What is a Live Wedding Painter? Everything You Need To Know
Live painters have taken the wedding industry by storm! We spoke to an expert live wedding painter to find out what the fuss is all about
When couples think of their wedding entertainment, a few traditional options usually pop into their heads: a DJ, a magician, or a live band. But there is a new, and increasingly popular, option: hiring a live wedding painter.
If your top priority for your special day is to make memories that will last a lifetime, then a live wedding painter could be the way to go. From glossy painters or quick cartoonists, to collaborate art pieces that every guest can take part in creating, there are a variety of different types of live wedding artists you can hire to capture moments throughout your wedding.
According to our research, demand for live wedding painters has gone up by 23%, making it a rapidly growing demand for couples in 2025. As well as live paintings, you can also find wedding artists who specialise in cartoons, sketches, paintings, and so many more styles .
Not only do they help to preserve the magic of your celebration, but they also double as beautiful keepsakes for couples to take home.
If you're interested in learning more about live wedding painters, here's you ultimate guide to what they do, how much they cost, and how to find the right live wedding painter for you.
- Live Wedding Painters: Everything You Need to Know
- What is a Live Wedding Painter?
- How Much Do Wedding Painters Cost?
- What Are the Benefits of Having a Live Wedding Painter at Your Wedding?
- What Types of Weddings are Best for Live Wedding Painters?
7 Wedding Illustrators You Can Hire Now
Add some magic to your wedding and get some incredible keepsakes by hiring a wedding illustrator or live painter. Whether you hire them to perform on the day, or ahead of time to create favours or a personalised seating plan, all of these wedding illustrators will bring some creative flair to your big day...
1. Ever After Illustrations - Essex
Artist Claire Harding can elevate your wedding experience with beautiful, hand-drawn illustrations. She creates watercolour portraits live as you and your guests look on, resulting in bespoke keepsakes everyone will cherish forever.
She operates by snapping photos of your guests, so no one has to stand and pose - they can opt in, then go off and mingle whilst she works her magic.
- Pricing: From £950
2. Kirstybowks Bespokes Live Drawings - Essex
Hitched Wedding Award winner Kirsty is an illustrator who creates real-time entertainment at your wedding that results in last-a-lifetime keepsakes.
She'll sketch live during the celebrations, offering a range of packages that span from two and a half hours to eight hours of coverage. Think you recognise her playful designs? You might - the legendary Gemma Collins named her as one of her top wedding picks from Hitched!
- Pricing: From £399
3. Stacey Greenshield - Oxfordshire
Stacey Greenshield creates whimsical, adorable watercolour pictures of you and your guests, as you mingle during your cocktail hour. She can attend your day from the ceremony through to the evening, painting from photos she snaps, so everyone can collect an illustration at the end of the evening.
She can also create personalised wedding favours, guaranteed to be treasured by all your guests.
- Pricing: From £350
- Deals: Two deals are currently available for Hitched users, including an exclusive 5% discount!
4. The House of Live Illustration - Kent
Megan, the artist behind the House of Live Illustration, creates striking pieces of artwork designed to commemorate incredible moments at your wedding.
Her style will delight and entertain your guests on the day, and result in amazing illustrations you'll adore for the rest of your lives. She works by drawing up to four original drawings per hour, before adding splashes of vibrant watercolours at her studio.
- Pricing: From £795
- Deals: Four deals currently available, including an inclusive 5% discount for Hitched couples.
5. Clementine Creatives - Cardiff
Welsh wedding planning couples - this one's for you! Clementine Creatives offers a unique entertainment service with a flexible range of pricing - and her services include a large A4 illustration of the couple, personalised with names and the date.
They're a team of two, who will set up and start before your wedding breakfast and ensure they prioritise your key guests first. They can also paint on specialist items - such as chalkboards or clothing - if required.
- Pricing: From £450
- Deals: Hitched couples can enjoy an exclusive 5% discount!
6. Jenny Mathew Art - Bedfordshire
Jenny Mathew Art can create a variety of paintings on your wedding day - whether that's illustrations of you and your guests, a landscape of your venue or a vibrant recreation of your bouquet.
