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Accent lighting at a wedding reception at the Bali Hai Restaurant on Shelter Island in San Diego

There’s just something about a wedding reception taking place in a ballroom that makes us want to have the lights dimmed low. I can’t think of a single reception where people wanted to keep things bright (in the evening, at least). While this is so very important to set the mood for your guests, it’s counter-productive for us videographers! Why? Our cameras, like our eyes, need light to capture what’s happening. That said, the reality is the cameras on the market today are nowhere near as adept at processing light as our eyes are!

A great solution to this problem is to add accent lighting to your reception. The most common form of accent lighting these days is uplighting on the walls. It looks great, and in most cases, you can even change the colors to match what you’ve chosen for your day! Using uplighting brings a nice accent into the room that your guests will enjoy, and also add some additional non-harsh brightness that we can use as well.

There are a couple specifics to ask your DJ or lighting company about when it comes to accent lighting that are important for video: Are the lights LED? If they are, are they flicker-free? Making sure you have the answers to these questions will be a HUGE help to us as your videography team.

Groom and his mom share a special dance at the wedding reception

In addition to your accent lighting, we also bring a few small lights with us, and use them to capture moments like your dances and toasts. As you can see from the photo we’ve included here, it really adds a cool effect to your dance floor.