Setting up at a wedding: need help please?

Okay, so basically I'm a college student. I was given a job offer to light a wedding in the area -- they want uplight hitting draperies along the wall, and that's it so far. The thing is, clearly this place isn't going to have a dimmer rack -- that's a no brainer. My experience is from high school -- ie theatrical and stage lighting, so event lighting is new to me. I was thinking of renting a bunch of PARS and using those -- possibly LED's, too, and lining them up against the wall. I figured I'd rent a small ETC Express and just do looping cues from red to green to blue, or some range of colors. I'd daisy chain four or so groups of them. The problem, of course, then becomes power. See, at my high school we had old, 1970's lights :D so I unfortunately didn't get as much experience as I'd have liked, and therefore I'm unsure of what's best to do.

So: would renting a bunch of LED PARS be best for this sort of job? If so, how do I power them? I can't just rent a dimmer rack, right? How would I get power for it? You can't just plug it into the wall, of course. I've read about something called a "Company Switch," but I don't think a wedding place would have such a thing. Everything would probably need to be edison as opposed to stage pin, correct? If so, how many LED PARS can I fit on one 120V outlet?

Also, what happens if I use non-DMX lights? Like a conventional source four? Then how do I control it with the lighting board if there are no stage pin connectors, no dimmer rack and no grid?

Additionally, would it be best to actually use an ETC Express lighting board for this sort of job? Or would it make more sense to rent something else? Is it at all practical to rent an ETC Express board for this job, if it's one of the only boards I feel comfortable with?

And lastly, last question -- suppose I wanted to do some lighting onto each individual table. You know, make all the tables orange at one point, then blue... what would be the neatest and most professional way to hang such fixtures? Would You have to rent an entire truss system, and hang them overhead? Or could you get away with a few pipe trees around the room and just focusing each fixture onto each table? My only concern then would be that the light would be hitting people as opposed to just coming straight down.

Thank you!
 
If you go with standard pars (I'd shoot for par 38's, par 46's, or par 56's), you don't need a "dimmer rack". Cheap 4-channel dimmer packs will suffice, as long as you are not exceeding the total limit on the dimmer pack (most are 1800w total, so 4x 300w or 3x 500 watt lamps would be good). For uplighting, 300w lights should be plenty.

If you use LED pars, you do not need any dimmers. They plug in to non-dimmed wall power only, and you only daisy-chain DMX to each unit. This is the most popular method for weddings now, and if you can do it, go this route. Heat would no longer be an issue, and even powering small DJ dimmer packs in a ballroom could be an issue.

For control, you don't need an Express. Just rent a small board with programmable chase functions. Most of these "scenes" can be set to fade in and out in sequence. (ADJ Scene Setter comes to mind). There are also small boards from the likes of Elation and Chauvet that should do fine with LEDs.

Individual table lighting is usually achieved using pinspots over each table, if possible. Some use grid clamps, others use airwall hangers (plenty of past discussion on this, so be sure to do a search). The feasibility of this is different depending on the venue, with the biggest concern being getting power to the lights. You really shouldn't run any cords above the grid ceiling. You may find yourself renting tripod stands and placing them around the room. This is less than ideal, since the lights will be hitting the tables from an angle, but it's also the most practical. Pinspots don't like dimmers, so keep that in mind.
 
You need to do a few things before even thinking about equipment:

1.) Talk to the happy couple. Are they looking for a big, glitzy glam dance party? Or, do they want a quiet, elegant, tasteful presentation? They might be happy with just pin spots on the centerpieces. Do they want other areas lit? Special effects like a mirror ball? Include whoever is paying for the event in this conversation. What sort of budget are they looking at? They may have something entirely different in mind from the happy couple and if they end up hating it you're simply not gonna get paid.

2.) Do a site survey. Get as many measurements as possible. Table diameters, location of anything electrical, all room dimensions, places you might be able to zip-tie small fixtures, how the houselights are controlled. Talk to whoever is in charge of the venue. Are there restrictions on where you cannot place cable? How much time are you going to have to load-in? Do they have ladders? Where are you going to park the rental truck/van? If you're not going to commute from home where is a clean and cheap motel?

3.) Talk to the wedding planner. Are they bringing in a DJ and a sound system? Where are the tables all going? Are there special things like ice sculptures or photo displays? Is there going to be a wedding rehearsal?

4.) Not to be crass, but once you get your design down and priced out get a written contract signed by whoever is paying for the wedding. Whoever you rent the equipment from will have to get paid or they'll never trust you again. That means if you get stiffed then you are paying the rental house out of your own pocket. My suggestion: 1/3 on signing the contract which is absolutely non-refundable (you don't want the happy couple breaking up and you've put in all this work for free,) 1/3 10 days before the event (now you should have what you need to pay for the rental. If not, increase this amount) the balance before the first guest appears. Be firm about this. Remember: Show Business is two words.
 
Disclaimer, Weddings aren't really my thing, I've only done a few here and there, so hopefully, someone who knows more about this will probably post pretty soon. But here's some stuff to get you started.

