The photographs and videos from your wedding day will serve as a treasure for years to come. New Iberia artist Paul Schexnayder adds even more to that treasure with his live-action wedding painting. He likes to call what he does, “Wedding Story Painting.” Live-action wedding paintings not only provide guests with entertainment, but also allow the bride and groom to have a memory from their wedding to hang in their home and pass down as an heirloom. These paintings have quickly become a tradition. And it’s no surprise as wedding receptions continuously break tradition and move toward more interactive experiences.

Wedding artists will bring their canvas and supplies, set up at the celebration a couple of hours before guests arrive. The artist presents the couple with the painting after their big day. No two pictures are the same as artists tailor details to the bride and groom’s lives. Schexnayder can paint on any material, from canvas to a piece of wood or even an old window. The pricing of art is dependent on size. Patrons can also order prints of the painting as thank you notes for sending after the wedding.

Schexnayder’s approach to painting comes down to his ability to “LOOK. SEE. DRAW. PAINT. AND REPEAT.” Though he is color blind, his paintings are full of color, shape and form. He has been painting live-action wedding scenes since 2015.

Some things that an artist looks for to capture when painting a live event are:

The guests – couples may request that the likeness of specific guests be included in the painting, such as the mothers of the bride and groom, grandparents, flower girls, etc.

The decor – the artist, has the chance to show the couple’s style by adding in all of the details of the decorations into the wedding painting.

The venue – artists often show up a couple of hours before guests arrive so that they can begin painting the site to fill in with details later as the celebration goes on around them.

The energy of the day – the painting is the entire wedding day wrapped up into one moment in time captured in this one painting.

The story of the couple’s relationship – Schexnayder says that his paintings may depict anything from the church where they were married to the destination of their honeymoon.