A fine art wedding creates a bespoke and elegant day for you and your guests to remember.

Did you know the first fine art live painting of the royal family dates back to 1505? And honesty hour? The royals stood still for a LOOOONG time waiting on the artist to complete his painting.  

Sidenote: Queen Victoria actually painted her own watercolor paintings! 

No—if that’s not enough, fine art weddings have been around for CENTURIES…

And people have given all their heart eyes to those artists over the years.  

But how to make your wedding — THE moment you want to *stand the test of time— as enticing as a painting in the Louvre? 

A fine art wedding is MORE than hand painted table cards, a floral arrangement, or a fine art photographer. 

Those are all lovely, but a fine art wedding is about the feeling you evoke.    

In this post, you’ll learn about five curated fine art wedding ideas you haven’t heard of (but should have!)

INVITATIONS

Do you have a sibling? If you do you know the sheer devastation that comes with one sibling getting invited to a party and the other one… 

Well… doesn’t…

One instance I remember vividly—the invitations were THE FREAKING DEAL. 

Like, in the way of 8 year old birthday parties, this was sure to be the party of the year.  I could tell based on the invitation.  

But it wasn’t to me.  

It was to my sister.

Now, I didn’t get invited (which my parents had a *little bit of a* cow over…)

BUT here’s my point with this story— the invitation set the tone for the entire party. 

And according to my sister, it was pretty awesome.  I guess we’ll have to take her word for it… *wink*

And I promise you, 20 years later I’m not bitter about it…

One of the easiest ways to set the tone for your wedding day is to create the invitations that tell your story. 
Hand painted invitations (yes, that’s a thing and they’re gorgeous). A painting printed on the lining of your envelope. A sketch on your RSVP or map to the venue.

The world is your oyster.

---

LIVE WEDDING PAINTING

At one very family friendly wedding, all the little girls spent a lot of time at my easel watching me live painting.  

Suzanne Klimek, Private Events Manager for The Civic Center Music Hall in Oklahoma City, said this:

“Courtney is the perfect combination of professionalism, kindness, creativity and entertainment. She arrives on time, comes with her own setup and will be as interactive or tucked away as you would like.  She creates amazing, detailed pieces that can hang in your home for years to come.

 At the last wedding we had with Courtney, she had little girls lining up to watch her paint and ask her questions!”

The category is interactive entertainment or art-inspired design. Whatever you want to call it, live wedding painting is a HIT at weddings.

First of all—it’s legitimate fine art that you get to see come to life.  Live painting shows your love story PLUS a peek behind the curtain to an artist’s hidden creative process.

And the artist paints for you and your guests, live in front of everyone. You get to watch an entire painting of your deeply rooted love come to life.  

I like to say I create heirloom paintings as well loved as you are, because that’s the truth.

It’s a once in a lifetime event—like your wedding day.  

Shameless plug: I create beautiful timeless heirlooms (ahem,through live painting) for couples who want to captivate their guests AND capture their wedding day beautifully and timelessly, and I do it live.

I’m a live wedding painter.  Hire me to paint your wedding.

---

DELICATE TOUCHES ON YOUR TABLESCAPE

I remember when I was a kid helping my mother set the table at Christmas.  I loved learning where each piece went.

Making sure it was in the perfect spot. Folding the napkins. Arranging the plates on the chargers. My great grandmother’s goblets that got pulled out *only* for special occasions such as this…

It was a work of art.

I’ve always admired how my mother—to this day—creates gorgeous swoon-worthy (blech did I really just say that?!) tablescapes. They looked amazing and left guests feeling welcome. Bonus points because because they could actually talk to one another.

So, your tables? They’ll be a hub of the feeling of the fine art.  They can welcome or repel.  A gently folded napkin that lays just so. A lovely gobletp. Delicate florals. Each goes a long way in making sure guests feel welcome and loved.  

Not to mention—and a tip for anyone reading—be sure your guests can see each other. 

There’s nothing worse than going to a wedding and not being able to talk to anyone.
Especially if you don’t know anyone.

PLEASE for the love don’t let the entire memory (and all the potential dinner conversation) of your wedding die on the hill of *but it’s a beautiful centerpiece*.

---

CONSIDER YOUR DRESS A WORK OF ART

I’d imagine every girl twirls in their room as a child dreaming of the  day she dons her wedding dress and says, “I do!” to the man of her dreams.

I did—in the silk nightgown my granddaddy got me.  It was exquisite.  Pink and ruffled, and from (his favorite place) a garage sale. 🤣

I realized then that the dress is art.  It’s beautiful, it’s meaningful.  It’s a dress you’ll wear one day of your life, but remember forever.

Heck, your daughter may someday decide to wear it to marry the man of her dreams.

Consider your dress. Consider how you want to feel in it. Take a moment and ask yourself what feels authentic and beautiful to you.  Not to the magazines.  Not to the runway.  But to you.  

You’ll find the answers come easily. Be able to choose your forever dress.

Choose the dress that you’ll wear on the most important day of your life. Pick the one that’s commemorated in thousands of photos (and a painting?!)

---

USE HISTORY

Have you ever toured an old church?

I once visited the Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and I still remember it.  

The staircase.

The paintings.

I imagined beautiful weddings unfolding in that church.

And the most beautiful part? The art is already setting the stage.  With a historical place, you get the venue. But you also get the beautiful architecture, the paintings, the LIFE that comes with it.  

It’s full of beauty and grace and mystique, like fine art. 

If you want a fine art wedding and haven’t thought of using a historical venue,  get that on your list to visit ASAP.

---

There you have — five curated fine art wedding ideas you hadn’t heard of, but now that you have, you can use them to plan your dream wedding!

And really, you can take this advice with any piece of your wedding.

Your wedding tells the story of your love, so treat it like the work of art it is.

If you liked this post, please let me know by liking it below. You can also subscribe, and share it with your friends on Pinterest.

Comment below with “fine art” if this post helped you!

Now you know my favorite curated fine art wedding ideas, but what about the specifics of live wedding painting?

I’ve got Live Wedding Painting 101 teed up for you to read next to help you with that.