DIY Uplighting for Weddings
Many people are shocked to see the prices charged for uplighting for a wedding. Here we will see how to do your own uplighting. DJ's can charge you $600 or more for this service alone. Once you see the beautiful purple, green and yellows that uplighting can provide, you'll see that it definitely will improves the visuals for any event. I am going to tell you how you can inexpensively light your event yourself.
There are mainly two types of lights used for uplighting. Traditional and LED. Traditional lights will normally run between $20-$100 each. Where LED lights run between $50 - $500 a piece.
Traditional uplighting consists of Parabolic aluminized reflector light or Par Cans for short. These cans are typically used for theatrical lighting. For uplighting, we will use Par Can gels to obtain the color needed to set the mood. These cans and gels can be obtained at your local musical instrument retailer. Using traditional Par Cans for your uplighting will limit you to one color for the duration of the event, wedding uplighting and no options for brightness. The drawbacks for traditional Par Cans are that they draw heat and user more power than their LED counterparts.
LED up lighitng provides much more flexibility to the user at a much higher cost. With this type of lighting, you will have the ability to control the brightness and color of your lighting on the fly, control advanced features such as color scrolling and dimming. There are even battery powered versions that do not require a plug. These lights are more expensive, but also more versatile because of advanced features such as DMX and wireless technology.
Doing your own lighting can be very beneficial to saving money at your event. Of course, pricing does depend on your location. DJ's may charge you upwards of $500 for uplighting an event.
To do this relatively inexpensively, start off with 8 traditional par cans placed on the wall of the venue. A set of 8 traditional Par Cans can be had for less than $150, If you go the rental route, you can rent LED lights for around $20 per light. Either way, you will be able to light an event for less than $200 yourself. For a wedding event, these can be placed behind the bride and grooms table. Place the lights 10-15 feet apart. The color gels can be purchased for less than $10 for a sheet and will provide color. Turn them on and dance the night away. Doing your own uplighting can save you hundreds.