Never underestimate the effect good lighting can have on any event. It goes without saying, really: the right lighting ensures you highlight décor elements, performances and tables, all the while ensuring your guests can always find their way around your venue.

Before you even start considering some of the lighting options below, you need to ask yourself a few questions about your event and how lighting will play a role in it.

• What elements of your event should take the focus?
• What colour palette and mood are you aiming for?
• What lighting equipment would you like to use?

Once you’ve decided these things, you’ll be able to decide which lighting options best suit your event.

1 Uplighting

While you might be familiar with the term, perhaps you don’t exactly know what uplighting is. As the word suggests, uplighting uses lights that are placed or designed to throw illumination upwards. Incorporating uplighting as a part of your venue lighting enhances certain décor elements, as well as architectural elements of the venue.

Modern LED uplighting also allows you to tailor the lighting colours to suit the theme of your event or your corporate colours. The infinite amount of combinations and the programmability of the lights themselves mean that the lighting of your event can be constantly adjusted according to your and your guests’ needs.

2 Gobo lighting

Gobos (metal or steel plates with pre-cut etched patterns on them) can be used to project dynamic lighting onto the ceilings and walls of your venue to add an exciting element of design and depth to your event. Gobos can also be customised to project, for example, the logo of your company onto the wall, which makes for an eye-catching focal point.  

Combining gobos and uplighting in a light show just before the event starts or before or during an important part of the event will have your guests in awe and focused on what’s to come.

3 Pin lighting

With the purpose of focusing on specific décor elements, such as centrepieces on the tables, or pieces of art on the walls, pin lighting is basically a smaller and more focused spotlighting technique. Use pin lighting if you want the guests to take note of those design and décor elements that you would like to stand out.

4 Spotlighting

If your event is held in a venue with stages, runways or aisles that are being used for the duration of the event, spotlights ensure your guests’ attention does not wander too far away. Use spotlights to focus on speakers, guests of honour, models or performers. Spotlights aren’t new, but they certainly are still very relevant and important.

Using a combination of all of the above

For any given event, you will probably use a combination of the lighting techniques we have mentioned in this article. Professional lighting technicians have the knowledge and expertise to make a venue seem entirely different from one evening to the next.