Have you had a chance to speck your space yet? If you haven't
Here are questions you want to go in with,

1. How large is your space?
2. How many panels are you lighting?
3.How many tables are there going to be?
4. How many outlets are in the room?
5. How many are on a single breaker? How many are tied together.?
6. What is the Amperage on each breaker? ( it says on the breaker)
7. Anything else you can think of.

Now, I would highly recommend using LED's for your panels and using Pin-spots or birdies for your Tables. Neither would require a dimmer. (remember that the table specials ( birdies) don't have to dim.) The way that I've done pin spots in the past is by hanging them on a single stick of truss that stands upright located in the center of the room. Or two trusses upright from the corners or four trusses etc. That will really depend on how your power plays out. As for the LED's pretty much any of the Par RGB fixtures on floor stands will work fine. Remember however that even though the wattage is low on most LED fixtures you can still trip a breaker by putting too many on a single outlet, Do your math. Usually your looking at 36 watts per LED fixture, but it can vary. An Express might be a little bit of overkill since you really only need 4 channels or less if you get units with stand alone mode. Any type of small dmx scene setter will work.

I'm going to highly recommend staying away from dimmers. First off there are far too many ways to work around them for things like this, and second there is a lot of danger if you don't really have a good grasp on what your doing. If you absolutely need some incandescent look at something like the ETC smart bar. IF there is somewhere to "Tie-in" a dimmer pack then most likely it would have to be a bare wire tie in which is going to be a little on the dangerous side. And (no offense) you sound a little under qualified to try. Study more about 3 phase power and talk to some electrical contractors or Professional lighting techs out there. Tie-in's should only be done by qualified personnel, always.

Let me know if this helps, Please keep us updated as to how this goes. And good luck man.
 
As someone who actually had her wedding lit, some small pieces of advice:

1) Less is more. Let me repeat: less. is. more. There's going to be way more going on than just your lighting. There's going to be flowers, centerpieces, cakes, dresses, etc etc. Unless it's what the couple is looking for, I would seriously shy away from color changes. Unless the wedding's colors are primary, it's very doubtful that everything in the LED's standard color change is going to match, and it will likely be distracting. Less. Is. More.

2) Talk to the couple. Then, when you think you have an idea of what they're looking for, talk to them again. You don't want to bust your balls setting up a laser light show, only to find out the couple wanted something simple and sophisticated.

3) Unless it was the couple's idea, I would ditch the lighting-the-tables idea. If the lights are on in the room, it won't read. And if the lights are off, that means that peoples' skin is now red, blue, and green. And something tells me that the bride's mother, who spent $100 getting her make up professionally done for this event, wants to be sitting there looking like a green skeleton. Unless that's what the couple is going for, in which case, have at.

4) Also make sure you talk to their photographer. Make sure they know how to photograph strong lighting and make sure that your lighting will be conducive to good pictures. Remember, your lighting will last a day but those pictures will last forever. Photographer pulls rank over just about everyone in a wedding.

Here's some pictures from our wedding. We had the luxury of being in an actual theatre, so that eliminated a lot of the logistical issues, but it will give you an idea of what WE were going for.

Wedding Pictures - Kyle Van Sandt's Photos

Good luck!
 
you may not even need a console at all, a lot of the events I've done the clients just want one color the whole evening, just set the dipswitches, or other controls on the fixture where you want them then just check on them every now and then throughout the event.
 
Good points from MrsFooter regarding lighting tables. It's hard to pull off correctly, and with the workarounds you will probably have to employ, they may just look better not being lit. There's also a balance -- will the ugly truss or stand be worth some uneven light thrown on the tables?

I agree about the color changes as well. The only time I would ever do changes is for different segments of the evening (bouquet toss, father daughter dance, etc). Talk to them about their wedding colors; they may want you to incorporate them.

And yes, Les is more!
 
I don't know what your budget is, but the new ETC led pars have the ability to control several lights from one instrument.
I pulled some information from the site:

"All of the Desire luminaires can operate in Stand Alone mode, recalling up to 32 presets and one sequence and playing them back continuously. The fixtures’ functions are accessible from the user interface on the back of the units. The Stand Alone mode provides any venue with fixed or dynamic lighting automatically, day after day.

Multiple Desire fixtures can also be controlled from a single luminaire. Connecting the fixtures with standard DMX cables gives you the ability to set presets at the master luminaire and transfer them down the line to other fixtures. If you turn off the power and then repower the units, the master-slave chain will start where the fixtures left off."
Desire LED luminaires - Control - New ETC Lighting Fixtures

This could eliminate the need for a board completely.
 
Worked a bunch of these recently. Get your uplights, space them around the room. Choose color to match what the wedding wants, set and forget. If they want them, pinspots on the centerpieces. airwall hangers and a central location are your friends here. As minimal a cluster as possible. Dim room lights for ambiance. Maybe a couple gobos dimmed across the dance floor if your doing that too for the dances. Basic basic basic is good here, you probably wont need to touch anything the entire event.
 
