Forget about flowers. Stop fussing over fabric, and quit fretting about furniture. As important as those d?cor elements are, more and more event planners are concentrating on another vital tool for creating an event's atmosphere: lighting. "It's the most important thing in a room in setting the tone," Joan Horton, vice president of corporate events at Revlon, told a crowd of event planners at a recent BiZBash-sponsored panel.
Once treated as an afterthought, professional lighting has become a required element for any event with design aims higher than a few centerpieces and votive candles. "[Planners] used to say, 'Lighting's just an extra,'" says Kurt Nelson, vice president of Stortz Lighting. "Now more and more people are saying, 'No, we have to have it.'"
Style-conscious planners are doing more than just bathing a room in amber light. They're hiring lighting designers to use their techniques to influence a party's mood in ways that physical objects can't, with moving projections, washes that change color and patterns throughout the night, and techniques that highlight a venue's strong points-or make it look completely different. "You can shove as many flowers in an office as possible, but in the end you've got an office with flowers," says Bentley Meeker, one of New York's leading lighting designers. "If you want to create a new environment, the way to do that is through lighting."
As with many trends, the recent popularity of adventurous lighting design may have something to do with the bottom line: As many event professionals grapple with tinier budgets, ambitious lighting can be a way for planners to create a memorable atmosphere without spending too much cash. If you're hiring someone to do some basic lighting anyway, why not pay a few thousand dollars extra to do something creative instead of paying more for pricier d?cor elements like flowers or custom-made furniture? (A typical lighting budget can range from $3,000 for some pinspots on centerpieces and a haze over the whole room, to $35,000 from a more advanced set-up-maybe a patterned wash over the dance floor, gobo lights moving around the ceiling, lights outside the venue.)
In addition to being cheaper, lighting can allow for last-minute adjustments. "Let's say you buy a lot of fabric, and then it doesn't look great," Nelson says. "With lights you can just change the gel." That flexibility also opens up ways to transform the atmosphere while guests are at the party. "With lighting you can change the room [during the event], with d?cor you can't," says Brian Winthrop, president of production company Big Wave International. "You can have two or three different atmospheres at the same event just from the lights." Projections of a sky filled with clouds on the ceiling can morph into a dark, starry night look by the end of a dinner, for example.
Advances in technology have also expanded what designers can do. During the past few years, intelligent lighting systems-which can be controlled remotely by computers to move and change colors or patterns-have become less expensive and less bulky. LED screens, battery-operated fixtures and advanced color mixing units have created new options as well. And now smart planners are keeping up with these developments. "Event planners are more up on what's available out there," says Van Allen Rice, president of Bestek Lighting & Staging. "They're more likely to ask for things."
That doesn't mean they're spouting technical jargon or drawing up equipment plans, but they're learning how to communicate what they want. "They ask for a feeling, a general ambiance," says Bill Mellon, an associate lighting designer at Bernhard-Link Theatrical Productions. (His suggestion for talking to a lighting designer: Use as many adjectives as possible. Do you want the space to feel warm or cool? Sexy, or homey and comfortable?)
The surest sign of lighting's newly elevated status may be the importance now placed on hiring the right lighting people-something like the cachet typically attached to working with the latest hot florist. There was a time when only event designers or hired-gun producers worked directly with a lighting company, and their clients had no idea where all those gels and poles came from. But now even in-house planners are interested in these vendors. Meeker says, "Now clients ask, 'Who's doing the lighting?'"
—Chad Kaydo
Cheat Sheet: Lighting 101
Gel
Filter used to change the color or shape of the light beam.
Gobo
Metal slides cut in the silhouette of a pattern, image or logo so light shines through it to project that image on a floor or wall. Newer gobos made of glass can use colors and different layers of images.
Leko
Lighting unit that produces a spot or defined circle of light that can be focused and controlled through a system of lenses and shutters.
Intelligent lighting
Automated system of lights that can be controlled remotely by computers to move and change colors or patterns.
Pinspot
Lighting unit that produces a tight beam of light that can highlight a centerpiece or other d?cor item.
Uplighting
Placing lights below the item to be lighted; often used on a column or blank wall to create a vertical effect.
Wash
Bathing an area with light without emphasizing a focal point; often used to change the color of a wall, ceiling or dance floor.
