Wedding DJ Lighting: 7 Presets That Always Work (2026)

The Wedding Formula

Every wedding reception follows the same rough shape: ceremony, cocktail, dinner, speeches, first dance, open dance floor, cake cutting, bouquet toss, grand exit. Your lighting has a job at each moment, and those jobs are consistent across venues.

The trick to mobile DJ lighting is realizing you can pre-build those moments once and reuse them forever. In CueSync, that means building a wedding venue profile with a full CuePad of tap-to-fire cues. Every future wedding at any venue loads in minutes.

This guide gives you the seven presets every wedding DJ needs, how to build them in CueSync, and when to fire each one.

The Rig

These presets assume a standard mobile DJ rig:

• 6-8 RGBAW LED pars (wash)
• 2-4 moving heads (ADJ Focus Spot series, Chauvet Intimidator, or similar)
• 2-4 LED uplights (for room accent)
• Optional: 1-2 LED bars or battens
• Optional: low-output hazer (check venue policy first)

The complete mobile DJ setup guide covers the full stack — this guide focuses on the creative presets once the rig is running.

Preset 1: Ceremony

When: pre-ceremony guest seating, processional, vows, recessional.

Look: warm amber wash at low intensity. No movement. No color change. No beat reaction. The focus is on the ceremony, not the lighting.

Build in CueSync:

• Fixture group: Wash + Uplights
• Color: amber (CTO 3200K equivalent)
• Intensity: 30%
• Movement: none
• Beat reaction: disabled
• Phrase reaction: disabled
• Drop reaction: disabled

Save as CuePad cue "Ceremony". Tap it before guests are seated, leave it running through the recessional.

Preset 2: Cocktail Hour

When: post-ceremony cocktail hour, mingling, appetizers.

Look: soft blue/lavender wash. Gentle color shift over 2-3 minutes between cool tones. Very low intensity, no beat sync. Background lighting, not event lighting.

Build in CueSync:

• Fixture group: Wash + Uplights
• Color: blue/lavender palette rotation
• Intensity: 40%
• Movement: very slow pan on movers (if any)
• Beat reaction: disabled
• Energy reaction: very subtle intensity modulation
• Phrase reaction: color rotation every 60 seconds

Save as "Cocktail".

Preset 3: Dinner

When: seated dinner, first course through dessert.

Look: warm gold. Low intensity. Absolute minimum movement. Photographers will be shooting candid shots at tables — lighting should be stable, warm, flattering. No surprises.

Build in CueSync:

• Fixture group: Wash + Uplights
• Color: warm gold (amber + magenta tint)
• Intensity: 35%
• Movement: none
• All reactive features: disabled

Save as "Dinner". Great for speeches too — this preset holds through the entire formal portion of the reception.

Preset 4: First Dance

When: first dance, parent dances, any spotlight moment.

Look: isolated warm spotlight on the couple, soft wash around them, rest of the room dark. This is the most emotional visual moment of the reception.

Build in CueSync:

• Fixture group A (moving heads): narrow beam, warm white, pointed at the dance floor center
• Fixture group B (wash): warm amber at 20%
• Fixture group C (uplights): very low blue-purple accent
• Beat reaction: disabled (the music is romantic, not energetic)
• Phrase reaction: subtle slow color shift on uplights only

Save as "First Dance". Pre-aim your movers to the dance floor center before the event — check during sound check.

Preset 5: Open Floor (AutoPilot)

When: after formalities, open dance floor, peak reception.

Look: full energy. Beat-synced intensity pulses on washes. Moving heads fire with energy. Phrase boundaries trigger color palette rotation. This is where CueSync's AutoPilot takes over.

Build in CueSync:

• AutoPilot: ON
• Beat → wash intensity bump (20-40% dynamic)
• Energy → moving head intensity follow
• Phrase → color palette rotation (4-color cycle)
• Drop → brief full-rig flash (capped strobe rate for photographers)
• Bass FFT → slow pulse on uplights

This isn't a discrete CuePad cue — it's your base AutoPilot routing map. Enable AutoPilot at the start of the open floor and leave it running until the grand exit.

Preset 6: Cake Cutting

When: cake cutting ceremony, typically mid-reception.

Look: bright warm wash focused on the cake table area. Minimal movement. Full visibility for the photographer.

Build in CueSync:

• Override wash intensity to 80%
• Color: warm amber
• Moving heads: aimed at cake table if possible (check sound check)
• AutoPilot: temporarily disabled
• Duration: ~60 seconds, then return to previous state

Save as "Cake Cutting". Tap it at the moment, tap again (or a "Return to AutoPilot" cue) when cake cutting ends.

Preset 7: Bouquet Toss + Grand Exit

Bouquet toss:

• Full rig intensity
• Color chase through bright palette
• Moving head sweeps
• Brief energy burst
• Duration: 30-45 seconds

Save as "Bouquet".

Grand Exit:

• Slow fade from current state to warm amber
• Intensity drops from peak to 40% over 10 seconds
• Moving heads home to rest positions
• All reactive features disabled
• Optional: sparkle effect on movers during guest send-off

Save as "Grand Exit".

Building the Wedding Profile

In CueSync:

1. Patch your rig in Routing Editor
2. Build all seven presets as CuePad cues (see above)
3. Build the Open Floor routing map for AutoPilot
4. Save as venue profile "Wedding - Generic"
5. At each new venue, load the generic profile, tune intensities for the room size, save as venue-specific (e.g., "Wedding - Hilton Ballroom")

Over time you'll accumulate a library of venue-specific wedding profiles. Each future gig at a repeat venue reloads in 30 seconds.

Pro Tips

Strobe caps: in the routing editor, set a maximum strobe rate around 2 Hz. Wedding photographers will thank you.

Battery fixtures: battery-powered wireless fixtures eliminate cable runs, which dramatically reduces setup time at wedding venues that prefer minimal visible cables.

Haze policy: always check venue haze policy before setting up. Some venues prohibit hazers entirely; some require warning signs; some don't care. Know before you load in.

Outdoor vs indoor: build separate profiles. Outdoor evening ceremonies need battery fixtures and warm washes only — save a slimmed-down "Wedding - Outdoor Evening" profile.

Rehearsal: if the wedding has a rehearsal and the venue lets you set up, test your cues during the rehearsal. You'll discover issues before the real thing.

DMX addresses: use the same DMX address layout across all your fixtures so the patch is transferable between venues. 8-channel fixtures should all start at 1, 9, 17, 25... with predictable gaps.

The Payoff

Once your wedding profile is built, every new wedding takes about 15 minutes of software setup after the rig is physically rigged. That's the real value of CueSync for mobile DJs: the first profile is work, every subsequent wedding is practically free.

Download CueSync free and build your first wedding profile this weekend. Need the full rig stack first? Start with the mobile DJ setup guide.