Apples vs Oranges in Event Lighting

Be Careful with Who You Choose! We're here to help. Fairfield, Connecticut- April 7, 2009 - Caterers, DJs, bands, and venue halls- they all charge different prices. Some are low, some are high, and some are very high! A potential buyer should look at all of the prices given to them and put a lot of thought into why the prices vary and not just choose the lowest or "best" price. There are many DJs that will charge $800 for a 5 hour wedding, but there are also many DJs that will charge $2,000 (or more) for that same wedding. The average now is around $1,500. Is there a difference between the $800 and $2,000 DJ? I would sure hope so. For $2,000 it's more likely that the DJ is insured, is very personable and comfortable to work with, and knows how to professionally run a wedding reception (and has most likely been doing so for many years!). The $800 DJ may meet with you once and then show up at the venue the day of the reception and do an OK job. S/he may not be insured and may not know how to run a reception properly. (Please don't get me wrong- the $800 DJ could be the best DJ ever while the $2,000 one simply had an over-inflated price. But that is normally not the case...) The same goes for event lighting...

What we're about... Here at Shindig Lighting, LLC we consider ourselves not a high/low-end company but rather a middle-of-the-road lighting design company. We formed back in 2007 to fill the niche of buyers that wanted lighting design at their event but only had the option of the NYC companies that charged a minimum of $5,000 for an event. Can you have an amazing event for $5,000? Absolutely! Can you have that same event or better for $2,500? You can now with Shindig Lighting! Because we are a smaller company we are able to provide a better quality event at nearly half the cost of a NYC company. But what about the DJs and bands that offer "event lighting" for free or a few hundred dollars? This is where you can run in to trouble. It has been our experience that bands and DJs, most likely in-experienced, are offering "event lighting" (mainly up-lighting) and providing a low-quality service, where many of their clients afterward didn't think it made much of an impact on their reception and could have done without it. Most set up the new LED lights and let them run through colors by themselves- SET IT AND FORGET IT. While some clients may be OK with this, color changing often looks tacky and lowers the "formal-ness" of your reception. Solid colors tend to work best. In addition, up-lighting is just one aspect to be included. A ceiling wash, gobo projections, and name projections all complement each other and should be used together. Many DJs and bands don't and can't even offer this! And they only began offering "event lighting" because it is the "hot new thing" and added it to be competitive to each other! At Shindig Lighting we have the experience and education to bring you an elegant and classy event. We work hard planning each event and work closely with the client. We meet all of our clients at least once at the venue to go over color choices, fixture placement, and to get an over-all sense of what the client is looking for. At the event we have a very professional setup and work hard to keep cabling clean and fixtures out of sight (the best we can). An attendant is included with all prices and is very important to have on site. Someone needs to be dedicated to watching the lights if something goes wrong (a light burns out, gets knocked over, etc..). I wouldn't want my DJ or member of the band leaving their station to go work on the lights when they should obviously be concentrating on the music...

In conclusion... Be weary of who you choose to do your event lighting- or any event service for that matter! Ask questions about their service, prices, and experience. Make sure they are insured. Also be weary of DJs and bands that call themselves "entertainment or production" companies. They often provide many different services (lighting, photography, novelty items) at low prices...followed by low quality. Is there a difference between the free-$800, $2,500 and $5,000 event lighting company? Absolutely. Here at Shindig Lighting we strongly believe in our high quality work and stand by our prices. It is up to you to decide what is the best value for your money.