We’re going to allow you to in on a giant industry secret: there’s one thing your online wedding planning checklist has probably disregarded, and it’s the magic missing ingredient. Production: your wedding needs it like your pasta water needs salt (i.e. more of it than you’re thinking that!), but we understand it’s a vague, jargon-y word that doesn’t mean much to you…yet. To place it more plainly, we’re going to let you know the whole lot it’s worthwhile to find out about wedding lighting, sound and staging – why it’s so essential, the way it solves more problems than , and the way it impacts your budget.
On this blog:
- What’s wedding production?
- Stock vs bespoke production
- Production’s transformative power
- Why production is essential on your suppliers
- Production for outdoor and marquee weddings
- How much wedding production costs (and why)
Wedding Lighting & Sound – What’s Wedding ‘Production’?
After we say ‘production’, we’re imagining ourselves as the administrators and set designers of a very essential show – your wedding. Production is the whole lot that goes into your venue or space before any of the forged members (you, your guests, your suppliers). Imagine a theatre show for those who didn’t provide any of the set, sound and lighting for the actors – it will feel totally flat, and wedding production has the identical goal albeit on a rather less lavish level (often).
We’re talking lighting, sound systems and structural elements corresponding to staging and dancefloors, and we never plan a marriage that doesn’t include not less than some of this. Wedding lighting and sound transforms your space and helps to create the party, diverting and drawing attention in numerous areas to help the flow of the day and construct the atmosphere.
Production might be so simple as considering through the position of candles and fairylights within the evening at a winter wedding, or more elaborate with different colored lighting in numerous parts of your day and a full stage on your 12-piece band. It will possibly even be formed of stock production elements, or bespoke premium selections.
Stock vs Bespoke Production
If we’ve got designed a marriage with a specific look or that requires a more elevated finish, we’ll work with a production company to design bespoke production elements somewhat than using their standard stock counterparts. Production partners may have modular staging, for instance, or a stock dance floor which is assembled as interlocking squares with standard edging. If we need to achieve a more premium aesthetic, we could have custom designs created corresponding to:
- A stage which is configured and designed to fit your space and your band’s requirements, which can include multiple levels, steps and so forth in addition to luxury finishes
- A seamless dancefloor with a specific shape and finish, which is built on site specifically for you somewhat than being brought in, assembled, disassembled, and used again the following weekend
- Bespoke bars, backdrops, drapery and screens to make sure the whole lot you and your guests see in your wedding day is curated to the identical beat – for this reason I often liken myself to the conductor of a many-skilled orchestra!
Bespoke production elements can really take an area and switch it into a singular, immersive little world, ensuring your wedding looks completely your personal and isn’t recognisable as ‘one other wedding at your venue’.
Elegante by Michelle J couples often spend money on bespoke production items for that reason – we aren’t just designing a marriage, we’re designing something experiential and memorable, an area on your family members to wander off in and be totally present with you to have fun your love.
Take a take a look at A&A’s marquee wedding in Florence, which involved a number of production including bespoke elements – and it truly wouldn’t have been the identical without it.
How Wedding Production Transforms Spaces and Hides Flaws
Even for those who’ve found your dream wedding venue, there should still be sure small elements you don’t like or that should be adjusted on your big day. Elegante by Michelle J weddings often ask things of venues that they don’t often do, or use spaces in ways they’re not used to (because we design each wedding so personally), and that is where production really shines. If the space we’ve chosen on your dinner and dancing is carpeted, we will use production to put in a dancefloor. Perhaps the room is a little bit too big on your guest numbers, there’s an unpleasant radiator cover on one wall, or the partitions are a bit too ‘blank canvas’ – no problem, production is your friend!
Wedding lighting, sound and structures can physically change an area by partitioning it or guiding the attention to certain areas, hiding elements that don’t ‘fit’ and emphasising others. Imagine your ceremony, dinner and dancing are all happening in a single space – let’s say a ballroom of a London hotel, for instance. The room will first be set on your ceremony, which could require brighter, more airy lighting, a little bit platform so that you can stand on, and a sound system to mic you as much as. After the ceremony you’ll go into a unique room on your drinks reception, and we’ll get busy transforming the space. Along with the tables, design and decor that may go in, we’ll also change up the production elements. Different lighting to create the sensation of flowing right into a latest section of the day (which can change again later when the party really gets going and the band comes on), perhaps a stage on your band to perform on, and yet more sound elements to be certain that the speeches and musicians are sounding their best.
