Overwhelmed by Outdoor Lighting

helleb

We are renting a large cabin on a lake for our outdoor ceremony/reception.  I am very excited to have an outdoor ceremony/reception but since it is a non-traditional venue unless we hire privately we are on our own for setup/tear down.

Although I am excited I am very overwhelmed by the lighting aspect! There are some trees to which we could hang things from but otherwise it is a fairly open space and the wedding will be from 5 to 11.  I am so overwhelmed my fiance offered a coordinator just to help figure out the lighting but since we are renting the cabin its not like we can check it out whenever we want plus a coordinator seems super expensive.

Does anyone have any ideas on lighting a large area at night?  I want to make sure that it is soft and romatic but also that my guests can see lol!  I am also checking into any event lighting companies in the area (Mankato/St. Peter, MN) but am not sure if any exist.

Thanks for your help and suggestions!

shiolands

Have you thought about white Christmas lights?

reppunzel

White Christmas lights are beautiful and romantic; also research Chinese lanterns (white or to match your colors -- they're available online, both prelighted and with separate LED lights you hang inside).  Since you'll be outdoors, you could also get some garden-style shepherd's hooks (on clearance right now in my area, since they're considered a summer thing) that you can hang lanterns/candle lanterns from.  You can line paths with paper bag luminaries (again, white or colored -- fill the bottom with sand and put in a candle -- flameless, if you'd like, or encased in glass); if you want you could decorate the bags with a monogram, pressed flowers, a design, etc.

Our local rental company also has street lamps that you can rent.

reppunzel

Also these might be an option:
http://www.skylanterns.us/Glo-Loons-trade-Balloon-Lights-s/86.htm

We're thinking about using them for our send-off.

helleb

Thanks ladies! I am super excited to look into all these ideas and its an awesome idea to start shopping now at end of summer sales!!