How To Light Your Marquee Wedding

Mar 7

The lighting of your marquee is so much more than the fleeting window where golden hour is illuminated as you gather to get that insta-worthy snap. It’s the joy you feel as you catch your lover's eye, or the way you move under the night’s sky on the dance floor. Lighting might seem like an irrelevant piece of the puzzle that is wedding planning, yet it sets the mood of your entire celebration, and when chosen right, can be adaptable, ambient and immersive as the sun whispers goodnight. Wedding lighting reaches beyond the practicality of being able to see, and wraps you in soft light as it frames the stand-out moments and transforms your photos.

Marquees are a blank canvas that allow to curate a style that is unique to your love story, and lighting is no exception to this. Firstly, you need to consider what overall style you would curate, and how lighting will play a part in this. For instance, do you want to go for a soft and romantic look, or dramatic with a tinge of glamour? Or do you want your lighting to be a part of a floral, art installation?

Marquee lighting falls into three main categories - Natural light, functional light and decorative light.

Natural Light

With our premium clear marquees, the use of natural light cannot be replicated as the evening light streams in from all directions. The weather outside, along with the time of year will play a large part in how natural light will feature in your day, yet rain or shine, the use of a clear roof will create an ambient atmosphere that cannot be replicated.

Functional Light

All marquees require a measure of functional lighting which comes in many different forms. Areas that will utilise this include the dining space of your marquee, your catering area, walkways to parking and bathrooms, along with the toilets themselves. No one likes to be wandering around in the dark!

Decorative Light

With decorative marquee lighting, you can customise this to suit your budget and style. An array of lighting scattered in statement spots throughout your marquee, or tucked in cosy corners, will foster a sense of intimacy and curate a cosy atmosphere. Or perhaps you’d like the assurance of a sparkly starry night? Floating above the dance floor or reception tables, fairy lights or festoon lighting can offer a bespoke blanket of stars that will shine down upon you.

While functional lighting is all about practicality wrapped in style, decorative lighting enhances the look and feel of your celebration. Included below are our most popular products that range from simple and effective, to a bit more advanced with a dramatic impact.

Products

Festoon Lighting

Our festoon lights are good for lighting up a space to full brightness even in the darkness of a winter's evening. They give off a warm white light which will add a sense of intimacy to any reception or evening ceremony and can be set up with a dimmer switch which allows you the ability to change the atmosphere as the sun begins to set, moving them from functional lighting to decorative with the slide of a button.

Our Festoons come in connectable lengths so the possibilities are endless with the need for only one power source, and are excellent for connecting your indoor and outdoor flows. Combined with our festoon poles, this lighting style can create a bespoke walkway in between the car park, toilets and your marquee.

Fairy Lights

Our fairy lights come in single strand lengths or as a curtain and offer a soft, romantic look as they flicker in the distance. Fairy lights are perfect to add ambience and can be used for decorative lighting however they shouldn’t be used as your one and only light source - especially when it comes time to eat at your reception.

We have 3 options for you to choose from when it comes to the type of light you might like from your fairy lights:

Warm White: A popular option as it gives a warm sort of glow - this is the perfect lighting to create warm, welcoming environments and is also a bit more intimate.

Cold White: A lot brighter than the warm white - this is a good option if you are having multiple colour themes at your wedding as it gives off a pure white feel.

Black Copper: Similar to the warm white however the outer wire is black - this is a great option if you are looking to create a “fairy light roof” or if your venue is dark and you are looking for a bit of intimate lighting.

Battery LED Uplights

Our battery powered LED uplights will enhance your space and create a dynamic look using over 31 colour options, making them suitable for any theme. They can be placed at ground level either inside or outside and offer a warm ambience which makes them our most versatile light due to their portableness. For instance, when testing your lighting in the evening prior to your wedding, you can pick these up and move them to a more effective space with no hassle of unattaching a row of lighting and reassembling it.

See the whole range of colours here.

Gig Bars

While we love ambience, we also love a good dance floor and there’s no better way to get this started than with the use of our Gig Bars. These lights sense the beat and will move to that beat and dance along with you.

After all of this you may be wondering, how much lighting do I need for my marquee? Using the classification of functional lighting and decorating lighting, there are requirements for both in order to be able to see, however once these are fulfilled, it all comes down to budget and your personal style. Throughout our personalised quoting stage, our experienced team will walk you through the must haves, and the add ons. Get in touch today to see how we can help you.

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Dave Issacs