An intimate wedding at the Chateau de Lis.

Personally, if/when I get married, I really want a small wedding. Maybe a max of 35 people. I think there is something to be said about an intimate gathering, where you get to really engage with everyone there.

Tiffany and Andrew’s wedding was like this. I think there were about 25 guests. At dinner, they were all set up at one long banquet table which I actually hadn’t yet seen at a wedding.

The setting was a lovely venue in West Linn, OR called the Chateau de Lis (which I’d actually been to before, working catering with Portland Catering Company). There was a pleasant, relaxed vibe at this wedding. One of the planners from Birdie June Events told me they were a little behind schedule, partially because the couple had been quite literally frolicking in the nearby grassy field, which I think is pretty much the most whimsical way you could hold up a wedding timeline.

All the guests at this wedding had flown in from elsewhere, as the couple was from Florida. As a native Oregonian, it makes me happy when someone chooses the beautiful Pacific Northwest as a destination spot!

I love when I get to draw everyone who really wants to be drawn, and when my contracted time is up, instead of having a line of guests that couldn’t get a live portrait, it ends naturally when the guests move onto a different stage of the celebration (in this case, it was dinner!).

This was the first time where a couple didn’t opt for a custom sign- and while I still drew them to display on the table, I used my generic “live portraits” sign to explain the service. Because I’d used the sign at markets, it had “with pets!” written on it, so one guest asked if she could have her dog Trixie in the drawing based on a photo of her. Of course I had to oblige.

If you’re interested in having me as a live wedding guest artist, you can check out more info here.

You can also find me at the Veil and Vows wedding expo held at the Victorian Belle mansion on November 15th doing free sample portraits!