I have experimented with all kinds of lighting effects through the years. I think my "standard" lighting options are the best for most events that your parents, or other "old" people will be at. (Excuse me, Mom.)
My standard light show consists of 24 100 watt floodlights in four colors, in theater-footlight style boxes. (amber, blue, green, red) You'll note that 24 100 watt lamps use a total of 2400 watts -- which is all you can get out of the wall without blowing a fuse. Whenever possible, we like to put lights on three sides of the dance floor. For safety reasons, we put our lights low, direcly on the floor, rather than on tripods, so there is nothing to accidently fall over on someone's head. We try to avoid creating trip hazards with lights and/or cables, so the specifics of how many lights we use, and where we place them will vary depending on the floorplan and electricity available at the venue.
We supplement the colored lights with as many as six high-power (mercury discharge lamps - 750 watts total) blacklight fixtures. In addition to the fun of discovering what upredictable things will "glow," these provide some "light" even during intervals when all our colored lights may be off.
I also have a huge "in your face" light show, that I use most often at High school and college parties I play for. You can have it, if you want, for a moderate additional charge--but you have to ask for it. For more information about my Total Hollywood light show, click here.
There is one funny thing about lights. The wilder, cooler, more flasher a light show is, the more people (usually the older folks) will complain that it hurts their eyes, gives them headaches, makes them dizzy, etc etc. The "old folks" at your wedding are usually special people whom you don't want to drive away. Our standard light show was developed and refined over many years, and through lots of trial and error, to be the biggest "bang" we can put into nearly any room that won't have your grandparents reaching for their sunglasses and Excedrin.
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