Lighting design

Event lighting — uplighting, string lights, spotlights, and effects.

Also called: uplighting, lighting, string lights, gobo, event lighting.

When couples book this

Usually booked about 9 months out. It moves with your date.

Your wishlist, before you talk to anyone

Questions you can answer early — they become the yardstick you compare candidates against.

Which looks are you hoping for?
Wishlist mirror of the looks candidate fact.
What mood are you lighting for?
How much of the space do you want lit?

What to ask each candidate

Facts that differ from one vendor to the next — worth writing down while you shop.

Which looks are you building?
Pin spots want the final table map; cafe strings want rig points — each look pulls its own logistics.

What settles once booked

The working details you and your vendor pin down together.

Monogram / gobo artwork
Color palette and mood notes
Total lighting power draw
Consumed advisorily against whichever power constraint the plan has — venue or generator.
When does the rig go in?
Focus & programming window
DERIVED from the reception timing. Moving the reception decays this to needs_reconfirm.
Dance-floor and dark-hours cues
When does the rig come down?
What time do they arrive?
The time you agreed together, not an estimate worked back from the ceremony.
What time do they finish?
Who do you call on the day?
The name and cell number of whoever is on site — not the office line.
Where do they come in, and where do they park?
The load-in door or dock, where the vehicles go, and who opens up.
Do they need a meal?
Counts toward your caterer's vendor-meal number.
What balance is due on the day?
Your own figure, from your contract — what is still owed when they arrive.
What gratuity are you planning?
Your own figure. It rides beside the balance on the day-of money sheet.

How it lands on your day

Lighting install
Moves to the day before when the venue allows early access — cafe strings and rigged fixtures usually need it.
Focus & cue programming
Lighting strike & load-out

How it’s usually priced

Usually priced as one flat amount.

Lines that sometimes ride along: Custom monogram / gobo, Cafe-string rigging, Day-before install / extra site day, Next-day strike & pickup.

What your vendor reads from your plan

Book on or off Beetrothed — either way the plan assembles a brief your vendor can work from: the event, the design, logistics, contacts.

Plan your lighting design — and everything around it

These questions live as one cell of a connected plan: your budget, guest list, checklist and timeline all read from the same answers. See the whole board work, or join the waitlist and we’ll write when it’s your turn.

We will write when there is something worth telling you.