Event Lighting and Chandeliers Enhance Modern Southern Weddings

The right lighting has the ability to completely transform and improve a space; it helps set the mood and tone of your wedding ceremony and reception. It’s important to choose lighting the suites your taste and your style, but that also works well within the venue you’ve chosen.

Lighting specialists, such as Get Lit Special Event Lighting, work with area brides and grooms to rent the lighting they require, or in many cases, create handmade custom works that are inspired by their vision.

We asked Get Lit about the latest trends and how to use event lighting and chandeliers to enhance modern Southern weddings. They also gave some tips on the most important factors to consider when planning your lighting needs. Get Lit handmade and designed the beautiful chandeliers pictured below.

Trendy Industrial Lighting
You’ve already likely noticed industrial design esthetic finding its way into wedding design. Get Lit fulfills many requests for barn shroud lighting, and the Edison bulb trend continues to be strong. “These items are not readily available in the event rental business, so brides and wedding planners come to specialty lighting businesses like us with an inspiration photo or general description and we create custom fixtures,” shares Terri Watson, co-owner of Get Lit. In addition to fitting traditional chandeliers with Edison bulbs, there is also interest in fixtures that are a combination of wood and metal and Edison bulbs, as brides pull inspiration from popular retailers like Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn.

Get Lit also finds the use of traditional chandeliers in combination with other styles of lighting, such as a twinkle light ceiling lights or draping market lights, a popular trend at the moment.
Bay 7 Wedding ReceptionIndustrial Chandleier for NC WeddingPhotos by Robin Lin Photography

An outdoor garden, a modern museum or a church reception hall can all serve as a wonderful background for specialty light fixtures. Some settings truly benefit, dare we say need, the addition of beautiful hanging chandeliers. “Tents, for example, are often not appealing on their own and some brides see them as a necessary evil. The addition of decor elements help soften the look of all the hardware, and a chandelier can be a big part of the transformation in both creating a visual centerpiece for the space, as well as casting a soft romantic light on everything around it,” Watson shares.Custom designed lighting for NC weddingPhoto by Get Lit

Customize to Fit Your Style
Chandeliers are easily customized to a bride’s/groom’s design preference. Begin by choosing the design of the chandelier itself, such as traditional, rustic or modern, which can be further defined by lighting elements.

Get Lit carries traditional crystal chandeliers with white, black and crystal bodies or European brass and black velvet. Traditional style with a whimsical flare can be achieved with its gold leaf and crystal chandelier, which looks right at home in a garden setting or a country club.

A “rustic” look may mean Get Lit creates handmade votive chandeliers with metal wrought oak leaves and rustic beam chandeliers in impressively sized 5-foot octagons topped with pillar candles, or it may be fisherman’s globe pendants.

The “modern” look can be achieved with hundreds of glass balls suspended with invisible filament or cube chandeliers handmade from extruded box steel, which can be painted in gold or other colors. Get Lit also has custom-painted barn shrouds in turquoise to create a modern industrial pendant hanging light. Art deco is modern again – a simple graduated rectangular design fits well in a variety of settings. Fabric and flowers can also be added to customize a look.
Art Deco and Industrial LightingMod Lighting for Raleigh weddingPhotos by Get Lit

Consider This
When planning for your lighting needs, there are a few important factors to take into consideration.

1. What does the event space already provide and how can this be complemented? Or, if you are not in love with the look it has, can it be changed or removed? “Some clients wish to accentuate the existing style of the space, or bring the style of nearby architecture into their reception space,” says Watson. “For example, we were recently asked to add art deco elements to a tent at The Biltmore Estate. In other cases, you can bring elegance into a barn.” 

Keep in mind that lighting can completely change a space. If the venue is right for you in terms of location, budget, and availability, but is somewhat lacking in design, the right lighting elements have the ability to transform the space into your dream venue!

2. Size matters. “A fixture should be proportional to a space so it does not become lost or overwhelm the area,” Watson advises. For this reason, Get Lit has made a number of their chandeliers themselves so that they have fixtures large enough for large spaces. “We’ve taken traditional size and style elements and upsized them to be appropriate for different event venues,” she adds. Combining elements can also help visually enhance a venue in proportion appropriate to the space. Lighting elements should also be considered in context with the other decor elements being use.  

3. Keep cost in mind. According to Get Lit, pricing for chandelier lighting fixtures ranges from $100 – $300, with additional installation/administration fees that vary based on the location of the venue and venue infrastructure. These fees can add anywhere from $200-$500 for a local job (this is not a per fixture rate as it’s rare they are hired to install only one or two chandeliers). “We typically provide additional lighting elements as well,” says Watson.Glass bubble wedding decor NCPhoto by Get Lit

You Might Also Like
Raleigh nc wedding caterer

What’s on the Menu?

We’ve got the scoop on the top North Carolina wedding caterers and what makes them stand out! If you want your wedding day cuisine to be uniquely delicious, keep reading!

Read More »