Lighting is everything for venues and their events. Lighting can take an event to the next level, change the entire mood of the event, and alter the appearance of a venue. Not only is the placement and brightness of the lights important but also the colors. Lighting can be anything from spotlights, candles, uplighting, chandeliers, house lights, and more. There is so much planning that goes into an event, and while lighting may be a small detail it plays a huge part in affecting the atmosphere of your event.
Let’s talk about the type of lighting first. First: spotlights. These are great for outside your building to attract attention, or on a dance floor or stage for a speech to highlight a special moment. Candles add intimacy and elegance to an event and are best for weddings, baby showers, and galas. (At The Bedford, we allow candles as long as they are not open-flame such as taper candles. Be sure to check with the venue you are hosting your event with to know what candles are allowed and what aren’t). House lights are important since they may need to be dimmed or even turned off. Chandeliers add a high level of elegance to any event and are often a unique feature to a venue such as The Bedford. Finally- uplighting! We will talk about this further into this blog post; uplighting is often the most efficient and simple way to take your event to the next level. At The Bedford, we recommend uplighting since it pairs perfectly with our dark brick and beam (see above photo).
Colors of the lights say everything about your event and the atmosphere you are trying to create. Multi-colored lights are great for dance floors- at the reception, the prom, or the after party. Colored lights are great for more casual parties. For more formal events like weddings, black tie parties, galas, or dinners, using more neutral lights is often the best way to go. White or champagne colored lights are the perfect color to subtly create dimension and elegance.
That brings us next to placement: where should you put your lights? Illuminating the focal points of the night is always the best place to start- i.e. cake, special venue features, a disco ball, or the bar. Not only does this add the dimension mentioned previously but it also allows the lights to be dimmed for dancing while still highlighting the places people will want to be.
Next is the brightness. It is always important to know what lights need dimmed, what lights need turned off, and what lights need brightened. This can change throughout the course of the night. For example, during speeches at weddings or galas, the lights surrounding the speaker should be dimmed so that the focus is on the speaker. However, during a dinner, it is important to keep the lights at a decently bright level so that guests can see what they are eating and where they are going as they move from buffet and bar back to their table.
The Bedford is a unique venue with dark brick and beam. The best lighting to use here is uplighting. This is where small lights are placed on the floor that shine up, illuminating the brick and taking the venue to the next level. Not only does uplighting completely change the entire atmosphere of the venue and the event, but all of our lights within the building (including the chandelier) can be dimmed by a venue manager or representative upon request.
At The Bedford, we provide you with our preferred vendor list that features High Tone Entertainment. High Tone has worked with our space countless times and knows exactly where to put each light and what lights you need for your specific event. No matter what kind of event you want to host at The Bedford, High Tone can help you find the right kind of lighting.