Okay, so if you’re planning a Philly wedding and picturing a live wedding painter, I’m guessing your brain immediately went to, “I’m going to have to stand still and pose for that, aren’t I?”, like some kind of formal art class model, except everyone’s watching, the cake’s getting warm, and Aunt Carol keeps waving at you from across the room.

Nope. Nopety, nope, naddah. I promise.

Every single Philly couple I talk to asks me some version of this question, so let’s just settle it once and for all, right here.

Here’s the Secret

I’m not painting a photograph of you. I’m painting what your wedding actually felt like, which means I need you living your whole day, not frozen in one spot trying to hold a smile for ten minutes while I get your nose right. Nobody wants that, including me.

I set my easel up somewhere I can see everything, and then I just paint. The first look, the toast, your grandmother absolutely butchering the electric slide and loving every second of it. Whatever’s actually happening is what ends up on the canvas.

Now, here’s the part I get genuinely excited about: I finish that night on site. I’m not sneaking around snapping reference photos so I can go finish the “real” painting later in my studio weeks from your special day. What I manage to capture in the hours I actually have, under the actual chaos of your actual wedding, is the painting. That’s the whole reason to hire a live painter instead of ordering a portrait off a photo later. What you receive is something that was really, truly there.

We’ll talk before the wedding about what actually matters to you. I’m talking every chaotic detail — your grandmother’s ring, the venue’s gorgeous arched windows, your dog who is somehow, against all odds, in the bridal party. That’s where the real planning happens. Once your wedding officially starts, my only job is to pay attention and let the day tell me what belongs on the canvas. 

So, no. You don’t have to stand still, and you don’t have to know where to look. If I’m doing my job right, most of the time you won’t even remember I’m there. Go dance badly. Go cry during the vows. Have your whole entire day. I’ve got the canvas covered.  

Any Philly Venue, Any Vibe

One of my favorite things about painting Philly weddings specifically? I’m SO glad you asked. This city refuses to do just one kind of wedding, and I love that for all of us. I’ve painted in ballrooms so glam and chandeliered you’d swear you time-traveled, somewhere like the Cescaphe, and I’ve painted in exposed-brick, string-lit warehouses that used to make who-knows-what a hundred years ago. I’ve caught riverfront ceremonies near the Water Works where the architecture is basically already art, and Old City weddings where you can practically see Independence Hall over the best man’s shoulder.

Every one of those spaces paints completely differently, and figuring that out, the light, the color, the whole mood of a room, is one of my favorite parts of the job. Philadelphia gives me so much to work with. All you have to do is show up and let your day happen the way it’s already going to happen.

A Few More Things People Ask Me All the Time

Do I need to know when you’re near me? 

Nope. I’m not chasing a specific pose, so there’s no cue to hit.

What if I’m shy or I hate being looked at? 

Most people forget I’m even there after the first twenty minutes. I’m just quietly working off to the side. I promise I’m not narrating my process out loud or asking anyone to strike a pose (which you won’t need to anyway because you’ll be looking fabulous as is.)

Will it look exactly like a photo? 

God, I hope not. That’s not the goal! It’s going to look like what your wedding felt like, which is a way better thing to hang on your wall for the next fifty years, if you ask me.

Do you touch it up later with more photos? 

Nope. Once I set my brush down that night, we’re done. That’s the whole magic of it, trust me. 

Okay, Your Turn

If you’re getting married in Philadelphia and love the idea of art that’s completely finished by the time your reception wraps up, not months later from a stack of photos, reach out and tell me about your day! You don’t need to prepare a single thing, and you especially don’t need to practice standing still.