Invite me to your wedding

So, when you think of some of the projects you might contact a decorative painter for, a number of things might come to mind. Paint a mural, create an artisan finish, add some clouds to a ceiling. But here’s a request that was as much unexpected as it turned out to be great fun.

I was contacted by a mother of a bride to be. Might I consider handling some of the “more artistic” aspects of her daughter’s wedding?

You betcha! It’s a great feeling to dig deep into the bag of skills one collects as a decorative artists, and pull them out to use in a new and unexpected way.

The bride shared her palette, which I converted to Benjamin Moore colors I’d be able to use. She also requested, a touch of gold. Oh yeah, we are in business now.

So I’ll walk you through some of the items I handled. The bride’s Dad was going to be constructing two large frames on which strung wires would hold the seating place cards. Here is the sample I created. I used a molding Dad had found. It had a simple leaf pattern that tied into the elegant leaf motif that appeared on printed invitation. I painted it green first, then waxed it with a soft brown wax that gathered in all the crevices in a very subtle manner. Lastly, they were finger gilded in metallic gold wax.

Here’s a closeup of the frames and how they looked on site. 

All of the signage you will be seeing are done by hand. First, I would start with a scaled drawing for the bride’s approval. 

Here is what it looked on the big day.

 By the way, the concept of an “unplugged” wedding was new to me. I endorse it hardily.

Another group of signs needed to be done in multiples. In this case, I lettered an original by hand and then made color copies to keep the expense down yet not loose any effect. Here’s a shot of all that lettering. 

Let’s follow up with the work on the wedding day.

The theme was followed seamlessly. Here is the welcome sign, both closeup and on site. 

I’d be remiss not to share, with permission, the newly wed. I loved this photo that really showed their personality. It was a pleasure working with them and the bride’s parents and adding my skills to a fairytale wedding.

I’ll end this newsletter with another more unusual use of my skills. 

Following is a trifold screen I painted for my son and daughter-in-law’s wedding. It served to hold photographs of several generations of both families. The backdrop is the Mountainview Grand in the White Hills of New Hampshire. I’ve enclosed a closeup of a photograph of the property and my painting of it. 

Thinking outside the box and a little paint magic. A perfect pairing.