The Wedding Ceremony of Andrea Kastner and Thomas Morton

Thomas Morton and Andrea Kastner were married on April 26th 2014 at noon in Richmond Virginia. Wedding plans had to be changed at the last minute because the church they were going to be married in suffered from a huge fire. They were lucky to find another church in the heart of Richmond that could do the ceremony. It was a small intimate gathering of friends and family who gathered for the ceremony. I began my sketch by penciling in the harp player who performed as guests entered the church. The pastor said something to her and she packed up and moved to a far corner of the church.

After the exchange of rings, the pastor announced, “Forasmuch as Tom and Andrea have consented together in holy wedlock and have witnessed the same before God and this congregation and have declared the same by giving and receiving a ring, and by joining hands; I pronounce them husband and wife in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” The ceremony was short and sweet which means I was still sketching as everyone filed out of the church.  The pastor came over to see what I was doing. He admired the work, but I suspect he wanted me to wrap it up so I rushed to put some final washes down. The reception was in Richmond’s suburbs at the couples home. Bright pink and purple blossoms adorned trees all around the city.

A Hike Down Monument Avenue in Richmond Virginia

In April. Terry and I traveled to Richmond Virginia to attend a wedding of one of Terry’s clients, Thomas Justin Morton to Andrea Marie Kastner. The day we arrived, we decided to take a hike up Monument Avenue. This main drag had traffic circles about every other block on which large Civil War era monuments were erected. The Robert E. Lee monument stands at the corner of Allen Avenue and Monument Avenue. Terry continued to hike to see the remaining monuments while I stopped to sketch.

The Virginia Commonwealth Campus had beautiful old historic buildings. We actually spotted another urban sketcher who was sketching one of the buildings. She was in the middle of the sketch, so I didn’t interrupt her. The entire street had amazing architecture along with some fixer uppers that would make a gorgeous studio. I’m sure the price of real estate would make that dream less practical.

Terry and I were staying in the Jefferson Hotel (101 W Franklin St, Richmond, VA) which is rated five stars and is absolutely gorgeous. The room itself wasn’t that amazing but the lobby was worth every penny. One scene in Gone with the Wind was shot on the grand staircase. Any time we weren’t at wedding related parties. we were happy to explore this city by foot. It was an Urban Sketchers dream, a step back in time.