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Our wedding coordinator said that colored uplighting is the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT ITEM to create a "mood" for your wedding. She said she would eliminate centerpieces from a budget if it meant being able to use uplighting. I have read similar reviews multiple places.
Needless to say, we're going with it. Our wedding colors are black, white and red as well and our uplighting will be the color of the last pic you posted.
Let me know if you want to see pics of a "real" wedding when we get them:)
We splurged for uplighting (it was cheaper through our DJ) and I think it really made a difference in the room. I like the first two examples you posted, last one feels a little like a horror movie.
I don't have any pics, but we booked uplighting with our DJ. They really really recommended it, as did the hotel's wedding coordinator. She showed me photos of the room with and without lighting, and there was SUCH a difference. I feel like it's an easy and relatively inexpensive way to jazz up a room (ours we will only need 14-16 uplights = ~$500). Maybe try and negotiate pricing, but if you have a huge room and you need a ton of lights, the price might be fine - ours ended up being $35 per LED uplight that is able to change colors throughout the night. I think we're going to do a soft purple and maybe change colors later in the night. I say go for it :)
We were thinking about skipping it, but we've had a couple more no RSVPs than expected and might have a little more room in our budget. I agree that it does really create more of a mood and ambience. Our reception is in a synagogue hall but I'd really like it to feel more like a wedding space.
@Nicoley1985: Our reception room is pretty huge, the catering manager said it would probably take 40 lights! I think that's why it would be so expensive.
@MaraBeth: Oh wow, that sounds huge! Then that sounds like a great price to me. Do ittt! :)
I went to a wedding where the room was BLech but then they turned on the uplighting and WOW! We were so taken aback by how much a difference it made we splurged for uplighting too.
I added a poll, too. I'm also curious to hear from anyone who doesn't think it's worth it, or who has any alternative suggestions to revamp our boring room. I'm leaning toward yes onthe uplighting but it is quite pricey...
At the last second I decided to add uplighting to our reception space. It was one of the best decisions I ever made.
I constantly look book at the photos and think of how boring it woul dhave looked if we did not do the lighting.
I am telling you, it is completely worth it. If your budget is tight, I would do the lighting and skimp on other decor. Great lighting is all the decor you need!
We were able to negotiate our uplights into our DJ package for free. Does your DJ work for a production company? That would be the best bet! And yes, uplighting is fabulous!
Totally do it! Our venue would have looked rediculous if we hadn't. It really adds sooo much to the space. Here's a picture of ours during the day. It got more dramatic as the night went on. 
I was initially against the added expense even though I knew our space needed the uplighting to soften up the room. The first quote I got was for $4,000, so you can imagine why I was prepared to move on. After a lot of research and negotiating, I was able to get it for far less than that. I am so much happier knowing that we have the uplighting now. I say you should go for it!
@pengoala: We did ask our band about this, but I actually think our caterer's discount with the rental company is cheaper.
@MrsMcGyro: I love the patterns and the name lighting, it definitely adds to the space.
The room is super big, so it sounds like it can get kind of expensive. I love the way it looks in pictures, though, and I think it would be easier than trying to find other ways to decorate such a big (and boring!) space. I'm going to contact him for a more specific quote to find out what we could get!
O, how I wish is was in my budget to have colored up lighting. This lighting transforms any space into something beautiful. Do it if your budget allows!!!
Lighting was the best money we spent in terms of decor. It completely transformed our room. We also did pin spots on the centerpieces and dessert table and that made everything pop and look extra dramatic and special. I say do it.
@Meowkers: Do you remember what the cost of the pinspotting was? I was trying to decide if that was worth it, since we'll be having candles on all of our centerpieces.
100% worth it!! We never even considered it because it wasn't a huge priority to us. But then we went to the open house at our venue and saw it set up with the lighting and it totally made the room look like a wedding! We are soo glad we went with it because it made a huge impact and looked great :)
@MaraBeth: I don't remember how much it was but it was really cheap. I want to say like $16 per light plus the bases they are attached to? something like that. each centerpiece needs two lights so it's adequetly lit. If there is only one light it only gets lit from one side.
I wanted to bump this post because we need to make our final decision in the next few days. The final quote for a pink room color wash, 15 table pinspotted, cake and candy buffet lighting, delivery and setup is $1500.
We're really struggling over whether or not it's worth it to include this, or if we're spending too much. Our original budget was $15,000 and we haven't gone too above and beyond. If we included this, our grand total will be $17,250.
I feel like this seems like kind of a silly thing to go over budget for, so I can't decide. On one hand, we feel like we've already spent so much money, and we want it to be beautiful and have nice ambience. On the other hand...it's $1500! What do you think?
