Turn your blank canvas venue into a spectacular space

Here are some ideas on how to turn your blank canvas venue into a spectacular space. Take a look at the room as a whole and work out where everything needs to go, what you need to fit into the blank space, whether you need to block off any areas for catering, cloakroom or toilets etc. Think of the flow of guests from arrival through to the event itself.

Partitioning

If the room is too large, or you need to create some smaller spaces within, it’s easy to split the room into the configuration you desire, using either draping, or with flower walls or box hedges etc. Partition drape walls are good if you want to keep each space private and possibly even soundproofed (this may entail using a double wall of draping).

For a room where you want to create separate areas, but want people to see the room as a whole, the low level hedge walls are an excellent option. Balloon walls can also be a fun way to separate areas. Tunnels can also add a fun element to moving from one area to another.

Lighting

Once you’ve sorted the walls and the floor, you can think about the lighting, which is really the most important part of transforming your blank canvas space into something wonderful. Look at the room and decide if there are any obvious places to put uplighters to give an overall colour glow to the perimeter of the room.

If you use battery LED uplighters, you can play around with colours until you get something you love. You can also move them around (as they don’t need plugging in) to get the right balance in the room.

Using lighting

Once you have the uplighters figured, you need to work out what and how to light the other aspects of the room. Do you have tables and chairs? If so you should perhaps think about using some great table centrepieces – ideally ones that are LED lit. Alternatively think about having some pin spot lighting to the table centres to pick out the centrepiece (if they’re not LED ones).

Gobos and projections can also create light on walls, ceilings and floors. If you’re having a dance floor, consider whether it will have its own lighting (LED dance floor) or whether you need your DJ to provide lighting to the dance floor area.

For a lovely subtle glow on poseur tables and coffee tables, you can use lights in glass votives (if the venue allows naked flames). Furniture can also be LED lit, which can look amazing. Props with lighting (such as street lamps, floor lamps etc.) can enhance a theme and also create warmth. Other props can be highlighted with spotlights or uplighters.