Guest Blog: Party Light

With the right lighting you add many emotions to your party and make

it an unforgettable experience for everyone present.

Take your time with party preparations and start experimenting a few days ahead of time, especially with the lighting. Color is a must for every party. If you do not have colorful walls or

accessories, at least a few of the lamps should emit colorful light. A party that is lit by white light only does not promise a great result. The exciting thing about hosting a party is that you

can stage your usual environment playfully and differently. It does not need to be perfect, since improvisation is exciting and there are many there to enjoy the results. If you are planning a themed party, be aware that the lighting should go along with the theme. If you enjoy setting up lighting, why not integrate it into your everyday life? In the winter, colorful party lighting can make your space feel nice and cozy with only a few minor adjustments.

Party Lighting for Mild Summer Nights

The setup of your backyard outdoor lighting makes your outdoor space accessible and usable at night and turns it into a stage for mild summer nights that are ever so different from what you see during the day. With a party it is not so much about practical light sources, but more  about the play between light and shadows. Create many islands of light, and avoid making large illuminated areas. Form magical magnets in your yard by adding seating arrangements and plants that are illuminated from the inside. Trees and bushes are excellent things to illuminate 

from behind. When having a barbecue, a few lantern-type lights, in addition to some lit up plants are more than enough. The buffet of course should be well lit, as you eat with your eyes first! For a warm environment full of atmosphere you can use candles and torches.

 LEDs have a Party

Especially well-suited for your outdoor party ambience are LED lamps. They can provide light in all colors, are programmable and due to their small size are barely noticeable. They are  very energy efficient, easy to maintain and take up a minimum amount of space. A bar can be decorated extremely well by providing back lighting to all the different colored bottles. LED lit accessories are also essential to any party. Bottle coolers, coasters and LED candles are only a few of the things that are available with built in LEDs. If it gets too cold as the night progresses and your guests are ready to take the party inside, you have to be prepared. Turning on the bright main light upon the accidental flipping of a switch has to be avoided so the good mood is maintained. The best way of doing this is to implement a programmable lighting control unit which can be set to a "party mode".

You can find more useful tips on lighting at the website of the American Lighting Association.


TIP: Not too bright

Ensure that your inside living space does not shed too much light on your yard during an outdoor party, as this will certainly kill the mood

About The Author: Ingo Schaer is the President and CEO of Interior-Deluxe.com He has been in the lighting

business for more than 20 years and is holding a bachelor degree in Electrical Engineering. He regularly blogs on

a variety of Modern lighting and Interior Design topics, often focusing on practical solutions. You can find him on Google+

The Missing Ingredient

Have you ever been at a party and when it came to an end there was still a lot of people wanting to continue - so they coerced the bartender into turning on the stereo or they went outside and cranked up their car radio. Funny thing is twenty to thirty minutes later the party dies anyhow.

Why?

"People don't dance to the music, they dance to the moment," says Randy Bartlett, who is a Sacramento DJ and producer of a series of disc jockey training videos [The 1% Solution].

The same can be said about an i-pod wedding. If you have ever been to one of those you may have noticed that a song will come on, people will dance, but by the following song they are walking off the dance floor.

Again . . . why?

~ REQUEST A CONSULTATION ~

And the answer for both scenarios is that there is an ingredient missing, which is someone that is an expert in music programming and someone who can react to the moment. Songs need to be matched, either by beats per minute or by genre, but more importantly - to the moment.

Did the wedding party come in with all of the guys waving a beer in their hand and wearing cowboy hats or seed corn caps (Drink In My Hand/Eric Church or She Thinks My Tractors Sexy/Kenny Chesney)?  Did the Maid of Honor reminisce about growing up with the Bride, playing with Barbie Dolls before graduating to their Justin Bieber days, during her toast (Barbie Girl/Aqua & Baby/Justin Bieber)?

So as you began to put your music list together for your big day remember . . . . it's not about the music, it's about the moments. Find ways to create moments on your wedding day and we can match the music to enhance them!

Until next time,
~ Mike ~

photo credit: The U.S. Military Academy at West Point via photopin cc

How long should a party be?

Determining how long your party should be depends on a lot of different factors. Will there be  a dinner served? How many guests will there be? What are the demographics? A four hour prom with 100-400 attendees is considered just about right, but a four hour birthday party for five or six year olds may be pushing it.

"A party should end when it shouldn't end, not when it should," advises entrepreneurial coach and Michigan wedding DJ Dan Nichols. "Ending a party before it dies down leaves everyone with the impression the floor was packed all night. It just feels better when people are left wanting more versus being completely burned out. "


A good guide for a wedding would be:

• Under 50 guests:    four hours
• 50-250 guests:       four - five hours
• 250+ guests:          five - six hours

Keep in mind that the more guests you have the longer it will take to get everyone there and the longer it will take your staff  to serve them. In each case it is ideal tho allow at least two but no more than three hours after dinner for preliminary traditions and entertainment.

Too much of a good thing is not a good thing.

Until next time,

~ Mike ~

Questions & Answers

There are a couple of questions we routinely get asked as Brides and Grooms begin shopping for a DJ/Emcee for their wedding reception. In this space I'll try to answer a couple of those for you in hopes that it will give you a better understanding of what we do - and WHY we do it - as Wedding Emcees and music programmers.

Q: What type of music do you play?

A: Dance music! Actually we offer a wide variety of music, pretty much from the Golden Oldies to today's Top 40. A couple of genres that we do not carry a lot of though is the real, scream-o heavy metal (think Godsmack or Slip Knot here) or ghetto rap music with explicit lyrics. The WHY to that is because it does not bode well on the dance floor, and as DJs we are judged by how full the dance floor is.
This is not to say that this is 'bad' music, but rather proof of the fact that sometimes what we listen to and what a massive amount of people will dance to are not always the same thing.

Have a question for me? Feel free to drop it in the comment box below