One would think that lighting is part of the venue itself, however special event lighting is a whole different ballgame! Architectural, or as some refer to it “UP-Lighting”  is a colorful decorative lighting that can make a ordinary room come alive with character! DJs and lighting designers have been offering this lighting for years but just recently venues have jumped in too.

You see, this is a profitable add-on option and many venues watched DJs make what they thought was easy money. So, without any knowledge of the equipment needed and programming capabilities most venues haphazardly went out and bought cheap fixtures, did wholesale installation jobs and made no investigation on how to properly run the lighting. In other words, inferior installations and equipment = inferior final results.

My name is Mike Fernino. Please allow me to give you my background?  I’m a professional lighting designer. Yes, I’m the owner of Music In Motion and one of the main DJs but I also have a lighting background and even host an annual lighting symposium where we train future lighting designers all of the tricks of the trade. I am researched and trained in design, installation, and programming aspects. So, that means I can program lighting to get the absolute best use out of the fixtures and also a specialist in design and lighting concept.

There is thought that goes into creating a lighting presentation. We use superior lighting equipment for the best possible results and offer amazing flexibility with software to create custom scenes and concepts tailor made for our clients.  In contrast, the venue knows how to cook and serve the food. And……. they also do lighting. Do you see where I’m going with this?

You wouldn’t ask the DJ to cook the food. That’s because we play the music and entertain your guests. That’s where we need to know our role and not try to do more than we are capable of. Venues seem to blow past that boundary at times trying to capitalize on trends like photo booths, audio / visual presentations and lighting! Please just serve the food!!!!

In my humble opinion I have seen some of the worst lighting displays at venues with cheap self-installations. I will leave this blog article off with a video from a prominent local venue which offers architectural lighting. They say it is included in your wedding package but believe me you pay for it. Its just added into the per-plate fee.  The real professional doesn’t get the lighting work and the bride and groom have to deal with a sub-standard lighting display that often will blink over and over for hours like a nightmare Christmas display. The video speaks for itself. When watching try to imagine how much better the wedding could have been if the lighting designer actually had the opportunity to do the lighting.  Solid evidence of why the venue should NOT do the lighting!

Bad_Lighting

( Click to watch the video )