Why Book an Artist For Your Wedding?

You already have photographers and possibly a videographer, so why book a sketcher as well? I would never suggest you get an artist INSTEAD of having a photographer, although I have been asked to sketch a wedding that had no official photographer before; it’s very rare and I wouldn’t recommend it. Your memories of the day are precious and as a sketcher I can’t capture absolutely everything that happens, being busy creating the sketches and not watching everything like a photographer does. Sketches work well as an alternative way of capturing your memories and are a great complement to photography. I have worked alongside some brilliant photographers and would never try to replace them!

As an artist I have some tools photographers don’t have. I will give you a few examples:

I can focus on what makes the story and leave the other parts out. I choose what I include in my sketches and what I leave out. I don’t need to include other people in the background if the focus is on you, for example. It’s like shining a spotlight on what’s happening. I can and do include people in the background sometimes, when it’s important to do so.

Alter the scene – for example, people don’t smile all the time, naturally; that would be quite exhausting. And sometimes it may give a wrong impression in a photo! But I can make people smile in my sketches if needed 🙂 . I can alter positions of people to make a better sketch, move them a bit closer together, combine what happened over a short period of time rather than a split a second, be a bit more flattering etc… The important thing is I am capturing the mood, the feel, the memories. The sketches should take you back to your special day and that’s the driving force behind my illustrations.

Entertainment – Sketch display on the day. I display the sketches I create on the day at the venue for everyone to enjoy. They are very popular with guests, and people often come back to the display to see what’s been added. People also like to come and see what I am drawing, ask questions etc – they are very welcome to do so.

Less posing – people don’t tend to pose for me like they do for official photographers. Although I do take photos as well for making further sketches afterwards, people don’t react to me in the same way. And even if they do, I can always try to catch them unaware at another time! I always focus on sketches that tell the story of the day, big moments or small.

Include loved ones who couldn’t be present. This one is a special one: I am asked to do this quite often and I count it a privilege to be able to do so.

So just to wrap it up, my sketches work more as illustrations rather than attempting to capture a particular moment exactly as it happened in that second. It’s close to how we remember life. I do always ask what you want me to focus on, of course. It’s really important to me to create something special for you, something that will take you back to one of the most important days of your life, as you flip through the pages of your sketch album.