Lighting

[Tariq Peter]

Hi All,

I will be shooting a wedding in a Marquee and the bride has called me asking if I can provide any extra lighting other than my on board lights as the only lighting within the Marquee is in the centre.

My contract states that I do not provide extra lighting as in an uncontrolled event like a wedding they get be knocked down and be quite dangerous. I have called me insurance company and I can upgrade my policy to cover me for such events but now I need to understand what types of lighting would be best. I am going to look at hiring them and then give her a price.

Would you say Dido lights or LED panels and if LED panels can you suggest what I should be looking for?

Many Thanks

[Paul R Johnson]

Lighting in marquees is a specialist area - there's a newish topic on the blue-room - a forum for events and theatre sound/lighting/video Lighting for wedding - Blue Room technical forum

The key gadget is the Kader clamp - a purpose designed clamp that allows you to attach things to a marquee metalwork. There are loads of problems with outside lighting - maybe things you've never even considered - plus some legislation as the marquee is an official 'demountable structure' and one collapsing is always bad - especially when the weight of the lights is mentioned.

One other word of warning. The marquee companies have flooring, lighting and electricity as items on the extras list. So the bride could have got lighting so simply by just asking the marquee company who have it in stock. The fact she hasn't asked them suggests that maybe she did, but the price was too high. So beware of any hidden issues. My own experience is that power and support is the real problem. Ground support is too dangerous - with LEDs it's not the heat, but the weight and potential for ripping the fabric. I have loads of the equipment, but avoid marquees like the plague - discovering no power available (either for real, or just because the 'owner' of the power doesn't like you) and then having to run feed cables to somewhere, only to then be informed they have to all be protected, or that the only accepted cable type is H05/H07. In stock now are long lengths of 16A decent rubber, and they cost a fortune! There is also legislation on the testing of portable systems. So my advice is to think carefully before spending money. I'd hire rather than buy, but LED is very sensible. Be aware that the local authority do make inspections of outside events usually for noise issues, but they're very clued up about electrical safety too. Freestanding lighting on stands is a frequent hit on their list of dodgyness - hence why special clamps are available.

LED Par 56 uplighters, and loads of bounce lighting. Panels could be good - but usually wedding lighting tends to be RGB LED so that when the disco starts, the lights can do colours, and dim. Video lights, especially the cheaper ones don't have DMX control, which will almost certainly be needed, because the request to dim the lights is so common - so you need a DMX control, although for a very modest price, you can run them from a laptop and a DMX adaptor.

It could be an earner - but take care.

[Colin Rowe]

Tariq.
Its not your problem, she may just as well have asked you to sort out her wedding dress, cake or catering. Tell her the best bet would be to trawl through yellow pages, the same as other folk have to. Point out, politely, that you are a wedding videographer, not a wedding planner.