There are so many ways to personalize your decor.  It’s tough to decide which special touches are worth your precious funds.  When trying to stretch your decor dollars, one detail that can make a huge impact is up-lighting.  This gorgeous phenomenon involves lights placed on the floor strategically throughout your event space along the wall.  They help to glow up the wall and, when placed correctly, can change the entire look and even color of your space.  They can help create depth and interest in a large, open space.  They can make any ballroom match your color scheme.  Or, they can turn your dance floor into a night club toward the end of the night.

Up-lighting can be subtle or dramatic.  You can add touches of color in key spots of a room.  Or you can wash the room in an easy amber tone.  Or you can get dramatic with vibrant color or by using multiple colors at the same time or morphing one into the other.  My favorite is when a client starts subtle for formalities and dinner and ends dramatic for dancing.  But you’ll need to make sure your lighting package remains on site for that fabulous look.

There are, however, a few cases where up-lighting is either unnecessary or just not appropriate.  For instance, if the majority of your event happens in daylight up-lighting will not have the desired effect.  If you are lucky enough to be holding your even in a space with great ambient light or  pin lighting, the additional lighting package may not be needed.  Check out the Lighthouse room at the Seaport Hotel for some amazing built in lighting.

Up-lighting can be a photographer’s dream, especially in a dark ballroom.  It can create beautiful depth and interest to your images.  But it requires some skill to photograph correctly.  If your photographer uses too much flash and doesn’t expose properly to pull in that beautiful ambient light, it won’t be seen at all in photos.  On the other hand, if the photographer doesn’t fill enough with flash, you’ll end up with skin tones the color of your up-lighting.  But if photographed correctly, it’s gorgeous!  Below, are a few images where I think up-lighting made all the difference in the world.