Lets start with the most important question for uplighting. How high are the ceilings? If they are 15' or less, standard Par38's loaded with 90w halogen spotlights will do the job. This type of fixture complete will fixture, lamp, gel and base can be had for under $ 40.00 a pop.

No need for dimmers or control. If purchased, you should be in profit the next time you use them.
 
...question. Thanks by the way to everyone who responded! It seems they just want the uplight on the walls. The thing is, however, that they want each and every wall lit up -- there are multiple rooms, and they're quite large -- most walls are at least 50 feet. Wouldn't lining up a bunch of LED PARS look extremely ugly? Is there another type of fixture that I could use that might be a bit more attractive, or are LED PARS the norm for uplighting?

Also, Suppose I do have a wall that's roughly 52 feet. How many LED PARS would you recommend using? Ten, perhaps?
 
LED pars are the norm as of a few years ago. Not sure what you mean by ugly. The case design isn't any uglier than your normal par (which are pretty good-looking in my book ;) ). If you're talking about color separation in the beam, I guess it can be an issue, though I've never noticed it. When you are "scraping" a wall, the colors tend to blend better than they would if you were lighting one straight-on at close range. Most of the times I've seen them they are set to saturated colors. Never seem to be an issue there.

On spacing, it's really your call in how you want the beams to interact. If you want them to touch, maybe 6-8' centers. If you want individual "fountains" of light, ten-foot centers would be great.

This sounds like you need hundreds of LED pars. Do you have access to that equipment? In an ideal world, you could fully wash every wall. In the real world, bride and groom may need to settle on 3 lights per wall, or only in the corners (depending on how much they're willing to pay). You might need to start thinking about charging them for "additional fixtures". Keep in mind also that some walls may be difficult to light due to doorways, walkways, etc. Most codes will not allow you to run cable across a door way. Over the door may be negotiable, but it depends on local codes and the policies of the venue. Some won't let you attach cables to walls, and you also have to worry about making it look pretty.
 
Well, what I was planning on doing was renting from 4Wall, or a local lighting rental place. Is that necessarily 'kosher' in the industry?

Also, where would I look for the codes of different states or areas? That might be quite tricky, then -- I was planning on just running DMX to all of the LED PARS, and hooking them all up to a single lighting board. But you're absolutely right -- that probably would interfere with some sort of code. The venue is in PA -- might anyone know where I can look?
 
-- I was planning on just running DMX to all of the LED PARS, and hooking them all up to a single lighting board. But you're absolutely right -- that probably would interfere with some sort of code. The venue is in PA -- might anyone know where I can look?

Most LED pars will let you use a board to set a color, and then unplug the board, and have them stay at that color until a board is re-connected. You could get a small board (Elation Scene Setter comes to mind) and go through and set each one. Then put on light at each outlet (or skipping for obvious reasons) and not worry about cable runs to each. You wouldn't be able to have them change during the event, unless they have a macro channel that will cycle through colors, but it could have a nice effect.


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Most LED pars will let you use a board to set a color, and then unplug the board, and have them stay at that color until a board is re-connected. You could get a small board (Elation Scene Setter comes to mind) and go through and set each one. Then put on light at each outlet (or skipping for obvious reasons) and not worry about cable runs to each. You wouldn't be able to have them change during the event, unless they have a macro channel that will cycle through colors, but it could have a nice effect.


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This isn't necessarily true, nor would I say most. DMX devices, whether fixtures or accessories, can vary widely in their response to loss of data (or problems in the data stream). The few LEDs I've worked with have all responded in one of two ways, going to all on or going to all off, as soon as the DMX stream is lost. If a light was to hold the last data package received before loss of data, it would also probably need to be plugged in prior to setting the color and probably could not be unplugged without losing this.
 
This isn't necessarily true, nor would I say most. DMX devices, whether fixtures or accessories, can vary widely in their response to loss of data (or problems in the data stream). The few LEDs I've worked with have all responded in one of two ways, going to all on or going to all off, as soon as the DMX stream is lost. If a light was to hold the last data package received before loss of data, it would also probably need to be plugged in prior to setting the color and probably could not be unplugged without losing this.

Ok, some LED pars will let you set a color, and then disconnect the DMX line. Some won't. I agree that some DMX thing will do very strange things when they lose DMX.


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Wait, so then how would I run the DMX cable? If I can't run it through the door, and if I'm not going to just disconnect each cable, how would I do this? They really do want all the lights changing throughout the night -- not always, just for different parts, but still. I feel as though, if it were legal with building codes, I'd really just want to run cable to all of the lights collectively, and then have a "central control area" with the lighting board. If I can't do that, and if I don't want to just disconnect the board each time for each set... how would I do this? Can I potentially run DMX through the ceiling tiles, if they do have ceiling tiles?

Is there a "wireless DMX" setup on the market that I could potentially use?
 
Is there a "wireless DMX" setup on the market that I could potentially use?

Yes, but it would probably be very expensive for the scale you a looking for, and have a lot more to go wrong.


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