Oct 19, 2015
At a recent wedding fayre I found myself competing against the latest fad; PHOTO BOOTHS! This is in no way a fair comparison as I shall explain:
Mobile Photo Booths are primarily to intended entertain drunk punters, originally popular at Student Balls, these monstrosities have broadened their customer base to include Weddings, where they are monopolised by the intoxicated evening guests. Could you imagine Great Aunt Maude or Grandpa Joe queuing for hours to climb inside one, late at night? Booths are hastily erected, often cheaply produced and operated largely by unskilled, part time staff, who are no more qualified to entertain your guests than they are to slice meat at a butcher’s. Wouldn’t you rather pay good money to have a trained, qualified, recognized professional entertainer at your wedding?
Quality of entertainment aside, logistically speaking they are at best a late night, static attraction, for those happy to encourage a queue at their evening celebrations. But would you hire a Photo Booth to keep your guests laughing during the professional photographs in the afternoon? What of your immediate family and head table, will they be guaranteed laughter or will they have to queue all evening just for a silly snap? Will you just end up with snaps of your work colleagues in a drunk state? These points should be considered.
Hiring a professional caricaturist, especially The Wedding Artist, guarantees you are paying for a professional entertainer, to mix with your guests and lift their spirits during the quiet periods, as needed. Never shabby or disappointing, The Wedding Artist will leave your guests smiling and talking about the drawings for weeks and months afterwards.
When did you last hear wedding guests singing the praises of the Photo Booth for weeks after a wedding??
Sep 27, 2015
Just a quick note regarding my evening performance times – if in doubt of when your proceedings will start and finish, take a look at when your first dance is scheduled. By the time the first dance is announced and your guests all disappear towards the dance floor, that is probably the best time for me to finish, as I will often be left without an audience, so work my timings back from this point.
First dance often leaves me with an empty rom – time to go?
An empty room is often an indication that my services are no longer needed and that your guests are happily dancing away in the darkness. Even if I am left with a small queue, the chances are my well-lit venue will then become a dimly lit dining area or lounge, so less suitable for drawing. Just something to bare in mind when booking me for your evening lull.
Jun 9, 2015
Thinking of treating your wedding guests to something different for your wedding breakfast? Looking at budget friendly catering options perhaps? The latest trend seems to be Afternoon Tea; consisting of a selection of crustless sandwiches, followed by a trolley of fairy cakes or scones and cream, all tastefully presented mid afternoon then washed down with lashings of bubbly or perhaps a pot of tea? How delightful and how quaint, not to mention informal and novel. This option may suit those on a tighter budget or with a late wedding slot, too close to the evening’s buffet to justify a full meal for their day guests.
But remember; traditionally the wedding meal or ‘Breakfast’ was just that, because wedding ceremonies were only allowed in the mornings and so the meal became a feast which would gorge the daytime guests and leave them well fed for what was a long day of celebrations ahead, long into the evening. A plate of sandwiches may not go down so well as a feast…
As a walkabout entertainer I get to hear the guest’s comments and opinions, up close and believe me I have rarely heard a good thing uttered around a plate of sandwiches or a cake stand! I have attended many a well presented tea party (and some not so well presented), all of which bore the brunt of the guests grumbles, as their tummies rumbled away through what is a rather long day for most daytime wedding guests.
My advice is to take good care of your guests; book a fabulous entertainer and even better caterers, as rumbling tummies make for grumpy guests and if your venue suggest either Afternoon Tea or a cold finger buffet, then you may want to question why they are not keen to offer their kicthen? Just saying…
Mar 23, 2015
What a great idea to hire a caricaturist for your wedding guests. But what happens when they whisk the drawings away to their rooms or cars? Why not spread the smiles by hanging your drawings on a Laughter Line – simply peg the drawings (in sleeves) along a length of twine, to display the great characters and get everyone laughing. Keep the smiles going all night long!
*Please note that I cannot supply line or pegs as I have no idea of your wedding’s theme, the venue’s available space or their hanging policies. Always best to ask the venue to supply line and pegs, which you can personalise to fit your theme, be it gold pegs or twine and shabby chic pegs. Remember that once sleeved the drawings can be heavy, so sticky tape or blu-tac are not suitable anchors.
Another great idea from The Wedding Artist
Feb 23, 2015
One piece of invaluable advice when it comes to your day’s proceedings is to keep your guests informed. Please be sure to tell them the order of the day’s events, especially when it comes to entertainment. Be sure to advertise the Band, Singer or Caricaturist, so everyone knows what to expect and when they are due to finish.
I love attending weddings and always leave a happy crowd, wanting more. However, sometimes they can be a little too disappointed when I have to leave at the end of my set and this can be an awkward time, so please make sure your guests know when I’m coming and when I’ll be going. I hate looking like the villain after a happy day of scribbling.
Thank you.
Feb 17, 2015
We all hate to see the end of a good thing, but spare a thought for your hard working caricaturists at the end of a booking.
Following a spate of horror stories forwarded to me by colleagues (and having had to deal with similar situations myself), I thought it was time to hi-light the problem of drunk punters at the end of the night. I recently had a colleague close to tears, after a drunk punter confronted him at the end of a good performance, demanding to be drawn, then later complained to the Bride. This lead to the Bride filing a complaint and making libellous accusations on public forums, which all could have been avoided if all parties concerned had simply observed the following points:
- Every performance must finish at some (agreed) point and many artists adhere to the timetable in order to make a second booking in good time. Caricaturists will usually shorten the queue in the last 30 minutes, so not to disappoint later arrivals or those who may miss out.
- Your artist will aim to please the client and often offer flexibility on the day in order to keep people smiling. The last thing they want is a confrontation or complaint, it is their living after all.
- Your caricaturist will remain professional, polite and sober at all times (unless you have hired a low budget option of course), though some of your guests may not.
- The later the performance, the more chance there is that some of the wedding guests will become drunk and less patient, especially when having to queue to be drawn or fed. These guests may take their rejection from a queue as rudeness and react with aggression.
- Remember, any punter who claims they have been “waiting all night” can not possibly have been there longer than the caricaturist. In 3 hours a good caricaturist will draw through a queue of 40+ people, so most people waiting from the moment of the artist’s arrival will be drawn.
- It is the client’s responsibility to put forward those who MUST be drawn, otherwise your caricaturist will do their best to draw all in the queue, no matter who.
- Not everyone will be drawn, no caricaturist will promise this and in a group of 100 people, maybe 45 will be lucky in an average evening performance. This may lead to a few disgruntled punters, but a lot more happy ones.
As a caricaturist and entertainer I have to regularly deal with drunk, aggressive and violent punters at the end of every performance, despite my having been a roaring success all night and finishing at an agreed time. I always deal with such confrontations in a polite and professional manner, usually leaving smiles behind me. However I should have the right to finish my work in safety and without fear of reprisal or complaint. With this in mind, I ask all those hiring a caricaturist for their event to spare a thought for the hard working artist, as they pack their pens away at the end of a night and perhaps give them a hand diffusing the punters who missed out on a free drawing that night. Maybe give them the benefit of the doubt when a guest moans about having not been drawn, while all your other guests are smiling.
Its just a bit of fun after all….
