Lighting Design for a wedding

[Shawncfer]

So I've been asked to do lighting design for a wedding. And also set everything up and what not.

Well I've designed it already. They didn't want anything too fancy. I have like 13 par cans all the way around the room going straight up on walls (Its a huge hall!!!) and one s4 with a gobo of their names in it. So nothing too fancy.

Well anyway, I have a couple questions. Their budget isn't to huge. And they cant afford to rent a light board to dim or anything. But how exactly do I power them? I haven't been to the hall yet. Im going this Saturday, and the wedding is in February. So, should I hope theres enough plugs everywhere to power these without overloading the outlet? And there will be a DJ in one corner too with his stuff set up. And if not how do I power this?

Design wise I'm okay. But setting this stuff up Im not sure how to go about it! And how long should I give myself and my one worker to set up and strike?

Thanks for any feedback!

 

[Pie4Weebl]

When you are there, don't count outlets (their location IS important though) but find out how many circuits of power you have for the room. 13 pars and one leko? By yourself it should take less than two hours...

Have you thought about where you are going to put the leko so the projected image isn't keystoned too much?

 

[Shawncfer]

Have you thought about where you are going to put the leko so the projected image isn't keystoned too much?

Yes! They wanted it right above the table where they're sitting at. It was their request to have it above them. So I was able to get a boom stand and it's 30 feet from one wall to the other. So I'm think a 19 degree lens.

 

[buberty]

You might want to consider renting a portable dimmer system. You can rent one for a cheep price. Check to see what kind of 220v power they have available at the hall.

 

[JCarroll]

Or instead of a dimmer system... some RGB LED Pars. They would be SO much better suited for this situation.

 

[Shawncfer]

You might want to consider renting a portable dimmer system. You can rent one for a cheep price. Check to see what kind of 220v power they have available at the hall.

I thought about that. I talked to the hotels manager and they don't have a disconnect anywhere near. And is there a way to turn the lights on through a rack without a board?

This is the place I rent from.. Tell me what you think:
BPL-rentals

 

[Footer]

The DJ will need at least 2 20amp circuits if the guy is worth his salt. Catering can easily take 5-10 circuits. Power is usually at a premium in these situations. If you are lucky the hall will have 10-20 circuits in the main room. If its an old VFW hall, it could have as few as 5. Unless you are in a hotel ball room, the odds of having a company switch or disconnect you can tie into are slim to none. LED's are really your friend in this world to save on power. Are the par cans going to be uplights or are they going to actually light the dance floor/head table? Cable paths are going to also be your enemy. Halls usually have many exits, bar doors, bathroom doors, stairs, all that type of fun stuff. Plan your cable paths well. No one wants bundles of cable going everywhere. Dress everything very nicely.

When you go in, find out how much power is in the room. Also, find out how much power the DJ and caterer need.

 

[Shawncfer]

Footer:

I will talk to the DJ and see whats up with him.

As far as the caterers go, Theres a kitchen attached to it where they cook everything and then they bring it out to the tables. So they'll be in a totally separate room. There are only two double doors for people to walk in an out of to get to the lobby where the bathroom is (It's a hotel ballroom), and the door for the kitchen. All the pars are being used as uplighting.

I didn't see any LEDs on that companies website. Maybe I missed it, but I'll give them a call tomorrow and ask.

But something else I just thought of. The circuits in my bedroom for example are all run off of the same circuit correct? So if my room is rated for 15 amps, that 15 is shared at every outlet correct? Well would it be the same concept here? And will I have to share a 20amp circuit for the whole room? Or is it the same theory except the whole room is rated for more than just 20? Or am I stressing over nothing?

BTW each Par is 300w. Idk if i said that already?

 

[jeffsw6]

But something else I just thought of. The circuits in my bedroom for example are all run off of the same circuit correct? So if my room is rated for 15 amps, that 15 is shared at every outlet correct? Well would it be the same concept here? And will I have to share a 20amp circuit for the whole room? Or is it the same theory except the whole room is rated for more than just 20? Or am I stressing over nothing?

