add it to the list of things to track down! I wonder if you’re supposed to stick with certain colors in order to not make people look funny? Thanks for the heads up! What color are you going with!?
Mmmm, those pics are like eye candy. The last one is my favorite!
@Ebonee Monique: omg that’s awesome!! you should share your hook-up with the hive!! I couldn’t find anything online cheaper than renting
@Miss Pug: & @Miss Guinea Pig: good question! we’re thinking a soft pink or peach… or if we can find the right purple… we actually get to do some gel trials when we go for our last vendor meeting in January - I’ll keep you posted!
@lemondrop: oh wow that is expensive!! Our uplights are $11 each to rent… so even if we get 10-15 (the number we’re thinking), we’re still under $200 But I know the monograms can be expensive!
We didn’t do any uplighting, but our venue was more rustic so I think it would’ve seemed out of place. You’re right that it can be very dramatic and make a huge impact on the space–I can’t wait to see what you come up with!
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Mrs. Cheeseburger, Baltimore, MD/State College, PA Age and Occupation: 25, Medical Student Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Medical Student Engagement Date: June 28, 2008 Wedding Date: March 2010 Venue: Catholic Church Ceremony & Hotel Reception About Me: I'm a passionate girl from Pittsburgh, currently living in Baltimore for school, who loves Penn State, seeing movies, football, thunderstorms, black and white photos, Christmas, good beer, my amazing friends and family, and of course, my mister! We met, fell in love, got engaged, and will be married at our alma mater (go lions!) in a traditional Catholic ceremony followed by a hotel reception with lots of DIY details. It means so much to have our families and friends meet at our favorite place on earth to celebrate our love for one another - I truly couldn't ask for anything more!
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