Why do we put lights on Christmas trees?

December is here! It’s our favourite time of the year here at the Garden Lighting Shop! Snow on the ground, logs in the fire, and best of all – Christmas lights everywhere! Whether you’ve put yours up yet or not, the Christmas tree is probably the most quintessential aspects of the festive season.

Each year we all cut down a tree, (or grab it from the loft), and decorate it with lights, tinsel and decorations - but have you ever thought about how this tradition started?

Well people actually started lighting Christmas trees in the middle of the 17th century. Candles were attached to the end of tree branches with wax or pins and were adhered to the tree to represent shining stars. This tradition started in Germany and spread to Eastern Europe over the next two centuries. As you can imagine this was a serious fire hazard, so most people wouldn’t put their trees up until Christmas Eve, ensuring that they would only be up for a brief period of time while the tree was still fresh and less flammable.

The custom of putting strings of lights on trees began in 1882. Edward Johnson – an associate of Thomas Edison – wired red, white and blue bulbs together and placed them on an evergreen tree. In 1895, President Grover Cleveland followed suit and decorated a Christmas tree in the White House with stringed lights! The public took notice, and the tradition has been ever since.

Not surprisingly, it used to be extremely expensive to have a lit Christmas tree. Electricians would have sold bulbs for this purpose, but they would have needed to be wired together by a professional electrician, so only very affluent people would have had a lit tree.

These days’ festive holiday lights use LED (light-emitting diode) technology. These lights are far more efficient than incandescent lights and have a much longer life-span!

The Christmas tree: It’s long been a symbol of the holiday season. If you’re looking to decorate a tree outdoors this year, our beautiful festoons are a fantastic option. You really can enhance your festivities with our range, which are not only beautiful, but are safe to use and excellent value too! Take a look for yourself here. 

Why we love our Festoon Lighting...

Here at the Garden Lighting shop we provide the most stunning beautiful festoon & outdoor party lights that are perfect for so many occasions and events...

Built to our own high specification, our quality lighting harnesses are designed to offer practical, discrete and truly magical lighting schemes! They have been used for:

• Outdoor functions and parties
• Decorative lighting solutions for alfresco dining
• Marquee and tent lighting
• Display and sign lighting
• Wedding lighting
• On film sets

We can offer bespoke manufacturing to suit any specific application you may have, as well as offering both black and white rubber extendable festoon strings!

Absolutely perfect for weddings and parties, and ideal for both indoor and outdoor installations, our versatile range is guaranteed to transform any space into a picturesque wonderland. From decorative party lighting to commercial sign lighting, our lights come in a variety of lengths and styles and offer a quick and economical lighting solution! 

They can be used for both domestic and commercial applications such as the illumination of wedding marquees, commercial buildings, garden gazebos, window displays and large Christmas trees... the possibilities are endless!

Equally they make great outdoor party lights you home use and can be installed as a permanent lighting solution!

What’s more is our extensive range of lamps are available in a range of styles including retro, incandescent and shatterproof LED lamps!

Here at the Garden Lighting Shop we are passionate about all things garden lighting! We know that our Festoon Lighting solutions are great, otherwise we wouldn’t sell them! If you require help or assistance, or just want to know more about our Festoon Lighting products, please don’t hesitate to give us a call and we will be happy to help. 

Exciting new products at The Garden Lighting Shop!

Today’s blog is dedicated to some exciting new products we have for you! As you know, we are forever adding new products to our stock, keeping you right up to date with all the latest in the world of garden lighting... So what do we have for you today...

We have introduced two state of the art Solar Powered LED PIR operated floodlights to our existing security lighting range!

The Mightylite Solar Powered LED Floodlight is the perfect fitting to be used in areas where a mains power supply is unavailable ore unstable. These lights are absolutely ideal for lighting pathways, trails, driveways, perimeter security and many other locations!

Both models are equipped with an Intelligent Light Control Battery Management System maintaining the battery efficiency!

Available in both 8w and 28w versions they both offer the perfect solution where mains power supply or unstable. Ideal for lighting pathways, trails driveways, perimeter and many other locations. They are also -

Weatherproof

The fitting and solar panel are completely weatherproof and offer a IP 65 protection rating

PIR Sensored

The PIR sensor will detect movement up to 10m away! A passive infrared sensor (PIR sensor) is an electronic sensor that measures infrared (IR) light radiating from objects in its field of view. They are most often used in PIR-based motion detectors.