Her services include things such as wedding ceremony painting on canvas, watercolours of guests or a canvas of your wedding flowers so you can choose the artwork option that resonates with you the most.
- Pricing: From £400
- Deals: Hitched couples can enjoy an incredible 20% off!
7. Barrie James Art - Tyne & Wear
Based in the North East of England, Barrie James Art specialises in live caricature style drawings.
Whether you want a welcome drinks ice breaker, or evening entertainment, he'll be on hand to dazzle your guests and chat to them as he sketches away. He's a three-time Hitched Award Winner, demonstrating his amazing service, with nearly 100 five star reviews from happy couples.
- Pricing: From £450
- Deals: 3% discount available to Hitched couples
Live Wedding Painters: Everything You Need to Know
The real magic behind hiring a live wedding painter is that each creation is completely unique. If you are searching for a wedding favours or forms of entertainment that are fresh and exciting, then you're guaranteed a totally bespoke experience when you hire a live artist.
Sometimes, a live wedding painter will make a work station for themselves at your wedding reception and welcome guests to come and sit for a portrait. Once it's complete, the guests will be able to take it home as a sentimental souvenir of the special day.
In other instances, however, it can be a more collaborative experience. Some wedding painters will work closely with the couple before the wedding to design the bare bones of one large piece of art. It might be the exterior view of their wedding venue, or a drawing of the couple saying their vows, for instance.
Once the design is finished, the artist will create a work station during the reception and welcome each guest to come and make a contribution to the painting. Guests can pick up a paintbrush and, with the guidance of the artist, help to paint the artwork until it's finished.
This is a particularly special way to hire a live wedding painter, and the couple can take the piece of art home and hang it on their wall. Each time they look at it, they'll know that every single person at their wedding helped to bring it to life.
What is a Live Wedding Painter?
A live wedding painter can take many different forms. Sometimes, it's a person who paints real-time pictures of your wedding throughout the day. Other times, a live wedding painter can be somebody who helps to create the bare bones of a design with a couple before inviting guests to fill it in throughout the special day.
For weddings, a live wedding painter will create a bespoke, meaningful keepsake that guests and couples can keep for a lifetime. No painting will be the same as the next, so each one will be completely original and unique.
So, now you're familiar with what a live wedding painter is, let's dive a bit deeper. We asked expert live wedding painter Emma, owner of Make Your Mark Events, our burning questions about live wedding artists.
How Much Do Live Wedding Painters Cost?
The price of live wedding painters will vary depending on the length of time you want them for and the amount of art you expect them to produce. There are many other factors that can change the cost of a wedding painter too like the area that you're in - for example, a live wedding painter in London will likely cost more than any other part of the UK.
Emma explains: "Make Your Mark Events offers three different packages. These range from a more DIY entertainment package that costs approximately £700, all the way to a fully framed, edited package with a photobook that would cost roughly £1400.
Naturally, these prices can also change depending on the market, time of year, the artist's experience, and travel costs.
What Are the Benefits of Having a Live Wedding Painter at Your Wedding?
Emma says: "Live Wedding Painting services from Make Your Mark Events are somewhat unique in the fact that not only do you get a bespoke piece of art, but you also receive a painting that has been contributed to by all of your loved ones.
"Everyone - from every generation - is invited to leave their creative mark on a memento that you'll treasure forever. I'm a professional artist, and together we design a painting that's totally you.
"I then use my unique style to get that picture onto a canvas and collaborate with your guests on the piece. It's a fabulous way to spark conversation, banter, get people involved and leave you with a gorgeous custom Your Guest Canvas artwork."
What Types of Weddings Are Best for Live Wedding Painters?
"I've had the pleasure of working at so many different types of weddings - so I can't say what's best.
"What I do know is that family and friends who come together to celebrate the union and love of a couple absolutely relish the idea that they get to help create something so meaningful. So weddings full of love, big or small, field or luxury house all have a place with a Your Guest Canvas."
Still undecided on your wedding entertainment? Check out these unique ways to keep your guests entertained!
