Lighting for a party is a very important component in setting the mood. If you want guests to dance you have to realize that they won’t dance under fluerescent lights. Think coloured lights. Think fairy lights, festoon lights, flashing lights and professional lights.

For a party that goes off with a bang you want at least one professional lighting system. These are cheaper than you think and create an incredible atmosphere. If you’ve ever been to a nightclub or disco you’ll remember the huge lights that hung from the celing and flashed to the beat of the music. You can hire smaller versions that work just as well for your party as the nightclub lighting.

Gobo Flower Effect

I often hire a Goblin or a Gobo lightbox  which have multi coloured lamps which rotate and change to the beat of the music. The latest lights have LED lights, so the power cost is low and so is the risk of overheating. You simply attach the lightbox to an overhead beam or gutter, choose the lighting effect you want, and turn it on.

For other lighting around the venue I give a bit of thought to the theme I want the lighting effects to enhance. For Halloween I’d have low wattage coloured globes in lamps aimed up at ghostly props. Red lights give an eerie effect and yellow ones give off much less light than a regular bulb so create a scary mood.

For a luau I’d string up garlands of festoon lighting and light a dozen bamboo flares. For a Christmas party have lots of fairy lights and replace the blue and yellow globes in the festoon sets with red and green to make the whole string just two colours. For an engagement party, try stringing up fairy lights in the shape of a heart.

Get creative and put some effort into this important aspect of your party. Whatever the theme, your guests will be wowed.

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