Event lighting and lighting design: what you need to know

Why does lighting matter so much at an event?

Most corporate events start at the end of the day and carry on into the night. At that point, the venue’s own lighting, usually designed for service or work, becomes the main set. Good lighting does three things: it creates an atmosphere, it guides guests (entrance, bar, stage, dance floor), and it highlights what needs highlighting (the logo, the speaker, the façade). It generally costs far less than equivalent decoration.

What are the different types of event lighting?

How do you light a cocktail reception or a dinner?

For a cocktail reception or a dinner, the most common mistake is leaving the ceiling lights at full power. Dim them as far as the service allows, and add light from below and from the sides: floor spotlights along the walls, behind plants, under the bar. Warm ambient light (amber, warm white) flatters faces; bright colours (blue, purple, your brand colours) are best kept for the walls and decor.

Lighting that changes with the evening

A corporate party goes through several moods: cocktails in daylight, dinner at nightfall, speeches, then the dance floor. Programme the lighting as a series of scenes that the technician or DJ switches at the right moment: soft, warm light for dinner, front spotlights on for the speeches, then colour and movement as the music builds.

How do you light a stage for speeches?

The speaker should be lit from the front with soft white light coming from two sides to avoid harsh shadows. Spotlights placed too low or too close dazzle; too high, they leave the eyes in shadow. If there is a projection screen behind the speaker, make sure the light doesn’t fall on it: it washes out the image. For large plenaries, a technician sets these spotlights during the soundcheck, at the same time as the sound.

What lighting do you need for the dance floor?

For a dance party, dance-floor lighting changes everything. A few beam moving heads and lighting totems, controlled in time with the music, are enough to turn a reception room into a dance floor. A light haze from a smoke machine makes the beams visible; without it, much of the effect disappears.

• For a party of 50 to 150 people, a dance-floor lighting pack with two moving heads and two totems is generally enough.
• For a large room or a gala, a light jockey controls the lighting live: following the music, marking the highlights and adapting the mood between dinner and the dance floor.
• For a key moment (opening the dance floor, awards, a product launch), bursts from a cold spark machine create the effect without a flame.

How do you light up a façade, a garden or an estate?

Outdoors, darkness erases everything that isn’t lit. A Provençal bastide, an avenue of plane trees, a stone façade or a wall of pines, lit from below, become the evening’s backdrop. For this, battery-powered LED spotlights are used: with no cables, they sit at the foot of trees or along walls, far from any socket, and last a whole evening. They can be set to your company’s colours.

1. Identify what to highlight during the technical visit: façade, remarkable trees, staircases, fountain.
2. Count the spotlights: generally one per tree and one or two per section of wall.
3. Choose the colours: warm white for stone, brand colours for an event feel.
4. Test at nightfall, not in broad daylight: it is the only time you can judge the result.
5. Light the walkways: paths, steps and the car park must stay lit for guests’ safety.

What precautions should you take with smoke and effects?

A smoke or haze machine can set off a room’s fire detectors. Always ask for the venue’s agreement: it may temporarily disable certain detectors under its own responsibility, or refuse. Cold sparks produce no flame, but some venues regulate them too, so mention them when you book. Finally, check the available electrical power: dance-floor lighting and an evening sound system on a single domestic socket is a guaranteed power cut.