tips for a successful uplighting rental

Designing and setting up your own event lighting can easily save you hundreds of dollars, but those savings aren't going to be worth it if you're not happy with the results. Here's a couple quick tips to ensure you have a great experience:

Don't wait until the last minute to rent lights!

As soon as you decide you want to create a wall wash lighting effect at your event, put in your reservation . Busy weekends will fill up and we will rent all of the lights, but if you have a reservation in, rest assured we've got you covered.

Book a couple more uplights then you think you need

You can never have too many lights! The most common mistake do-it-yourselfers make is not booking enough lights. One of the reasons a professional lighting designer's quote may seem so high is they are quoting for an appropriate number of lights for the venue space, and then adding a couple extra to make sure it looks awesome. This also ensures that in the case of technical difficulties, you'll have an extra light or two to make up for one thats not working.

We test all of the lights before sending them out, however the reality is that any of the lights can get damaged during shipping to you, or even just stop working when you plug them in due to a bad power connection. This happens to about 0.01% of all the lights we send out. You would get a refund if you couldn't use a light of course, but that doesn't help that much if it was critical to your lighting design to have a specific number. Pros expect this and have back-up.

How many lights should you rent? That's totally up to you to decide, but in general 1 light per every 6-12 feet (approximately).

Are you renting the correct lighting equipment?

Remember these lights are for indoor use only. They are not weather-proof. If they get wet, that can cause an electrical fire. Obviously, that would be very, very, very bad. DO NOT USE THESE LIGHTS OUTSIDE. Tents are okay as long as it is completely covered.

Save the box and return label

A pre-paid UPS return label is included with every box. After your event, simply pack up all lights and cables into the same box they came in and attach the return label. You can take the boxes to any authorized UPS pick-up location.

Tip! Hide the boxes underneath a table at your party (like the cake/desert, gift or sign-in table) so venue staff doesn't throw them away.

Designate a responsible friend or family member to set-up and pack-up the lighting

If you're the party host or the star of the show, you're going to be really busy the day of your event. Recruit a friend ahead of time to handle the lighting for you. Make sure that person knows ahead of time how to set them up, what color you want them to set , where you want them to go, etc. Maybe even have your buddy watch one of our videos?

This will help everything go super smooth on the day-of!

Avoid Late Fees

Late fees are a huge bummer. Avoid by sending back on time. If there is a problem returning them, let us know as soon as possible. We're always much more likely to give breaks to people who communicate with us ahead of time.

Keep an eye on them (especially at events open to the public!)

Before renting a common concern from our customers is regarding damage. Truthfully though, its incredibly rare for us to charge any damage fee. Much more common is theft. Especially when in use at events open to the public. Remember, when you rent stuff you're responsible for it, so try and keep an eye on them throughout the event.

We want you to have a great experience setting up your own up lighting effect! If you have any questions, feel free to send along an email or on twitter @rent_uplights.