Without all of those production elements, a room can feel flat somewhat than displaying different moods throughout the day, and the gorgeous design elements you’ve chosen don’t really shine in the way in which they need to. You furthermore mght lose a number of the impact of the ‘flow’ of your wedding day, if the ceremony, drinks reception and dinner all feel ‘one note’. Production is considered one of the marriage planning techniques we use to maintain your guests’ energy high and the day proceeding naturally.
Wedding Lighting and Sound for Your Band/Performers
Once you hire a band or other musician or performer on your wedding within the UK, they’ll often handle the sound themselves or with their very own trusted partner. If you happen to’re having a destination wedding nonetheless, a technical rider will probably be provided – a shopping list of the whole lot they should have the ability to do their job properly which may’t or won’t be brought on the plane. Your band will travel with limited kit, and we’ll work with a neighborhood production company to supply the whole lot else. As of late this also includes instruments, with the band only bringing smaller ones corresponding to violins, saxophones and trumpets.
If you happen to want your band to sound as amazing as they did of their videos and your DJ to boost the roof within the evening, they should have the correct production in place first. For this, you’ll must work with a production partner who provides and sets up the whole lot required, and who can even take care of all the marriage lighting, sound, staging and so forth as well.
An important production partner can really make or break certain elements of your wedding. Once you work with Elegante by Michelle J, we’ll partner with our trusted suppliers wherever your wedding is to make sure nothing is ignored and the whole lot is assumed of.
Beyond your band and musicians, your production company may additionally need to produce a generator or arrange for an increased electricity supply. All the elements requiring power on your wedding will often exceed supply capabilities at your venue, which is particularly true for outdoor venues at destination weddings and for marquees. Even things like hired-in toilets require electricity and water supply which have to be logistically planned!
Wedding Lighting and Sound for Marquee or Outdoor Weddings
If you happen to’re having your wedding outdoors or in a marquee, production is just as (if no more) essential because you’ve nothing to fall back on. No house lighting, no inbuilt speakers, no quick change of flooring. Wedding sound and lighting for these kinds of wedding involves interested by;
- How the space will probably be lit, especially into the evening once we lose the natural light
- Whether we wish to project something (a monogram, for instance) onto a surface after nightfall
- Where the musicians and speech-givers will probably be situated, and methods to connect them to power supply
- Heating and cooling if applicable
Power supply is a giant consideration here too, and your production company will probably be answerable for ensuring there may be enough power to run to the whole lot that requires it.
How Does Wedding Production Fit Into Your Budget?
Relatively than asking ‘how much does production cost?’, you may higher take into consideration how much you might be comfortable spending on it – very like with something like florals, we’ll then work out what this amount will get for you. In our initial conversations about production we’ll speak about approximate budgets for the essential stock items, with a side by side comparison of what could be spent for those who decide to curate a bespoke look and premium finish. After we get quotes these will probably be form of shopping-list style, and we will review and work with these by adding and removing until you might be glad with what you might be getting for the worth.
Discover more about budgeting on your wedding here.
Keep in mind that a few of your other selections on your wedding will influence your production spend – a much bigger band often means higher production costs, for instance. If you happen to’re having your wedding in a big outdoor space, microphones will probably be essential for everybody to listen to your speeches.
Some couples are interested by why production costs seem relatively high for the physical ‘stuff’ you’re actually getting, and there are just a few reasons for this. Firstly, the teams who work in production firms are highly expert professionals and have often been to college or accomplished formal qualifications in lighting and sound skills, and sometimes specialists corresponding to carpenters and electricians are brought in. These experts are paid appropriately for his or her skills and experience.
Secondly, the quantity of kit that is available in may be very expensive and technical, and have to be stored and transported to and out of your venue which all comes at a value. I often tell couples that if they might see the number of individuals of their production team, the variety of vehicles and flight cases coming and going, the quantity of wood, veneer, vinyl and finishes on site, they’d understand exactly where their spend had gone.
Having the precise wedding planner gives you an incomparable advantage in all areas of your planning journey, but something like production is one place you’ll really notice their value. Without expert, experienced support this will turn out to be a jungle of technical specifications, words you don’t fully understand, and supplier guarantees that don’t come good.
Get in contact to see if we’re the precise fit to assist plan your wedding.
