So good morning Rick and Christie,  as promised here you go .

Think lighting your wedding reception site means flipping on a light switch think again If you want to turn your wedding site , wedding video and pictures from standard to simply stunning,You’ll  most defiantly want lighting that  creates a mood and when it’s done well, lighting can make everything — including your wedding flowers, cake, and guests — look better.Otherwise you wedding video is gonna be filled with strobes throughout your reception  Here’s the right way to plan your lighting.

 Find Your Pro

There are a couple ways to find your wedding lighting specialist. First, ask your event designer or wedding florist — many do their own lighting. If not, they may have a lighting pro they regularly work with. Or, the coordinator at your reception venue could probably recommend a lighting company that has worked with the site before — and ask to see pictures of the space transformed by various lighting arrangements. Don’t be surprised if your lighting designer has a background in theater — many experts are using the same technology and techniques in weddings that they honed creating dramatic sets for the stage. You can also find a wedding lighting designer here.

Assess Your Site

If you’re planning an evening reception, make sure to visit your site at least once when it’s dark outside. Look around the room and see where the fixed lighting is focused. Lights that illuminate the walls, windows, and ceiling can draw attention away from the center of the room — and you want to keep everyone’s eyes on the tables, dance floor, and each other. Ask if the site has dimmers for their overhead lights, and if there’s any florescent lighting at all, keep it turned off! Also, make sure there won’t be any service doors kept open, which could flood the space with light and ruin the effect.

If you’re hosting a wedding at home, discuss how much electricity your lighting designer is going to need. Your band or DJ will probably have to tap into your home’s power for their speakers, and you don’t want to risk blowing a fuse. If your lighting expert is concerned that there won’t be enough power to go around, they may consider bringing a generator, which should be kept well out of earshot.

Learn Lighting Lingo

Here are the types of lighting commonly used at weddings.

Pin spot A focused beam of light that shines directly onto an object, like a centerpiece or wedding cake, as a highlight effect.

Color wash There are a few different types of light fixtures that can create a “wash,” which is basically a blanket of colored light covering an entire area.

Gobos Circular stencils that are put over a light to project a design or pattern. Popular gobo designs are monograms, dates, or any other wedding motifs. The complexity of the design will affect the gobo’s cost — a simple stencil can be stamped out of steel, while a more intricate design must be laser etched out of stainless steel or a glass that can withstand high heat (costing much more than a stamped stencil).
Led Short for light-emitting diodes, LED lights are currently popular for weddings because they use much less electricity (and don’t get as hot) than regular, incandescent light bulbs. This means they can sometimes be wireless, so they’re even that much more discreet. LEDs are great for color changes and vibrant colors. They’re also common in strands and good for accent lighting.

Use Color

Think outside your wedding palette when you use colored lights. If you’ve used sage throughout your wedding, shy away from green lighting — it might be too much, and green isn’t always flattering. Opt for colors that complement all skin tones, like magenta or a soft rose.

Take advantage of the effect color can have on the atmosphere by changing the shades through the course of the night. For example, if your cocktail hour starts around sunset, you can splash your room with golden tones. During dinner, consider soft lighting that will mimic flickering candlelight. “As the party progresses, I would change the lighting to something a little bit more exciting,” Bailey says, “like strong oranges.” Making this transition is simple, with intelligent lighting (which can be programmed to coordinate the whole lighting setup). “With the push of a button, you can change the mood of the room,” Bailey says.

Set Up Outside

Lighting for an outdoor wedding can serve a lot of purposes. If your site has a path or steps that people will be using throughout the night, keep it lit with luminarias or paper lanterns so that no one trips.

Also consider making a bold statement with more unconventional lighting fixtures. Some lighting pros are using dramatic, sculptural lights like large orbs, or rows of vertical poles of light that look like pieces of modern art. Another idea is to fill your centerpieces with clear glass marbles as well as small battery-powered lights to give a fun, interesting glow to each arrangement.

