How much does event lighting hire cost: what drives the price

If you want to know how much event lighting hire costs, the short answer is that it depends mostly on one question: is the light there to decorate or to put on a show? A few ambient fixtures and some festoon lights in a wedding venue are set up, focused and need little attention during the party. A stage with moving heads and scene changes needs a DMX desk, programming and a technician running the whole performance. Almost everything we are asked for sits between those two extremes, and from there the price is driven by the number of lighting points, the hours and the travel.

Decorative or stage lighting: the first fork in the road

Decorative lighting is about making the space look good. It is the uplighting that washes the walls in the colour of the décor, the warm festoon over the tables or the lit-up tree at the entrance. It works with static light or a handful of scenes. We go into more detail in decorative lighting for events, and if what you want is festoons and ambience with no stage, it has its own page for festoon and decorative lighting hire.

Stage lighting is there so people look at something: a band, a speaker, the dance floor. That is where front and back light, moving heads and scene programming come in. As a rule of thumb, the more the light changes during the event, the more technician hours sit behind it, and those hours count in the quote.

What drives the price

Once the type of lighting is decided, these are the factors that push a proposal up or down. They do not weigh the same at every event: at a wedding the number of fixtures matters most, at a concert it is the control and the structure.

• Lighting points. Washing all four walls of a hall is not the same as just picking out the top table. Every fixture means equipment, transport and setup time.
• Indoors or outdoors. Outside, cabling has to be protected from the weather, and there is often no power where it is needed.
• Structure. If fixtures have to hang above the audience you need truss, which means extra equipment and extra setup.
• Control and operator. Static light left programmed, or a technician on a DMX desk changing scenes live.
• Hours and days. A single evening dinner does not cost the same as a multi-day event with setup the day before.
• Travel. We leave from Albacete and travel is included in the quote, so distance shows in the final figure.
• Available power. If the space has no sockets nearby, it is solved with battery-powered fixtures or with power distribution, and each option has its cost.

Power causes more surprises than the fixtures

LED fixtures draw little power compared with the halogen lamps of a few years ago. The problem is rarely the lighting on its own; it is the lighting, the sound and the catering kitchen ending up on the same board and tripping the breaker halfway through dinner. That is why we ask how many sockets there are, where they are and whether they run on separate circuits.

Outdoors with no power, the ambience is created with battery-powered wireless LED PAR fixtures that last the whole day. That is how we lit an outdoor wedding in a space with no power points, with setup and removal on the same day.

What each pack includes

We work with three starting formats. Ambience & decoration is light that dresses the space: battery-powered wireless LED PARs and warm festoon lights, with colour and scenes designed for that venue. Stage & live is light that is operated: moving heads, PARs for front and back light, a DMX control desk with programmed scenes and a lighting technician in charge throughout the performance. Large format & architectural is for façades and big venues, with a truss structure to rig fixtures and DMX control with an operator.

All three include setup, focusing every fixture and teardown, and the lighting design is adapted to the venue. What changes from one event to another is the quantity. If you want to understand what the desk does and why a stage needs programming, we explain it in what DMX is and how to light a stage.

Starting prices for our packs

Here are the prices each pack starts from, read directly from our current rates. They are "from" prices: the final quote depends on the date, the location, the hours of service and travel, and a member of our team reviews it before sending it to you.

Large format is always quoted on a project basis, because no two façades or venues are alike. To get an idea of what it involves, see how we approach architectural lighting for façades and buildings.

How to ask for a quote without endless emails

With these details we can send you a concrete proposal first time round:

• Date, town and the name of the venue, if you already have it.
• Whether it is indoors, outdoors or a marquee, with some photos or a floor plan.
• What needs lighting: the room, a stage, the dance floor, a façade.
• Schedule: when we can get in to set up, when the event starts and when the space has to be cleared.
• Available power sockets and where they are.
• Whether there is a performance or talks that need lighting changes during the event.

If you do not know some of these, no problem, we will ask. What helps most is photos: the ceiling height and the points where something can be rigged change the design more than anything else.

Frequently asked questions

Is a technician included?

Yes. Every setup comes with installation, focusing, scene control and teardown handled by a Zenor technician. How long they stay during the event depends on the type of lighting: on a stage with a performance they run the desk for the whole show, while with decorative ambience the main work is in the setup. This is set out in the quote.

Do I need a special power socket?

For most decorative setups, no: LED fixtures draw little power and the wireless PARs run on batteries. A stage with several moving heads does need enough sockets and, as a rule, they are best kept off the kitchen's circuit. Tell us what the venue has and we will assess it before finalising the proposal.

Can you light an outdoor space with no power?

Yes, with battery-powered wireless LED PAR fixtures that last the whole day. They are used to highlight trees, walls and entrances, or for uplighting inside a marquee without running cables across the floor.

How far in advance do you set up?

It depends on the setup and on what the venue allows. Decorative ambience can be set up and removed on the same day. At some outdoor venues we set up the day before and remove everything the day after, when the site allows it. We agree it based on the schedule you give us.

Do you work outside Albacete?

Yes, all over Spain. Our base is in Albacete and travel is included in the quote, which is why the first thing we ask is the town.