Digital Charge Controller

This ensures maximum charge to the battery without over-charging

Fully Certified

This fitting is fully certified with UL, CE, RoHS and LVD approvals, ERP compliant & European Approvals!

• Product Specification
• Wattage: 28W
• Lumens: 2300
• Colour Temperature: 5400K
• Operating Temperature: -30˚C- + 60˚C
• Lithium Battery: 2AH Internal Battery
• Running Time: Dusk til Dawn
• Voltage: 4.2V
• Min. Light: 150 Lumens
• Med. Light: 300 Lumens
• Max. Light: 2300 Lumens
• Solar Panel: 10W
• Solar Module Efficiency: 17.1%
• Solar Max. Voltage: 6.12V Mpp (Maximum Power Point)

Take a closer look at these wonderful lights here, or give us a call on - 01773 541 003 –if you want any more info!

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Festive festoons

Although many of us have plenty of experience when it comes to creating festive cheer with Christmas decorations, each year always seems to bring about something new in the way of wreaths, tree hangings and ornaments.

Every Christmas tree has its fair share of lights, having become an integral part of modern day Christmas experiences ever since their first invention in 1882, when Thomas Edison decided Christmas needed that extra sparkle when he decided to hang his innovative light bulbs outside his home. But what about going that extra mile this festive year and making your home stand out by unleashing your Christmas spirit, marking the path for Santa or illuminating a particular display?

Whether at home or in your workplace, our range of lighting solutions offer cost-effective, weather-proof, energy-saving solutions which are brighter, more varied and even customisable to your needs.

Choose between festoon lights or party lights for that extra sparkle whether hanging, shaping or displaying objects, ornaments or decorations.

A clever marketing tactic, festoon and party lights can even be used to attract buyers during their Christmas shop or create a festive ambience during Christmas parties.

From beautiful symbolic shapes right through to festoon and LED drapes, you can create a Christmas display for your home or business that will be bigger and better than last year with our range of lights.

Whether you want temporary fittings or more permanent fixtures we can advise on the right fittings for you without pulling on the purse strings.

Contact us today.

All Hallows Eve lighting

You may be forgiven for thinking that Halloween is a staunchly horrific American tradition, the crazy costumes, pranks, menace and decorations surrounding the occasion may all sound like child’s play but the concept of Halloween is becoming very firmly established this side of the Atlantic.

Gone are the days of considering the commonly regarded Pagan holiday as an excuse to prey on the gullible and here are the days where All Hallows Eve is one of the most highly anticipated holidays of the year!

With this in mind, the arrival of October can only mean one thing: getting your costume, ghoulish masks, make-up and pumpkins at the ready, with the next step deciding what you will be doing to celebrate.

If you’re past the age of 12, it is likely trick or treating is off the cards, which can only mean one thing – party!

Autumnal evenings provide the perfect backdrop to create your own scarefest, still dark nights, and rustling leaves, but are they enough to create the right setting? Whether you opt to host your party, indoors, outdoors or both, having the right lighting to set the perfect mood, tone and atmosphere will be vital to ensuring your Halloween party is enough to keep your guests talking until next Halloween – if they get to see the night through...

At The Garden Lighting Shop, we understand that Halloween is mostly about the sensory experience, the sights, the smells and the sounds.

All of our festoon, party and LED rope lights provide perfect opportunities to enhance one of these senses and can be used both in and outdoors, easily fixed and removed, making them re-usable all year round.

Here we bring you our guide to the three types and how they can be used to set the eerie stage for your themed party:

Festoon lights
With a variety of colours and brightness of LED lamps to choose from, our 240v mains operated festoon lights are robust and can be applied in either domestic or commercial fittings indoors or outdoors to illuminate marquees, gazebos, or a festive Halloween display if you wish to draw particular attention to something spooky.

The added bonus of the lights from our ranges is that you can fully customise the length and harness materials to be shaped around your requirements, so that if you want to make them a more permanent fixture to withstand all weather conditions, you can.

