Recently I had the pleasure of live painting guest portraits at a bridal shower in Bergen County, New Jersey (NJ). A bridal shower in northern NJ can look like a lot of different things- themed, classic, backyard picnic, or a premiere $50k event at an elegant banquet hall or luxe wedding venue. Held at Seasons, this mother of the bride and her team did an excellent job at creating a classy, feminine atmosphere that went off without a hitch! Seasons is an excellent catering hall and venue located in the heart of Washington Township, NJ. They have several spaces to choose from and offer amazing food and service. Dose of parties, an NJ event rental and event design business, created a magnificent photo backdrop, flower wall, and gorgeous bridal shower balloon arch to set the tone of the event with soft pinks, creams, and gold. I sat on the side of the room with my assistant with my setup and created guests as they approached the table. My assistant took their photo so they could stop in and then go enjoy the party without waiting in line, and I got to painting the watercolor guest portraits. The host had asked me to do a bit of a different style than my normal work and accentuate the femininity of the portraits, similar to classic fashion sketches. I’ve been trained in so many art forms for over twenty years, so this was not only easy to do but also very fun! Every event is a challenge, but I found these watercolor guest fashion portraits to be quite enjoyable. Also, as an added bonus, doing this style was much quicker so I was able to complete more portraits per hour than normal. Usually I can do 10 people in an hour, which is faster than most other live artists I have met, but in this style I could do 12-13. Typically I have a five hour minimum, but fort showers and smaller parties I waive it. One challenge at smaller events, however, is that often guests want more than one portrait. They may want one with their mother, their bestie, and then by themself. This quickly doubles and triples my workload, and its important to me that everybody who wants one gets one. It’s my mindset that I am an artist for hire and it’s my job to please the host and the crowd as much as I can, so in these circumstances I will talk to the host and see what they’d like me to do. For this shower I finished the portraits at home so everybody who wanted extras was accommodated, but I was able to give everyone at least one before they left. The doubles and triples were completed at home from my reference photos, and then sent to the hostess to distribute at her own discretion. Everybody was very pleased and the family was just amazing to work for. I’m definitely looking forward to offering fashion portraits more often, and hope that II can do some live painting for more bridal showers! I also think it’s a great unique fun idea for baby showers as well. Or how about a themed kids party?
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