Choose the Right Lights

The layout of your reception site can determine how you’re going to use lighting techniques. If dinner and dancing are happening in the same room, use a color wash to set the dance floor apart. If your reception site has sprawling ceilings, use pin spot lighting to keep the decor focused on certain details. And use a gobo light if you have a cute, recurring motif to help tie your reception together.

Work with your lighting designer to figure out which type of lighting fits your budget. All of your vendors (whose hard work will be well displayed) and your guests (who will all look great in flattering light) will be happy with the results, and you’ll be left with a reception space that’s bound to impress. If all this seems too overwhelming and just isnt in the budget, then make sure your DJ or band bring adequate lighting to fill the dance floor.

Most girls grow up with a picture in their mind of just how their wedding day is going to look and feel. How they will be dressed, what the flowers will look like, What flavor the cake will be, where the event will take place, even down to what will be served. But few girls grow up dreaming of who will shoot the video.

In a recent survey, only about 1/2 of potential brides listed their videographer as one of the top 10 elements of their wedding day. Yet, after marriage, nearly 80% of those same brides listed the wedding video as one of the most important features of their special day. (WEVA 2002). So how do we prevent what should be your most treasured memory from becoming the biggest regret of your day.

Plan to have a wedding video

Nothing can capture the feelings, looks, sounds and expressions of the day as well as a wedding video. Perhaps because it has not been a long standing family tradition to have a videographer that many brides choose to forgo a wedding video. Almost 40% of brides nationwide had no video taken of their wedding. Yet 60% of Brides who chose to not have a wedding video made later regretted that decision and wished they had. On the other hand, I have yet to personally meet anyone who had a wedding video made, who regrets it.

Don’t do the “Uncle Bob” thing

Many brides elect to have a wedding video. but in an effort to save money, they choose to have a family member or friend shoot their wedding because after all, we live in a day of inexpensive video cameras and easy to use editing programs. Though this approach is better than no video at all, about one half of all brides who used family or friends to shoot their wedding video later regretted not having hired a professional videographer.

It is surprising that many who would never consider turning over something as precious as their wedding photography or making their cake to an amateur, happily assign one to do their videography. Learning to create and craft the perfect representation of your day takes more than good equipment. It takes talent and skill that has been developed over time. It takes a keen attention to detail and a skill of anticipating shots.It takes someone with a creative eye, a repertoire of shots, and a feel for how to make the moment come alive forever.

Uncle Bob probably has few, and may not have any of these traits and abilities. Since you have one chance to get this right, are you sure you’re comfortable to have him do it?

The Happiest Brides

In that same survey, almost all of the brides who hired professional videographers to capture their wedding day were happy with the results and said they would recommend the same to all other brides. I mean, really, who else should you trust this day to? This is the group with the highest satisfaction and least regrets about the video portion of their wedding day. So after the vows have been exchanged, and the cake has been cut, a well crafted professionally shot wedding video will become the most treasured keepsakes of that special day.

We got to finally work with the super talented Shawna Herring and Ben Vigil, some of Atlanta’s best photogs at The Foundry at Puritan Mill and at the W Hotel Midtown . Beautiful Venu’s! So feast your eyes on Sara and Michael’s brand spankin new trailer and drop us a comment below if you have the time.

Shot Edited and Directed – Dustin Blake

Shot – Devin Wheeler

Camera Assistant – Alex Lewis

Soon after meeting Juli and Lauren for drinks I knew this wedding was going to be fun. After all the proposal was done on stage with the incredible singer song writer Sonia Leigh from Southern Grounds, You can see Lauren pop the question HERE. Lauren and Juli said their i do’s in a wide open field at Chukkar Farms.  All I can say was it was like  a blast and honor to get to film our first same sex marriage there. Beautiful  location for a grass roots country wedding. Thank you guys for giving us the opportunity to do so. It was an incredible time. We also gotto work with Smitten for the first time. You have to check out their work…super cute and fun. The Whiskey Gentry had the place dancing all night. Never before have I seen a band that could sell merch at a wedding. These guys seriously have some skills. So check out a teaser from their upcoming wedding video and give us a shout. We would love to hear what you think.

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