Groom Surprises Bride with Live Wedding Painting at The Tudor Arms!
Let’s talk about a live wedding painting from June 4... This was an exciting one! Oftentimes, when I’m hired to create a live event painting, there is a surprise involved in one way or another. In this case, I got to be part of a surprise wedding gift for a bride from her groom!
Coordinating the surprise was a little trickier than usual... The bride, being a wedding planner by profession, already had every detail covered. She initially contacted me herself, but because she had mentioned to her fiancé that she wanted a live painting of their wedding, he contacted me too, looking to surprise her with the painting as a day of wedding gift. Before I knew it, I was communicating with both bride and groom, independently interested in booking the painting! In the end, as you can see by the look on Stephanie’s face, Jim was successful in surprising his bride with the special wedding day gift that she had been dreaming of.
The Tudor Arms Hotel was a gorgeous wedding venue. I love the vaulted ceilings and the nostalgic charm of all the architectural detailing. Everyone on the staff was super nice, and it was interesting to learn the backstory of this historic building (Read more about the history here)
The layout of the venue made for an excellent flow of events throughout the celebration. The ceremony took place in one room, followed by cocktail hour in another, and finally the reception in yet another room (all adjacent to one and other). I was able to sneak in and get set up during cocktail hour, so when Stephanie and Jim were scheduled to see the reception room for the first time, I was there with my canvas and a surprise message for the bride. Once cocktail hour ended, guests poured into the ballroom just after I had started painting in the background. The timing was flawless (Way to go KirkBrides!)
This was a fairly big wedding, and they more than filled the Crystal Ballroom with guests and excitement. The bride and groom shared their first dance on a grand stage at the head of the room, looking out over all their loved ones. Sometimes I wait until after the wedding to add the bride and groom, but I knew as this was happening, the stage was exactly where they needed to be in the painting. I also made sure to add a couple other details too, like the wedding cake, also cut on stage, and the bride’s brother, who’s piano playing and singing added another personal touch to the evening.
Thanks to KirkBrides for helping me coordinate the surprise and of course to Stephanie and Jim for having me there to paint your big day! Thanks also to The Tudor Arms for being such a wonderful venue, and last but not least Christopher + Julie for getting so many of the great photos below -
