Adding Draping & Lighting to Your Wedding | Wedding Planning & Design Tips
Once the wedding venue is booked it's time to dive into the details that will make the space come to life in your dream aesthetic. For many, that next step includes adding draping and lighting to the design plan for the space. These elements help turn the venue from something of a blank slate into something that is completely your own. Outside of creating the vibe for the entire wedding day, these features play a crucial supporting role in setting the scene for creating beautiful photographs that will live on. Light, draping, and other decor elements can help draw the eye away from areas you don’t want featured, or accentuate areas that you do want to highlight. Scroll for more of our wedding planning and design tips to add lighting and draping to your special day!
Draping
Venue Parameters
When adding draping and lighting to a space there are lots of logistics to consider since installation is a big component. A great first step, before actually selecting anything, is to speak with the venue and see if they offer any on-site services. Who better to turn to than the people who have the most experience in the space? If they don't offer anything, they'll almost certainly have a list of a few vendors who have done similar work with their venue in the past. Throughout the process, making sure the lighting and draping vendors are on the same page as the venue is huge so they can confirm that all of your dream lighting and draping is approved and there are no last minute surprises. Once all of the nitty gritty details are sorted, the styling decisions come into play.
Swag for Every Venue
Draping serves two big, equally important purposes - form and function. This simple, but savvy use of fabric can swoop in to elevate an already perfect space or cover little flaws and parts of the space you'd rather not see. No matter the venue type, draping has a magical quality of always fitting into the space which means there's really no limit to where it can be used. For modern spaces, draping provides a softening element. Even the most open and airy warehouse venue can be made softer and more romantic with a few swoops of draping. In more classic or traditional spaces, it can amplify a romantic, dreamy feel.
Highlight It or Hide It
Much like glitter, draping can cover a multitude of sins, so consider it your new best friend. Even the most perfect venues can have one or two spaces that don't fit the bill for your specific event, and draping allows an opportunity to create a blank slate. Oftentimes budget can limit venue selections for couples, but with draping any space can be transformed. So, whether you're looking to make a slight change to the nearly perfect venue with that one small flaw you want to cover, to completely revamping a space from one vibe to another, draping can work magic.
Lighting
Mood Lighting
Speaking of magic, look no further than the lighting. When it comes to setting the mood for an event there are few substitutes for great lighting - there's a reason why universities offer degrees in the art of it! There are so many options to consider, from interior and exterior bistro lighting or bold uplighting, to the age old classic, flickering candlelight. As you visit your venue and look at photos of the space take notes on the lighting at various times throughout the day. Some venues provide a variety of lighting options for use, while others have a smaller selection which will likely require some add ons in the form of any combo of the aforementioned options.
Glow Your Own Way
The impact of well placed lighting can take any event or moment from one feeling to another with the flip of a switch. Bold uplighting on the interior and exterior of a space can create a spectacularly regal effect and with color tones added, alter an entire mood of a space. This is great for a large venue like a hotel or warehouse space. Glittering strings of bistro lights are perfect for creating a cozy and intimate feeling regardless of the size of the space. Used both indoors and outdoors, they provide a convivial atmosphere that will have your guests drinking, dining, and chatting under them all night long. In addition to ambient lighting, we love the idea of candles en masse. As always, be sure to confirm that your venue allows open flames, and if they give the go ahead start stocking up on lighters to ensure that all of the beauties can be lit up quickly when it's time to kick things off.
While some lighting and draping decisions are born of necessity, a lot of them are purely for beauty. That means that deciding on the perfect add ons in these categories can be just as fun as so many other wedding decisions. With these tips for lights and draping in your back pocket, the dream wedding ambiance and lifelong collection of photographs are well within reach!
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