Tag Archives: GOBO

Colored Lighting: How to Do it Right

Colored lighting is one of the best ways to elevate your wedding. It can set the mood for your ceremony, and help transition your teary-eyed guests to the reception for a time of intimacy and fun! 

Whether you choose gobos, uplights, spotlights, or other elements, colored lighting will complement the decor, making it feel more luxurious and well planned around your venue. But, when it comes to colored lighting, there is such a thing as too much. Less is more!

Why choose colored lighting for your wedding?

Choosing a lighting design that meshes with your color palette adds dimension to your event and ties everything together with a neat bow. It has a way of highlighting your wedding space and amping up the dramatic effect — perfect for wowing your guests! #JawDrop

When picking your go-to shades, there are a few ways to play around with them. Say your color palette is pink and white. You can have fun with those colors in your lighting design as-is, or you can select hues that complement them — like champagne, gold, or even a bold shade of raspberry.

Before making your final choice, be sure to consider your venue’s existing lighting during the time of day for your event. Speak to your lighting and A/V team to confirm that your desired look will be possible given the setting. For example, it might be hard to achieve a deep, intimate feel in a space with floor-to-ceiling windows for a midday brunch! 

Evening events can typically accommodate all of your lighting expectations, with colored effects creating a natural ambiance that is perfect for soft and moody photos. 

What to avoid with colored lighting

We’re big fans of color. Everybody appreciates the splendor of a big and bold rainbow. But when it comes to your wedding, there is such a thing as too much!

Avoid going overboard with colors — both in the numbers of shades you choose and in the number of areas you use them. Overdoing it with color or mismatching your shades can spoil your perfect design. 

Don’t be afraid to experiment with color, but that’s not an excuse to go rogue! Form your vision and take it to your lighting professional — they will be ready to help you bring it to life without going too far.

How to get your lighting design right

So, how do you get your lighting just right? Keep it simple! Using soft, matchable colors like champagne, blush, and amber, ensures that you can mesh them beautifully with any color palette. On the other hand, try to avoid the louder colors of the rainbow, like orange or red, which can make the space feel too busy. 

And, of course, hiring a professional lighting company is the best way to ensure your vision comes to life with the taste and elegance you deserve! There’s no need to compromise your dream, so let the experts take over and accent the right areas with the right hues to make a statement.

At the end of the day, colored lighting is all about enhancing the venue’s aesthetic and tying it into your wedding theme. If you are going to look perfect on your big day, shouldn’t your venue do the same? Go ahead and add the color — but be mindful of how it fits in with your design. Like everything else in life, balance is key!

Sneak Peeks!

1 Reply

We have been insanely busy these past couple weeks, and we’ve been so excited about the lighting that we have been doing. Typically we wait until we receive professional photographs before we put them on the blog, but we just could not contain our excitement! Here are some sneak peek photos we snapped at events with our iPhones, so please excuse the quality. Let us know what you think!

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We love this custom monogram glass GOBO! The little caricatures turned out great!

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That same couple also booked our 3 tier crystal beaded chandelier. That is our 6’x6′ beaded chandelier nested inside our 9’x9′ beaded chandelier nested inside our 12’x12′ beaded chandelier. Doesn’t it add some elegance and drama to the room? What a centerpiece!

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We love hanging our 30 candle iron chandeliers at the Palm Event Center. They fit so well with the rustic vibe of the property. Adding some hanging light bulbs looks great too!

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We love the look of this ceremony site. It’s so airy and elegant!

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We just did some market lighting at Wente Vineyards too, and absolutely loved how it turned out. It reminds us of a little bistro!

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Here is another shot of the same market lighting, after the sun had set. Check out those clouds!

Keep your eyes on the blog to see more photos from these events!

 

Ask Kevin: Different Types of Event Lighting

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Kevin,

I’m currently looking at lighting for my upcoming wedding on 2/16/13, and I keep seeing all these different lighting terms. I am getting so confused! This might be a dumb question, but what is the difference between a pinspot, GOBO, and uplight?

Thanks!

Allison from Dublin, California

Hi Allison,

This isn’t a dumb question at all! It’s actually a really common question that we get all the time, so thank you for writing in! Some companies use different terminology, so it’s completely understandable that you have gotten a little confused. Here at Fantasy Sound Event Services, we use the standard terms of pinspot, GOBO, and uplight, and I will be more than happy to help you out!

 

Uplights usually serve as the foundation for any Event Lighting design. They are placed on the floor of your venue, and are used to create a color wash upwards on the wall or drapery. Gel overlays, which come in a wide variety of colors, can be used to customize the wash to complement your wedding’s color scheme. The image below shows an example of uplighting in pink.


GOBO comes from the term “go between”. GOBOs are metal or glass discs with patterns, names, or initials cutout in it. They are placed over the lens of the light. Their image can be projected onto walls or floors in a wide variety of colors. The picture below shows one of our most popular GOBO patterns, in a champagne color projected onto a wall.

Here is a Custom Monogram GOBO that has been projected onto the floor in a pink color.

Pinspots are lights that shine down from the ceiling, and can be used to highlight the bride and groom, musicians, cake, candy bar, centerpieces, tables, or other key focal points. These lights really help your wedding pop! These can also be called soft washes or spotlights. The image below shows some pinspots on floral arrangements down the aisle.

Allison, thank you so much for submitting this question! Like I said before, we get this question all the time here at Fantasy Sound, and we hope this is helpful to all the future brides out there. Remember, you can submit your own questions by clicking here!