I’ll never forget the first time I opened a wedding magazine & saw advertisements for 12 million companies that were, apparently, completely necessary if I were to throw any kind of respectable party.  I remember things starting to go black as I nearly passed out from the number of things I had NEVER considered needing.

Like lighting.

I figured you just turn off half the lights so it’s a little dark & sexy and maybe put out some candles. In fact, when I thought about hiring a lighting company (and EVERYTHING I read on The Knot said DON’T SKIMP ON LIGHTING!), I figured they were talking about a disastrous collection of neon colored spinning shapes effing up my dance floor with their tackiness. No. Thank. You.

So, you can imagine my surprise & delight when I met Christopher Reilly from C & C Special Event Productions, part lighting designer, part artist.  Here’s what I loved about them:

Chris has been doing lighting for 25 years & he likes to convey a warm, sexy vibe.  When I talked to him, the big thing he schooled me on is the fact that you DON’T have to spend a million bucks to get great lighting.  C & C prides themselves on being affordable (hallelujah).  And they never farm out the contract to some random employee on the big day.  Since they only book 1-2 events a weekend, you always get one of the owners at the event.  And those owners are Chris & his wife Christine.  I love a family-owned business.

When I met with Chris to walk through the space, I got excited seeing the lighting through his eyes.  How he will uplight the columns & showcase the architecture, add LED tea lights for ambiance, use a soft amber glow to differentiate the dance floor.  Just talking about it, you could feel his passion.  And then I pretty much melted when he said he gets a little misty on watching first dances.  These guys live & breath lighting and they legitimately care.

I asked him about the heinous spinning neon shapes that I think of when someone says “lighting” & Chris told me that their biggest competition is DJs, who “do lighting”…in the horrendous manner I’ve described, one size fits all.   As Chris so aptly put it, would you let your lighting guy DJ your event?

Touche.

And now I shall share these pictures so you get what I’m talking about.  Lights DRASTICALLY change the vibe of the space.  Who knew?

 www.nyeventservices.com

Blog: www.weddinglighting.wordpress.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wedding-Lighting-New-York/156634534363551

(Just in case you need to find these wizards for your own wedding.  Or party.  Or event.  Or to perfectly light you as you walk down the street in your supermodel fantasies)