Breaking Down the Commission Process: Wedding Dress Watercolor

I love wedding dresses. And I love painting dresses (as you know). And I love creating special, custom pieces of art for unsuspecting giftees. Thus, it's no surprise that I absolutely adore painting wedding dresses for people.

The weird thing about a wedding dress is that it's one of the most meaningful dresses a gal will ever wear, but then it's never worn again (obviously). This one item of clothing holds a special place in our hearts, but then life goes on and it's stuck in a closet or given away, and only shows up again in picture frames or on anniversaries when we share a wedding pic to Facebook.

Which is why I love wedding dress paintings! I think that a little watercolor of that special dress is a great way to honor this meaningful garment; whether it's hung in the bedroom, a bathroom, or even a closet, it's fun little reminder of an important life event and how the bride felt on that day.

So, I say all of this to explain the meaning behind a recent wedding dress watercolor that I did for a client--she gave this painting to her cousin as a surprise before her big day, and as you'll read below, it sounds like the gift was a hit ;)

You can view the inspiration images (pictures of the actual dress), an in-progress pic, and the final, framed version below (the client picked out the frame and I framed it for her): 

After the gift had been given, I received an email from the commissioner that said the following:

My cousin LOVED the painting. She just kept saying "It's so pretty, it's so pretty" and then started crying. Thanks again for doing this for us.

It's so wonderful to be able to create a gift for someone that illicits that reaction! I was thrilled. 

You can view more of my wedding dress watercolors here. 

{And a reminder: if you plan on ordering a custom painting for the holidays and want to be sure you receive it by 12/20, your order must be in by 10/31! Details + pricing here.}