@MrsNeutrino: @meow402: Thanks, I think at this point I'm looking for validation because I'm worried about how expensive everything is getting. Please convince my FI it's worth it...he's not sold yet! 
I agree...uplighting truly makes an impact...I feel like receptions with uplighting make such a significant impact on me as far as ambiance and is truly important if you really want to that "wow factor" (I hate to use that term but it totally applies here) We are definately paying the extra money for uplighting which will run us about $800 if we get LED lights through our venue, but we are looking into other options! DO IT!
@Miss Orchard: That's what I was telling my FI, that it gives it sort of that extra "wow" factor...if we're paying all this money, I want it to look beautiful.
Keep it coming, haha...I haven't convinced him!:) Maybe this thread will...
I totally forgot about lighting until this thread!! Dug an out email that I sent to the lighting company in MARCH! I emailed them today to get on it ASAP.
To me the room without lighting just looks like a room. The lighting really does make it feel like a party. Completely necessary if you want your guests to enjoy themselves. We are adding pink lights and a GOBO too.
Maybe to cut cost ask them what it would be to use half the lights, etc. For example the lights in the first photo seem excessive. They could probably cut them in half and still get a great effect. I estimate just in that picture about $500 in lighting($30/light) and that's not even the whole room! I would ask for a variance on the number of lights. GL!
@baletrina:We are adding pink lights and a GOBO too.
Us too! I love the warmth and ambience of pink lighting. Did you design your GOBO?
I think uplighting changes the mood and really makes a wedding feel like an event. If it is your budget I say go for it. It covers a lot of ground decorating wise and can transform a room.
@baletrina: The photos are just inspiration pics I found on Google images...the quote is based on a color wash and pinspotting for our reception space, which is huge! I think the size of the room has a lot to do with the cost, and there's no way to light up just part of this room.
There's no ambience whatsoever with the overhead lighting (basic industrial fluorescent) and our centerpiece candles aren't going to be enough light, so I think we'll have to do something. I told my FI it doesn't have to be pink...it can be blue if he wants!
I honestly have never been a fan of uplighting. It looks at best like a club to me, and at worst like a prom horror scene. Tons of people seem to love it though. I'd rather have hundreds of candles or something similar, if you're going for a moody dark feel.
I'm going to say that I wouldn't do the uplighting.
It's not that I don't like uplighting, but you said your venue has exposed brick walls and I feel like the uplighting would take away from that. It sounds cool and lofty like it is. I would go with paper lanterns or other types of lighting to enhance that feeling, not cover it up and try and make it look like something else.
This feedback is really helpful, because it is a lot of money and we need to make the decision very soon.
@kala_way: My FI is kind of worried about the horror scene kind of thing...he was like, "If it's blue, will we all just be...blue?" You raise a good point. After talking to the caterer, it sounds like we will need to rent some sort of lighting so it's not totally dark in there, I guess now it's down to whether or not to do a color wash or not.
@MademoiselleL: I feel that I must clarify that our venue is no way cool or lofty, haha. It is an auditorium in a synagogue that has not been updated in probably 30 years or so. We're not allowed to hang anything from the ceiling or walls, and it will be really expensive to partition the room, so it's basically a huge bare space with wood floors, bare walls, and fluorescent overhead lights like you see in an office building.
@Treejewel19: GOBO is not designed yet though one of the GM, a graphic designer, made some different logos for us using some of the art deco details in the building and incorporating our names/initials. We may use one of those. What does yours look like?
@MaraBeth: I know it was a reference shot. Just thought a lower price might convince your FI to say yes!
@baletrina: We designed ours. It is a chandelier with our initials underneath. It will be displayed on the ball room floor. :)
@MrsMcGyro: I'm looking for a lighting company for my NYC wedding. Could you say who you used? Thanks!
I am getting a color wash in pink 30 lights and 4 BOGO and 2 pin spot and a custom monogram for $700 I have been told by friend s that I spent too much money
@RVG1010: RVG.. That is a great price! I'm getting anywhere from $2500 to $4000 for less features. Are you in the NYC area? Could you say the company you are using?
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Our reception room is a good space but it's extremely boring. It's sort of a multipurpose auditorium with some exposed brick walls and an all wood floor. We're not allowed to drape anything from the ceiling, and I'm afraid the ambience wiill be kind of lacking and it won't have that wedding feel.
Do you think it would be worth it to rent some sort of colored uplighting or colored wash lighting? The estimate we got was about $1000 to light the whole room. Our colors are black, white, and red, so I was thinking maybe a warm pink tone like this:
What do you think--worth it or not? If you have any other inspiration pictures, please share!