LED Rope lights

Seamless to hang and with enhanced flexibility for simple shaping and moulding our ranges of LED rope lights offer excellent versatility. In a great choice of colours, you can also decide just how bright or dim you want the festivities at your Halloween gathering to be. Do you want to recreate the ambience of candlelight or illuminate some of your garden fittings such as ornaments or statues to create lurking shadows that offer elements of mysteriousness?

Party Lights

Low voltage and long lasting for energy efficiency and practicality, our party lights are made from LED shatterproof lamps which are available in a variety of styles from coloured lanterns through to replica oil lamps and warm coloured bulbs making them ideal for displays and generic decoration for application throughout a series of festive events throughout the year in or out doors.

If you want to achieve atmosphere at your party as a temporary fixture then these lights offer perfect malleability to be shaped or hung elegantly or eerily.

With a range of lighting solutions to choose from at The Garden Lighting Shop we’re leaving it up to you whether you want to give your  friends and family a trick or treat this Halloween. Contact us today to discuss your lighting needs, we’re always happy to help.

Illuminate your business with festoon lighting

The ambience and mood may not be the first thing that you consider when planning out the design of your business, however as one of the methods of enhancing the overall experience of your customers whether shopping, dining or negotiating, careful attention should be paid to these aspects.

By doing so you can ensure that any extensive planning that has gone into the rest of your design, layout or business is showcased and nurtured in the right way while guaranteeing maximum comfort for those spending time in your working areas.

Lighting is the perfect method of improving the atmosphere of your establishment. Paired with the right wall colours and in keeping with your designs, lighting can showcase your products and make customers want to spend more time in the comfort of your company’s building.

Restaurant lighting

A restaurant is the perfect example of how lighting can encourage relaxation and mood, setting the tone for how your customers should feel. While it should hold a practical solution for customers to be able to read menus and see what they are eating, the lighting’s design and implementation can make room for some wonderful opportunities for experimentation.

Careful attention should be made to placement and brightness and particular consideration should be given to the heights of your ceilings, colours of walls, flooring and upholstery as well as your furniture arrangement.

DON’T- Picking permanent lighting fixtures for your restaurant that highlights your table arrangement, when you plan to rearrange furniture in the future will not be beneficial or cost effective for your business.

Bright lighting is a practical solution if you have a darker decor or wish to highlight aspects of your room, however dimmer lighting is often favoured for its cosier and more intimate feel – whichever you opt for make sure that it is evenly distributed so that it will not highlight one customer over another or make them feel uncomfortable.

DO - Consider incorporating various types of lighting to highlight one area over another. If you have a bar, it is likely you will want this to be brighter than the table lighting so that your patrons can see what they are drinking and your staff can see the drinks that they are making.

Some restaurants are open throughout the day, and if yours is one of them, designing your room layout and decor is likely to be impacted by this. The sun is likely to be one of the biggest factors to consider when choosing lighting during the day so contemplate varied lighting solutions or lighting that has adjustments for dimness and brightness.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner all provoke different requirements for lighting intensities. While breakfast should be bright, lunch should be moderate, they say to boost fast turnover rates and dinner lighting should be dim with an intimate and leisurely feel. 

Think of the sun as your base light level and work up from that, combining a mixture or accent and feature lighting can provide visual interest as well enhance the decor of your room. Why not considered coloured bulbs, for extra interest?

DON’T – Overpowering a room with too many types of lighting can be overwhelming and off putting, your customers don’t want to go home with a headache so be experimental and stylish but reserved.

The use of LED lighting solutions is growing in popularity among restaurants, bars and shopping businesses, not only for their cost efficiency, using up to 90% less energy than normal bulbs but they are also available in various colours and can be used to create a variety of moods, adding luxury without the price tag. – Take a look at our range of LED lamps and light bulbs.

Festoon fun

Festoon harness lighting and rope lights come in a variety of styles, colours and lengths which boast versatility, practically and fun in a diverse range of applications. While decorative and malleable into any shape or design that is required, they also provide the perfect balance of ambience and mood which can particularly efficient in a restaurant or dining setting.

Although completely at home in the outdoors, our festoon lighting are becoming increasingly more popular in internal display and functional applications due to the encompassing affect that they have in the situations that they are used.

