This lovely bride and groom knew how to throw a wedding! Their venue was one of the most amazing I've been to, and they had me do a studio caricature from photos beforehand...
...which is why their hairstyles don't match. But everything else did! ;-) I also loved their gold color scheme. The sign-in started out in the foyer during the cocktail hour...which was before the ceremony.
Check out the incredible surroundings of this decommissioned church:
After the ceremony, I started drawing right outside the sanctuary, and the sign-in was moved to where I could remind guests to make sure to sign it!
Now for a few of the caricatures!
Congratulations and thank you to the bride and groom, Taryn and Kyle!
For the second year, my caricatures were part of the New Year entertainment at Philadelphia's hallowed Union League...while the Mummers Parade went on out front:
Well, this one wasn't really a holiday party, it was a French-themed ( I wore my beret ;-) 12th birthday celebration that happened to be during the holidays. December birthdays shouldn't be minimized, and this one wasn't!
Julia's group of friends got full-color-with-theme caricatures, and then I did a group one for her. Thanks for having me!!
We had a sunset wedding ceremony in November, in Valley of Fire State Park---which is about an hour northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada. Joining us was a small group of friends and family. It was absolutely beyond beautiful.
After the ceremony, we had our wedding dinner at Mon Ami Gabi, which is directly across from the fountains at the Bellagio; we had a lovely view of them!
Then we had a cozy reception in our hotel suite, which overlooked the famous Las Vegas Strip, and which is where the caricatures came in...
Four dear friends gifted us with various art forms:
My matron of honor, Celestia Ward, not only baked and decorated that fabulous cake, (it was a scrumptious vegan pineapple-upside-down cake, with bordeaux-maraschino-cherry layers) but she sculpted the witty little cake topper of us as well!!!! I can't thank her enough for all she did in helping us pull off our wedding.
Another dear, dear friend and Master Caricaturist, Jan Opdebeeck, painted this fantastic digital caricature of us, which he sent to Celestia, who printed and framed it. The calligraphy on the mat was done by another delightful friend, Jeff Redford....I was so floored by all this! Then I cried!!!! (with happiness, that is!!! ;-)
Sooooooo us. Thank you, thank you, thank you, dear Jan and Jeff!!
We had all our guests sign it (and now it hangs in our bedroom.)
Celestia started it off the signatures, as was fitting, because she coordinated it.
Here's Marlo and her husband Nick doing the honors, in her dress and his tie adorned with Emily-and-John-faces (!!!!!!!) that Marlo made just for our wedding!
Marlo was responsible for making me look the best I've ever looked in my life...she did my wedding makeup. (My hair was done by a gal in Shag Me Salon, home of great retro hairstyles. Dress was from Trashy Diva and my freshwater pearl jewelry was handcrafted by another artisan I've met through my work, Johnis at Lucky Find OCNJ).
I have such amazingly skilled friends. Just amazing. :-)
Our wedding favors for our guests were more little pieces of art. Celestia hooked me up with a local artisan, Beth Bishop, who handcrafts all sorts of interesting pottery. I bought sake cups for everyone, since we planned for a sake toast instead of champagne. Then I folded up little gift bags (thank you, Pinterest!) tied with a tag featuring my pencil drawing of the bride and groom's eyes. ;-)
The last thing we did on our wedding day (it was almost midnight by then) was walk from Mandalay Bay to the Las Vegas sign for the obligatory photo. In sneakers, I might add!
Our honeymoon was a quick jaunt through some perfectly astounding natural wonders: Zion Canyon, Bryce Canyon, and finally, the Grand Canyon. Couldn't take too much time, because our whole wedding and honeymoon trip had to fit in with my gig calendar!!!
Yes, it was cold.
A long time coming, but this new husband and wife are very happy. :-)