6 months before

your wedding day

You know that story about the tortoise and the hare? No matter how sorted things feel right now, it isn’t time to take a long snooze. You gotta keep chipping away at wedding plans, slowly but surely.

I’ve created a little checklist & tips on the all-important lighting so you can feel confident you’re on top of things. When the day is right around the corner, you’ll have no reason to panic.

6 months to go checklist

  1. Florist booked

  2. DJ Booked & you are making a list of killer tunes

  3. Check if the DJ has colourful / moving lights for party atmosphere

  4. Music for ceremony/cocktail hour
    Acoustic muso or a boom box?

  5. Confetti chosen - type & packaging
    Read my Confetti Inspiration

  6. Groom’s suit / bride’s shoes sorted & tested

  7. Transport to and from locations with enough seats

  8. Furniture hired
    Chairs, signing table, speech table, microphone, gift table, seat chart stand, food/cocktail tables, lounges, cake stand, knife for cake.

  9. Bridesmaids/Groomsman Gifts
    If its personalised it may take time to order.

  10. Lighting Organised
    You have planned your lighting to create atmosphere and make your photos better! (See my tips below).

LIGHTING

Lighting is critical to photographs. It’s what makes a photo flattering & atmospheric. To consider lighting for those reasons alone is great but also it can be what makes a good reception AMAZING because with light you can create mood, zones & comfort.

Mood: Good light feels like stepped into a magic space, it gets people in the mood for a party. It can make a space feel enchanted.

Zone: Lighting different areas in different ways creates zones in a space which makes people feel like they are in different rooms and suits different ways of being eg eating, vs chatting or dancing areas may have different types of lighting.

Comfort: You want dining light bright enough to read a menu and to see the faces of those you are chatting to. You want speech light so they can read. And you want party light that is flattering on your slowly melting make up & that makes you feel safe being a dork on the dance floor.

Ceremony

Avoid patchy mix of sun and shade on your faces.
Ideally you would have shade on your faces and body, otherwise full sun on you both. Having sun come from one side isn’t great as one of you will be squinting and the other in shadow.

No one wants to be staring into sun but if I had to choose, I’d choose the guests in sun and the couple in the shade.

Reception Decorative Lights

Lanterns, fairy lights, candles, neon, uplights, bounced colour & low light bulbs are beautiful to look at and create ambience! Use as decorative elements within your space. They are, however, not enough to light faces.
If used alone then I’ll be popping in a flash most of the time. It looks good though.

I recommend to balance decorative lights with some brighter overhead festoon string lighting or small flood lights.

Reception Bright Lights

Enough festoon lighting to cast a flattering high light on faces will elimate the need for a flash. It also helps set the sense of space & give good light for seeing faces, reading menus and taking flattering selfies.

Speeches

Speeches light, enough light for people to read a printed out speech. 

Dance Floor

If you want people to dance you want to create a safe zone for feeling hidden in your own private disco. So a level of darkness with pops of moving, coloured lights does it.

It also looks really cool in photos.

See you at the finishing line!