The Lighting of Regency Balls
Regency balls were a most exciting event. Some would be shorter events, lasting about 4 hours, and some could last up to 8 hours, well into the night. How did they determine the length of a ball? By the candles they selected. Candles had different burn lengths, so they would purchase the candles according to how long they wanted the ball to last. Lighting a ballroom could take up to 300 candles, so having an 8 hour ball required quite an extravagant lighting purchase!