Question from Becky:
Hello! My question is about the lighting of my supper and dance. We are having a complete outdoor wedding in July of 2011. The venue we have chosen for the supper/dance is an outdoor covered pad that is about 2500 sq ft. We want to use many different shaped and sizes of white paper lanterns for lighting but are unsure of the amount we need to order. We want them to be randomly spaced but not cluttered. How many would you suggest we order?
Answer from Wedding Expert Angela Fiebelkorn:
Hi Becky. Paper lanterns are a lovely choice! You say the space is about 2500 sq ft. What size and style are you planning to use? Are you planning to hang paper lanterns from the ceiling? Are they the small type that sit on a table that you can group to create centerpieces? How are you going to light the paper lanterns? Will you string lights up and extension cords, or are you going to just decorate the existing lights in the ceiling. Will some lanterns be lit, and others just for decoration?
Normally you will have lights every 3 to 6 feet—it really depends upon the wattage of the bulbs. If you are using bright lights, you can spread them out more. If your lights are not so bright you will want more of them. I suggest you take a good look at the venue ceiling to see what it is possible to do. Talk to the venue people—they have seen a lot of events there and can advise you as to what has worked well in the past, and they can also tell you what hasn’t worked! Also, there may be fire regulations in your location that they might have to follow, so speak to the venue. They are the experts at what works at their site. Utilize that expertise—you are paying for it!
Here is an idea: if you have the height, you can layer different size paper lanterns one on top of the next one to create a column (or 2) of light over each table. Remember at night, light disappears if there is nothing to reflect off of. Take that into consideration. Ask to visit the site when they have it prepared for another event so you can see how they have done the lighting. You might want to go at the end of the event to see how it looks in the dark while they are cleaning up.
As you can see I need a lot more information to answer completely, but this should get you started. Congratulations on your wedding! Enjoy the process.