Weddingbee

I blogged a couple weeks ago about my lighting indecision. About how I was unsure if I wanted light trees aimed at our dance floor. Super fun and dance-inducing…but would they ruin the vintage vibe I’m going for?

Well, thanks to you guys, I was turned on to some awesome alternatives. Danielle and an Excited Bride introduced me to the mighty Gobo. I was all over this idea. I even had invitation goddess Tara of Ephemera knock together a ridiculously cute design:

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My original desire for the barn replica at my reception site was to add specialty lighting to the otherwise bare interior. I planned on using a lighting company in Atlanta to achieve a look similar to this:

From Love, Luck, and Angels

I mistakenly assumed that I could do whatever I wanted to the space as long as there was not any damage done to the building. My plan was to string the lights through the rafters and install uplights around the perimeter of the main room. I later found out that no one can string anything through the rafters of the barn. Whoops. I could still have the lighting company install uplights, but the overall cost was not worth it to me without the string lights (over $3000).

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I don’t know what blog-hopping path I followed to discover this site, but it led me to a rainbow wonderworld called Glassybaby.

Adorably named glassybabies are votive-sized, multi-layered glass vases made with varioulsy-shaded “color rods” to produce a look with texture and depth. They come in 53 different colors, can be used as drinking cups, candle holders, or vases, and are virtually indestructible. Read more…

Ok - before I begin this post, I just want to put a disclaimer out there and say that yes, I know it was an “unnecessary cost” in the grand scheme of what’s really important, but I just really really wanted one, ok?

With that said, I probably researched and received bids from about 7 different lighting/event companies in the Dallas metroplex area.

I was looking for someone who could provide the following services:
-monogram gobo for the dance floor (ok ok, I’m a lemming, but who cares?)
-pinspots for the centerpieces
-highlighting the cake table
-place ~20 round paper lanterns at different heights above the patio outside the glass wall panel (coming down from the downcans on the patio - not just hanging from a wire)

However, when it came to decision time, my choices were narrowed down to 3 main vendors:

1. Switch Dallas (referred to by Todd Events and highly recommended by my venue coordinator)
2. Lite Dallas (saw their ad in a local wedding magazine)
3. HPS Lighting (per the recommendation of a lovely bride, Lynda)

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<cue the rest of cheesy song>

I have been getting a bunch of bids from various lighting and event companies in the Dallas area, and I think I’ve found -the one! Although they’re not the cheapest, I feel better about booking them because of their great portfolio and the glowing recommendations I got from other brides and my coordinator!

When I talked to one of the owners today on the phone, he kept coming up with all of these great ideas and I am already envisioning what it will be like. So far, we’ve come up with pinspotting of the tall centerpieces, color-washing the walls with creams, ambers, and blues (our wedding colors), adding ivory asian lanterns to the outside patio and uplighting outside of the glass wall with steel blue lighting and shining up into the lanterns - I can’t wait! It’s going to be absolutely amazing!!! I think it will look fabulous!

I’ll give more details once I sign a contract - don’t want anyone to book my date, ya know! Planning a wedding can be vicious sport! (I’ve already lost 1 vendor to another bride! )

How many of you hired or are hiring lighting/event designers for your wedding?

I’m still in the process of getting quotes from various places (well the 2 best ones in our area anyhow). Got one, still waiting on the other, but I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the price tag… which is really weird because I suppose I knew how much it was going to be, but I was *hoping* it’d be cheaper by some miracle. It’s actually a great price, but what kills me is the fact that the labor costs more than the actual thing, again, even though I knew that….

For 12 pinspots on centerpieces, 1 cake table spotlight, and a cool gobo for the dance floor (I prefer a leafy/flowery swirly pattern as opposed to the solid monogram…), it’ll run me about $800.

Another company I saw, let me have 25 pinspots, uplighting, monogram gobo, and dance lights for $600, but they were not that good - just an average white/ivory light.

What are you doing for lighting?

For my low centerpieces, I got my inspiration from this picture that I found on brides.com - a lantern surrounded by a lush “garden” of blooms.

For the lantern in the middle, I found 10 fabulous ones (see below) on Ebay for the bargain basement price of $6 each, and $6 shipping for the whole batch (it was a BIG box too)! I’ve also seen this same exact lantern sold on wedding websites for $25 each! Ouch.

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Everyone and their mom has done the paper lantern thing. And now, I am too. I have no shame. I’m stealing ideas left and right, not caring how overdone they are! I am convinced however, that the average wedding guest isn’t inundated with wedding images and probably has never seen them used before. In that case, I will claim the idea as my own and let them gush at how brilliant I am.

I’m planning on doing clusters above the dance floor, similar to this.

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For my venue I really wanted battery powered lanterns so I wouldn’t have to deal with ugly cords. I found the perfect ones at Paper Lantern Store and just ordered a whole little army of them! Some of the ones I ordered were 16″, which are no longer listed, but this happened once before and they seem to reappear once they are in stock again. They come in multiple colors, but I bought white:

I’ve been searching high and low for lanterns. I’ve scoured ebay, Ross, Target and every garden supply store I could find. I had given up. But on a chance encounter to Fred Meyer for some tape…I stumbled upon these babies. They meet all my requirements in terms of height, color, and overall design. The best part is that they were on sale - 80% off. Can you believe it!? Crazy. It just totally made my day.

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