A Wedding at Prospect Park Boathouse

Last month I had the honor of being asked to sketch a wedding at Prospect Park Boathouse! The couple found me on Etsy, and couldn't have been lovelier. Another bonus was getting to work just a stones throw from my apartment! I was able to walk to work! It was basically my dream commute. The day of the wedding was rainy, but we lucked out with two raindrop-free hours right around the wedding. The conditions were significantly more humid than I'm used to so I headed over to do a couple quick sketches before really getting started. Humidity can be a blessing and a curse with watercolor; my paper was damp before I even put water on the page, and nothing would dry (sketches I hadn't touched in hours were still wet when I was leaving), but I got some really great bleeds and flowery moments, not to mention some actual raindrops! I thought it was kind of neat that the weather of the day affected the sketches!

Here were the first two that I did prior to the wedding before getting set up for my big sketch. Funny enough this "test sketch" of the bride and groom (caught while they were posing for photos) is one of the bride's favorites!

After getting acquainted with the sketching conditions of the day, I headed over and set myself up on my camping stool on the bridge, with a great view of the boathouse from across the pond. (Check out those bleeds on the edge between the trees and the sky! Thanks, humidity!) I started the sketch before the wedding started to get a head start! This one is bigger than my usual sketches, at around 9"x12", and took between an hour and an hour and a half. I had a lot of visitors on the bridge, and one couple even came back to watch the wedding from the bridge with me!

Next I started sketching the cocktail hour. Can you find the raindrop marks? I finished it inside.

I was able to catch the toasts as well!

I also took some moments before the meal was served and before the dancing really took off to sketch some family members of the bride and groom!

The inside of the boathouse is just as beautiful as the outside. I loved capturing the shimmering green tile of the vaulted ceiling between bites of my delicious dinner (conveniently, my seat was at one end of the room, giving me this great view!).

The dancing began, of course, with the couple's first dance (and one of my personal favorite sketches of the night!)

Soon, the whole dance floor was full! This one was done across two or three songs and features the bride on the right as well as the band. I'd be remiss not to mention that the band was fantastic, and I'm told, not actually a band! They are individual musicians but together by the father of the groom (who works in music) who were only playing as a band for the night! I never would have known, had the bride not told me after the event.

I also felt it necessary to sketch a frequent scene at any wedding: drinking and dancing! This guy was having so much fun!

I wrapped up the evening with a sketch of the bride, because how could I not?

All in all, a very fun experience and one I would definitely repeat! Wishing my congratulations and much happiness to the wonderful bride and groom! Thanks so much for letting me share your special day!