breakfast with tiffany
By Tiffany Nieves
A Lust for Lighting
Today’s weddings are much more
like productions than the white weddings of
yesteryear…when our parents got married the
linens, flowers, food, and the big band were
the elements that set the ambiance. Today’s
bride looks beyond these elements and often
sets her sights on the magical aspect of spe-
cialty lighting. Not to say that these aspects
are no longer important as they will always
be the staple of décor but with lighting these
elements will shine in ways your guests never
thought possible.
The term specialty lighting itself can seem
intimidating but don’t be afraid of buzz words
like color washing or pin spotting as these
terms can take your wedding from beautiful to
magical with the flip of a switch. In fact there
is no better way we know to raise the bar on
wedding “WOW FACTOR” than with lighting.
From the first site walk of the wedding
venue with our clients, we discuss the many
applications for specialty lighting. Often dis-
cussing the use of either up lighting an area or
color washing. These terms specify the meth-
od in which we use light to create the drama
with color that they are trying to achieve. Up
lighting is a more cost effective way to achieve
the beautiful look of lighting and can be used
in smaller areas effectively. With larger areas
of coverage color washing is recommended to
create the look and cover large expansive ar-
eas. I personally love to use multi dimensional
color 2 or 3 shades of the same color or even
contrasting color to create a certain effect and
add dimension to an area or a room.
Regardless of the type of lighting you
choose working with the right colors to en-
hance the look of your wedding is always im-
portant. Here are some fabulous examples of
lighting that we hope will inspire you to take
the lighting leap for your own wedding.
One of my favorite examples of the many
uses of lighting is a wedding we planned and
designed at the Loews Hotel in South Beach.
This bride wanted to create several different
6 Enc hanted Brides ~ spring/Summer 2008
settings for her guests to enjoy. We started
with a Lux Lounge for her cocktail hour which
was completely color washed in cool blue.
From the cocktail lounge the guests
entered the reception ballroom which we
transformed into a something reminiscent
of mid-summers night dream. The romantic
setting was created by color washing amber
lighting and branch type patterns projected
onto the walls that went along the same lines
as the tree centerpieces; this touch really
added warmth to an extremely large space. To
personalize the room a large monogram gobo
was custom created for the couple in bright
white and used as a focal point behind the
bar and on the dance floor.
Additionally a contrasting color was used
as a backdrop for the band and twinkling star
patterns were projected on the ceiling to com-
plete the romantic look of the room.
As a final touch we transformed the cock-
tail area into a sexy dessert
lounge. The once cool blue was
now a vibrant fuchsia. A high im-
pact way to use the same room
yet have two completely differ-
ent effects and ambiance. A defi-
nite highlight for the guests.
Recently I had the pleasure of planning
and designing a wedding for local wedding
planner Jackie Farah at the beautiful Vizcaya
Museum and Gardens. We wanted to accentu-
ate the properties magnificent architecture
to give both the ceremony and reception the
magnificent look that this bride so deserved.
At times we underestimate the power of light-
ing.
The couple’s reception tent was a spec-
tacular mix of colors. To achieve this we used
intelligent lighting to light the entire reception
tent. This gave us the ability to have the light-
ing colors change through the evening for an
unexpected twist for the guests to enjoy.
Another couple’s wedding was particularly
challenging as we transformed their back-
yard into wedding location extraordinaire. To
soften the look of the reception tent and to
separate this look from the ceremony tent, we
illuminated 3-D rose buds on the front of the
tent with a soft red wash behind them. The
inside of the tent was illuminated in both red
 ❝The term specialty
lighting itself can seem
intimidating but don’t
be afraid of buzz words
like color washing or
pin spotting, as these
terms can take your
wedding from beautiful
to magical with the flip
of a switch.❞
and amber for a warm glow keeping with the gether but they were stunning.
fall colors of the wedding. So when thinking about lighting your
We had fun using a mix of colors for the choices are limitless. Think elegant up light-
acrylic dance floor with contrasting colors ing and pin spots or elaborate color washing,
of purple and blue. The colors continued to patterns, and intelligent lighting as all will
change through the evening with the build of enhance the look and feel of your wedding.
the energy on dance floor. Happy planning…..
To complete the look the back of the estate
was also color washed with a mix of red and Written by: Tiffany Nieves of Dream Design Weddings
purple colors you may not think of using to- Photos by: Martha Ramirez of UDS Photography

Enchanted Brides ~ Spring/Summer 2008 7