Throughout the year there are a number of occasions that are celebrated on an annual basis such as birthdays, Christmas, religious events, anniversaries, and so on. These occasions are celebrated in one form or another either by a party, or a meal, drinks, games night, garden party, special ceremonies etc. All these forms of celebrating require the correct form of lighting to ensue the event is a success. Poor lighting for any kind of event can create a bad atmosphere and people may feel uneasy and unable to relax which will result in guests wanting to leave and not having as good as time as they could have had.

 

When considering the lighting for your occasion the best place to start is to think about what you will be doing at the event. For example if the occasion is purely a social event then the lights can be quite low to give a soft mood but not too low that you can’t see who you are talking to. If the occasion is more task heavy such as a games night or ceremony of some kind then higher lighting is needed to see what you are doing, but be careful not to go too strong with the lights as this can feel uncomfortable. You may find that your occasion has different tasks; some of it will be more talking, then a game or two, and then finishing off with dancing. If this is the case then you will need to accommodate for each of these factors and have lighting set up for each step of the night. Dancing requires very low lighting and it is good to incorporate lighting that reflects the music being played such as funky house music would work well with flashing strobe lighting to the beat, but this is too much if there is a Spanish theme with salsa dancing. A great tip to getting the lighting right is to sit down and write keywords for the type of event you are planning. The more you plan on paper first the easier it will be to choose and set up the perfect lighting for your occasion.