One of our more recent projects saw our 2330 series festoon harness lights (pictured above) installed in the Bar BBQ on Ice pop up restaurant offering a comprehensive lighting solution that was completely bespoke and tailored entirely to Alexander Waterworth Interior’s, who designed the layout, requirements. 

You can see from their application that these lights were both functional in the day and at night, without being too overbearing or dim and boasted the second purpose of decoration for added ambience. As the restaurant was a pop up shop, their temporary fixture allows them to be used again when the bar decides to relocate to a second location.

Now shortlisted for a major prize at the Restaurant and Bar Design Awards which are set to take place later this month, we think the bar and designer Alexander Waterworth have show just how applicable an  d attractive festoon lighting can be in a business environment –

We wish them luck!

The 2330 range

We think the attraction to the 2330 range possibly came from the tailor-made aspect which allows you to cater your festoon lighting to your individual requirements with a bespoke harness solution which is manufactured in the UK.

Made from a tough black PVC and a varied selection of lamp holders, a designer or business owner can choose the entire design to fit their specifications from deciding what distance from the power supply the lamps need to be right through to the individual spacing measurements between the lamps.

Choose between various lamp designs including the shatter-proof golf ball lamps, or Retro 40w lamps.

Indoor or outdoor?

Our NEW extended range of mains powered and low voltage festoon lighting solutions are perfect for outdoor functions or more permanent indoor fixtures wherever functional or decorative lighting is required.

If you are a domestic, commercial or public customer, and have a project that you think that our festoon lighting could be a part of then please get in contact with us today.

What Garden Lights Should I Go For?

When it comes to garden lights there certainly isn't a shortage of choice, which can often make choosing your lighting a difficult decision. The best thing to do is to first decide what purpose you want the lights to achieve, then when you have a selection of the most suitable lighting you can choose what style you prefer!

There are many reasons for wanting to add some lighting to your garden and outdoor areas, a few of these are security, decoration, visibility and of course for partying.

Security

In recent years it has become more and more popular for people to have security lighting in either (or both) their front and rear garden areas, and you will no doubt have noticed a number of houses on your street with lights that turn on as you walk past them in the dark.

This type of lighting is in fact a proven deterrent for burglars and it is clear to see why, no burglar would be able to sneak unnoticed into a house that’s garden is lit up; so it is really no wonder that they have become so popular!

Flood and area lighting can not only detect or deter intruders but it can make you feel safer and it is important that everyone feels safe in their own home.

Decoration

Especially during the summer month’s people want to spend as much time as possible outdoors, with warmer evenings it is nice to be able to spend time eating and drinking in your garden. Decorative lighting will not only make your patio, terrace or lawn look lovely but it will also enable you to spend this time outdoors without being in the dark!

Another form of decorative lighting is landscape lighting, this is a fantastic way of making your garden look stunning and highlighting parts that you want to stand out; it can even make your garden look dramatic, especially if you have a larger garden with lots of plants or trees.

During the festive season lighting is a popular way of turning your outdoor space into a Christmas haven, either with lights on the house itself or in the general garden area.

Visibility

At night it can be tricky to see exactly where paths and driveways go or even where a patio or terrace ends and the grass areas begin. By lighting the edges of these paths, driveways or patios you can improve visibility and make walking around these areas a little easier.

As well as aiding visibility, this kind of lighting can also make the areas look more attractive and give your outdoor areas a certain charm.

  

Party Lighting

Festoon lighting is perfect for when you need your outdoor areas lit up for a party, as well as being practical they also act as decorations!

There are likely to be many times throughout the year when you are going to host a party: New Year, birthdays, anniversaries, Halloween, Bonfire night, Christmas, the list goes on!

Both white lights and coloured lights are a popular choice for outdoor party lighting, and both are sure to get everyone in the party spirit as well as making the area look more attractive and of course enabling people to see!

Once you know what category to choose from you do of course still have plenty to choose from, whether you want modern or classic styles, white or coloured lights; but unfortunately no one can tell you which is best for you, it is all down to personal taste.

For an extensive selection of garden lights, The Garden Lighting Shop is an excellent choice and once you’ve visited the site, if you still can’t decide which are most suitable for your needs don’t hesitate to get in touch and a member of the team would be happy to help and advise you.