You are not stressing over nothing. The hotel's event coordinator should be able to help you find a diagram indicating which receptacles are on what circuit breakers. If not, you will need to discover this for yourself when you do your advance visit. My method is simple, I plug a PAR can into every receptacle I can find, turn off breakers, and note which cans responded to which breaker throws. However you do it, once you know what receptacles share which circuit breakers, you will have the information you need to plan out your electrical supply for the lights.

BTW each Par is 300w. Idk if i said that already?

So you can run around 6 or 7 lights on each 20A circuit, which means you need to identify at least two different circuits, preferably three, that can be dedicated to lighting, and not shared by other vendors (catering and bands/DJs being the big ones at weddings, as has been mentioned.)

When you are figuring out your cable paths, don't forget to plan for the electrical cable you will need to actually reach the lights. I have around 700 feet of AC cable in my portable sound/light trunk, and I could not say if that would be enough for 13 up-lights around a ballroom without measuring carefully. I might be borrowing, buying, or renting cable to get the job done.

Also, one additional thought I would like to share, don't let wedding customers fool you with that "low budget" crap. Every time I get talked into a "low budget" wedding, the customer has just allocated their funds wrong. I did one for a friend who is an event planner a few weeks ago (his regular $200 guy flaked out and I owed him a favor) and they had a freaking ice sculpture, live trees transplanted from a forest, spent probably $40-$50/guest on catering, etc. They failed to plan for lighting on their dance floor or anywhere else (and in fact their floor plan prevented me from doing it well), had only one waitress for ~150 guests, buffet line took about an hour to feed the guests because they didn't budget for enough food warmers, and their photographers had no idea what they were doing. I would say they spent $15k and if they had simply allocated that money better, or spent $2k more, their reception would have been executed much better. In any case, do not let the customer's "low budget" cries cause you to lose money; set the right expectation for what they are paying you.

 

[len]

Agree with jeff. "Low budget" just means they spent their money on everything else and you're an afterthought.

As for the logistics, walk the room, etc. LED uplights are a good idea, except if you have to rent them, which will eat into your profit. Cabling shouldn't be an issue, really. If it's a hotel, the only power that will be needed besides yourself will be the dj, the photog, and if they have a photo booth or other minor stuff for the food service. Catering will be from the internal kitchen so don't worry about that. Still, doesn't mean there will be enough power. Try to get a look at the nearest panel. It will give you a clue, but may not tell you everything unless every circuit is marked and so are the outlets. A dimmer rack may be possible, and you can control it from right there, but that just means your cable runs back to that rack will be longer. Often, I do ellipsoidals around a room, and it's far easier to use wall power for a bunch of shoebox dimmers, and run them via dmx. Running one data cable is far easier than running 15 - 20 power cables back to a central dimmer. Since they are being used as uplights, maybe swap lamps down to a 150w Medium.

 

[Shawncfer]

The only company that I know of that rents equipment around here doesn't rent LEDs, and I don't have any of my own, so thats out of the question.

Right now Im just terrified of not having enough power. If theres a disconnect I can tie into, I'm gonna tell the couple that we need to rent a small dimmer rack. And maybe a Leprecon board or something easy.

 

[len]

I wouldn't get into specifics with the client about equipment. It'll only confuse them and they may get nervous and cancel the whole thing. Just keep it to "# of uplights @ $X each, and a monogram with your design" and a price. The details aren't important to them, only the end result, so just tell them what they're going to get.

 

[jeffsw6]

Right now Im just terrified of not having enough power. If theres a disconnect I can tie into, I'm gonna tell the couple that we need to rent a small dimmer rack. And maybe a Leprecon board or something easy.

Don't be terrified, just do the advance effectively and find out if it will be a problem or not.

