Outdoor beach wedding reception lighting...help please!

[Deleted User]

Hi ladies!

I am planning an outdoor wedding and reception on Anna Maria Island, FL. We rented a house that is on the beach and has a roof top deck. We chose this house mostly because of the roof top. We thought this would be an amazing place for a reception. The roof deck is about 30 x 30. I love the look of the lit up, glowy type of receptions. So, my plans so far are to have this floating candle center piece (wide bowl with shells at bottom and floating candles, surrounded by votive candles) and strung globe lights above (would like to have the 1 1/2 to 2 inch bulbs - kinda like outdoor restaurant patios sometimes have). My question is.... how much light should I need? The size lights I want are pretty expensive. Also, I don't want to wash out the effect of the candle center pieces with too much light from above - ya know. Anyone have any experience with lighting outdoor receptions?

Also, any advice on decorations for the roof would be welcomed. I'm not much of a decorator, but we decided early on that we would DIY almost everything so that we could afford this lovely house for the week.

OBX2011

I would keep it minimal and consider using clear Christmas lights as I think the globe lights may be too much, like you had mentioned.

I may stay away from decorating the roof as well b/c no one would really see it if they are under it.....right?  (Trying to envision this over here).

Keep it simple and remember that less is more.  We used the clear lights and strung them across the top of the trellis  and up & down the posts for the patio area at our reception and it was gorgeous.

[Deleted User]

We have a ton of clear christmas lights, but I figured those wouldn't give off enough light. Can you send me pics from your reception OBX? Would love to see how it looked. We will be on the roof, so other than the moon, there's not going to be any light out there once it gets dark.

ellentravis

The LED Christmas lights might give you more light/more glow.

dianalynm

I love the look of cafe lights...

OBX2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_outdoor-weddings_outdoor-beach-wedding-reception-lightinghelp-please?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:666Discussion:ddc115e6-2f9a-4a0f-a4a1-d29a1205b2ddPost:381d7f4f-de22-47d3-9247-4a56e812dbae">Re: Outdoor beach wedding reception lighting...help please!</a>:
[QUOTE]We have a ton of clear christmas lights, but I figured those wouldn't give off enough light. Can you send me pics from your reception OBX? Would love to see how it looked. We will be on the roof, so other than the moon, there's not going to be any light out there once it gets dark.
Posted by hbbdolphin[/QUOTE]

Sure! 

Send me a PM with your e-mail and I'll see what I can find :)

abcollins08

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_outdoor-weddings_outdoor-beach-wedding-reception-lightinghelp-please?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:666Discussion:ddc115e6-2f9a-4a0f-a4a1-d29a1205b2ddPost:5f4c10f3-70e3-4f23-a6ab-343013a7b036">Re: Outdoor beach wedding reception lighting...help please!</a>:
[QUOTE]I love the look of cafe lights...
Posted by dianalynm[/QUOTE]

This.  You could string them in a zip-zap pattern across the top of the roof.