If you’re anything like me, you have probably not given much though to the lighting design of your wedding beyond “Is there light?” and “Do we need to add more light?” But apparently arranging the lighting for your reception site is now an important part of the process. The wedding planning process, that is.

I’ll admit that it never even occurred to me to hire a professional lighting designer for my wedding, being that it was outdoors in the daytime, so I got all the light I needed from old Mr. Sun. But for an indoor affair, especially in a space with lighting options limited to ON and OFF, I can definitely see the allure of colored lighting (aka color washing), pin lighting, camouflage lighting, and even monogram, fireworks, or other projected effects.

Yes, it means there’s yet another wedding vendor to hire and another line item to add to your wedding budget, but if you have the funds – anywhere from $750 to more than $5,000 – professional wedding lighting can be a fun way to add ambiance, cover up venue imperfections, play up the best features of your venue, or turn an otherwise plain reception space into something a bit more grand without having to buy a lot of stuff.

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