Taylor and Drew initially inquired and wanted a live wedding painting AND watercolor guest portraits. Unfortunately, I did not have the team of artists available to complete both of these tasks. Having them both done live also put both of these services out of their budget. Taylor weighed the option and decided she would rather have a full canvas painting. Then, a few months later, Taylor had a bright idea!! “Would it be possible to somehow create the watercolor guest portraits at a later time, and send them out as thank you notes?”
Bingo! We had an idea brewing! We decided that I would arrive a little extra early to begin the painting. Work on that until about half way through and take a break. During that break, I would attend a station that we would have all 200 guests rotate through to retrieve a reference photo for the thank you notes. While good in theory, naturally the guests began to spread out and mingle during cocktail hour. It was almost impossible to gather everyone in one spot, along with the people they belonged to. This was going to take some teamwork!
Live Wedding Painting and Watercolor Guest Portraits
I collected (what I thought) was everyone and resumed working on the painting. Taylor selected a first kiss option with a central symmetry composition. She had incredible soft pink and white rose florals packed with baby’s breath. When their first kiss moment came, Taylor’s veil swept up into the wind and we captured an incredible, flowing, reference photo! The painting came along beautifully, and I took it home to finish it up and create the portraits at home.
As alluded to earlier, I did not collect all the necessary photos. This was my first time trying to accomplish both a live wedding painting and watercolor guest portraits! Thankfully Taylor was incredibly helpful in collecting and arranging the missing individuals and partnering up the ones I had paired with the wrong folks. Unfortunately during this time, Taylor and Drew began weathering some traumatic family events just weeks after their wedding. This distracted them from the excitement of their painting and their thank you notes. But they handled the situation with grace as much as they could. While I didn’t receive the usual excited bride, they were still grateful and wonderful up until the end. Taylor, Drew ~ I am so sorry for the enduring times you received just moments after “for better or worse”. I hope your love anchors you and these times pass with ease. Cheers to your happily ever after!!