Keep in mind that, in addition to the rental expense for the dimmers, any needed break-outs/cabling, feeder cable, and the electrician someone will have to pay to tie it in, the hotel may charge a non-trivial fee. Check into it.

I bet you are thinking about contacting some further-away rental companies about LEDs. It might be cheaper and easier than any other solution. No one can really say for sure until you collect more details. It's good to have options.

It sounds like you might not already have the customer under contract if you are still figuring out how to deploy and power the fixtures, too. Keep in mind that unexpected expenses that customers don't understand, like a few hundred bucks for a dimmer rack, sparky fees, etc. are the sort of things that might nudge them toward calling a competitor. It sounds like you are not very experienced at this sort of event/customer, so if they start calling around, they may reach someone who has done the room before, owns all the stuff they need, and can confidently answer their questions and give a price in a 5-minute phone call. You will presumably have put them through a number of back-and-forth processes about the job by this time. Any customer with an ounce of sense would jump ship at that point.

Also, since you are dealing with the couple directly, not an event planner (though I'm sure we all know that wedding "event planners" often do more harm than good), the customer is almost sure to be clueless about everything. If they get spooked and decide that the lighting they want is too big a headache, again, this could be a gig-killer for you. Couples planning their own weddings have enough crap to deal with already; they do not need to be told about dimmer racks any more than they care about chillers for portable wet bars -- they want the beer to be cold and need to know how much it will cost, but if surprising technicalities come up repeatedly, they'll just send a groomsman for ice.

 

[WooferHound]

Many hotel ballrooms have sliding Airwalls that don't have any power available on them. When you advance the room make sure you know what walls will be open or closed for the event.

 

[Anvilx]

Well being only a stone's throw down the road I can say that thier pricing is about on par with the average pricing in austin. If you would like me to recomend some place in austin, shoot me a pm I can probably get it cheaper, but then there is delivery.

You don't need dimmers and a board. It is overkill plus you don't want to mess with controling it. I really don't think you should have to much to worry about when it comes to power, unless it is a really old and or shoddy venue. Just rent enough cable so if you need to go tap in to something of far away you can.

A nice touch on the pars are little partitions or covers so you can't see them.

 

[Shawncfer]

Well Im getting to see the place on Wednesday for the first time, but the lady I talked to today told me they had a disconnect that Lighting designers usually tie into for power thats in a closet attached to the room thats designed to hold dimmers (It's really cool and has a way for cables to run out without having to keep the door open. Or so she says). So, forgive me for asking a stupid questions, But how can i turn the lights on without the board if I do decide to go down the dimmer rack road?

 

[Pie4Weebl]

Don't waste your money on a dimmer rack. If you are short power in the room, a power distro rack will be cheaper and give you the circuits you need. Flip the lights on before the gig and call it a day.

 

[Footer]

Well Im getting to see the place on Wednesday for the first time, but the lady I talked to today told me they had a disconnect that Lighting designers usually tie into for power thats in a closet attached to the room thats designed to hold dimmers (It's really cool and has a way for cables to run out without having to keep the door open. Or so she says). So, forgive me for asking a stupid questions, But how can i turn the lights on without the board if I do decide to go down the dimmer rack road?

I would not be too worried then. If they have a disconnect, they probably have at least 10 circuits if not more in the room. You need 4, I have a feeling you will get that.

 

[mstaylor]

If you have an access point for power then just rent the little PD from your rental house and just plug everything in. It has eight circuits on it so that should cover all your needs. The problem then would be how to distribute it around the room.

 

[Shawncfer]

I would not be too worried then. If they have a disconnect, they probably have at least 10 circuits if not more in the room. You need 4, I have a feeling you will get that.

From what the lady told me, It's one big room that is separated into 3 rooms with those folding wall things. And each individual room is being run on 3 separate 20amp circuits. So since the wedding reception is going to be all three rooms combined (theyre pushing the walls back) then that means only 3 circuits in total.