This story originally appeared in the fall 2003 issue of the BiZBash Event Style Reporter newspaper.
Once treated as an afterthought, professional lighting has become a required element for any event with design aims higher than a few centerpieces and votive candles. "[Planners] used to say, 'Lighting's just an extra,'" says Kurt Nelson, vice president of Stortz Lighting. "Now more and more people are saying, 'No, we have to have it.'"
Style-conscious planners are doing more than just bathing a room in amber light. They're hiring lighting designers to use their techniques to influence a party's mood in ways that physical objects can't, with moving projections, washes that change color and patterns throughout the night, and techniques that highlight a venue's strong points-or make it look completely different. "You can shove as many flowers in an office as possible, but in the end you've got an office with flowers," says Bentley Meeker, one of New York's leading lighting designers. "If you want to create a new environment, the way to do that is through lighting."
As with many trends, the recent popularity of adventurous lighting design may have something to do with the bottom line: As many event professionals grapple with tinier budgets, ambitious lighting can be a way for planners to create a memorable atmosphere without spending too much cash. If you're hiring someone to do some basic lighting anyway, why not pay a few thousand dollars extra to do something creative instead of paying more for pricier d?cor elements like flowers or custom-made furniture? (A typical lighting budget can range from $3,000 for some pinspots on centerpieces and a haze over the whole room, to $35,000 from a more advanced set-up-maybe a patterned wash over the dance floor, gobo lights moving around the ceiling, lights outside the venue.)
In addition to being cheaper, lighting can allow for last-minute adjustments. "Let's say you buy a lot of fabric, and then it doesn't look great," Nelson says. "With lights you can just change the gel." That flexibility also opens up ways to transform the atmosphere while guests are at the party. "With lighting you can change the room [during the event], with d?cor you can't," says Brian Winthrop, president of production company Big Wave International. "You can have two or three different atmospheres at the same event just from the lights." Projections of a sky filled with clouds on the ceiling can morph into a dark, starry night look by the end of a dinner, for example.
Advances in technology have also expanded what designers can do. During the past few years, intelligent lighting systems-which can be controlled remotely by computers to move and change colors or patterns-have become less expensive and less bulky. LED screens, battery-operated fixtures and advanced color mixing units have created new options as well. And now smart planners are keeping up with these developments. "Event planners are more up on what's available out there," says Van Allen Rice, president of Bestek Lighting & Staging. "They're more likely to ask for things."
That doesn't mean they're spouting technical jargon or drawing up equipment plans, but they're learning how to communicate what they want. "They ask for a feeling, a general ambiance," says Bill Mellon, an associate lighting designer at Bernhard-Link Theatrical Productions. (His suggestion for talking to a lighting designer: Use as many adjectives as possible. Do you want the space to feel warm or cool? Sexy, or homey and comfortable?)
The surest sign of lighting's newly elevated status may be the importance now placed on hiring the right lighting people-something like the cachet typically attached to working with the latest hot florist. There was a time when only event designers or hired-gun producers worked directly with a lighting company, and their clients had no idea where all those gels and poles came from. But now even in-house planners are interested in these vendors. Meeker says, "Now clients ask, 'Who's doing the lighting?'"
—Chad Kaydo
Cheat Sheet: Lighting 101
Gel
Filter used to change the color or shape of the light beam.
Gobo
Metal slides cut in the silhouette of a pattern, image or logo so light shines through it to project that image on a floor or wall. Newer gobos made of glass can use colors and different layers of images.
Leko
Lighting unit that produces a spot or defined circle of light that can be focused and controlled through a system of lenses and shutters.
Intelligent lighting
Automated system of lights that can be controlled remotely by computers to move and change colors or patterns.
Pinspot
Lighting unit that produces a tight beam of light that can highlight a centerpiece or other d?cor item.
Uplighting
Placing lights below the item to be lighted; often used on a column or blank wall to create a vertical effect.
Wash
Bathing an area with light without emphasizing a focal point; often used to change the color of a wall, ceiling or dance floor.
This story originally appeared in the fall 2003 issue of the BiZBash Event Style Reporter newspaper.
Projections of rippling waves morphed into photos from Entertainment Weekly in the entrance to the magazine's party at the Roxy. Inside, event designer Mark Musters used blue lighting and projections to spiff up the roller disco.
