The Wedding of Rachel and Bruce McMillen.

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Rachel Leona Kapitan and Bruce Bowers McMillan were married on October 3rd of 2015 at the First United Methodist Church in downtown Orlando. Rachel’s son, Jackson Elliot Donald lead Terry down the isle and we were seated about four rows back. I considered moving closer to sketch but then decided to focus my attention on the wide expanse of the chapel. Weddings seem so rushed when you are trying to sketch them. the program asked guests to be truly present at the ceremony.  Everyone was respectfully requested that all cameras and phones remain unused during the ceremony. There was no mention of sketchbooks, either traditional, or digital, so I went to work documenting the fleeting moment. I’m only truly present when I’m sketching. I was still sketching as the photographer lined people up for the family group shots. Terry wanted to get to the reception, so I cut the sketch short. We bummed a ride with Karen Price and Naomi Butteffield to the reception.

The reception was at the Courtyard at Lake Lucerne which used to be part of Dr. Phillip House, a few blocks from the Center for the Performing Arts which bears his name. There was macaroni so I carbo loaded and got some soda. Bruce’s kids, Ryan and Katherine McMullin offered a toast and welcomed Rachel to the family with  warmth and humor. After a sumptuous fish dinner all the women hit the dance floor. Like me, Ryan wasn’t in the mood for dancing. Kim Buchheit introduced us and I learned that Ryan was an artist. He decided to learn sign language and that has become a full time job. Later in the evening, his sister Katherine came over and asked him to dance. He refused, so she turned to me and asked, “stranger will you dance with me?” Since I hadn’t danced with my wife all night, I didn’t think that would be a good idea. Instead I pressured Ryan to dance just once with his sister. The evening was almost over. He gave in to pier pressure and they danced. I clapped my approval, always the voyeur.

Lorne’s Swinging Bridge becomes a backdrop for a wedding photographer.

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I asked Josie Browne advice on picturesque places to sketch in Lorne Australia. She drove me to the swinging bride, which is a small footbridge that crosses a quiet stream right before it trickles into the ocean. At the beach, the stream breaks apart into a series of tiny deltas. On the far side of the bridge is the Swinging Bridge Boat house and Cafe (30 Great Ocean Road, Lorne VIC 3232, Australia).  Terry, Josie and I ate lunch here after a long walk on the beach. The food tasted great after so much fresh air and exercise.

The  bridge reminds me of a painting Vincent Van Gogh did in Provence of a small yellow bridge. In his painting, women stone washed their laundry at the river’s shore. I had no such luck, darn washing machines. I did notice an oriental couple posing repeatedly on the far shore.

A wedding photographer was shooting photos of the couple. They moved out onto the bridge and the photographer coached them to get ever sillier with each shot. The soon to be bride was quite a ham. Soon all three of them were standing behind me. The photographer asked if it was alright if he took a few shots of me. I said it was fine. After what seamed like an eternity of constant, persistent clicking they wandered away.  So now in some couples wedding album there is a photo of this couple acting stunned and amazed as they look over my shoulder.

We finally have marriage equality in Orlando.

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On January 6th, at midnight, the ban on same sex marriages ended in Florida. At an event called Vowed and Proud, Mayor Buddy Dyer performed a mass wedding for over 40 same sex couples on the steps of city hall. Commissioner Patty Sheehan stepped up to the mic and proudly announced that she was the first openly gay commissioner in the City Beautiful. The crowd cheered. She pointed out that it was a long hard battle to get to this day. This was a day to celebrate love. Some of the couple had been together longer than many heterosexual couples.

I found a view where I could see the mayor and the row of couples waiting to be married. One of Buddy’s security guards however considered me a menace with my sketchbook and he told me to move. Sigh, he’s just doing his job. I moved much further back to sketch the huge crowd gathered. Originally the ceremony was going to be held in the City Hall rotunda, but the event was too big to be contained inside.  The Mayor Told all the couples to face each other and they recited after him, “With this ring, I thee wed.” There was a huge cheer from the crowd when the ceremony was complete. The Orlando Gay Chorus then sang, Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

There were two sad and sullen protesters, but their hateful shouts were downed out by the celebration of love. On a radio program on my drive downtown, the protesters were given a microphone to air their views. I turned the radio off. I don’t need to hear their hate. They shouted, “Jesus is coming!” “Good” I thought, “Jesus would appreciate this celebration of love.” The tides are changing. The brightness of joy outweighed the protests of a few. Florida Family Action filed a lawsuit against Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer
in an effort to stop the ceremony, as well as others across the state, reported WKMG in Orlando. The group fought for a gay marriage ban in Florida, which was approved by voters in 2008. That ban was found to be unconstitutional. They clearly did not succeed. Wedding planners, hotels and resorts feel that Orlando could become a wedding destination for same sex couples in the deep south. January 6th was a truly historic moment in Orlando and I’m happy I was there to sketch it.

The Wedding Party featured retro radical tuxedos and brides maids gowns.

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The Wedding Party held in a hotel on International Drive was a chance for Orlando Wedding planners to experience a retro reception for themselves. The reception room was decorated to look like a wedding reception from the 1960s. Jaimz Dillman was at the entry in a gorgeous vintage gown and her husband was in a proper tux to greet guests. The wedding cake immediately caught my eye. It was multi layered with Greek columns for support. There were separate cakes for the groomsmen and brides maids. Staircases lead to the main cake with the groomsmen and bridesmaids perched on the steps. Below the main cake was a tiny illuminated fountain. The cakes creator proudly explained to people the incredible amount of work that went into its creation. It wasn’t cut up the entire time I sketched it which is a shame because I was hoping to catch that action. I don’t believe it was ever cut up and served.

A dating game style show was set up and couples competed to hilarious effect. The disco ball was a nice touch to the overall look. My favorite tuxedo was baby blue with plenty of frills. They should bring that style back. It turned out that this room wasn’t the main event. Everyone was whisked off to another more spacious room. I remained behind until the sketch was done. Photographer Kelly Canova and a fried returned to this room since it was the only place to have a quiet conversation. I’ve met Kelly and her husband Gene quite a few times at various arts events. Gene is an accomplished muralist and artist. When I had a solo exhibit at Snap Space, Kelly and Gene loaned me an old beat up artists table which was used to showcase my daily artist kit. I got a chance to catch up with Kelly as I finished my sketch.

When my sketch was done, I went to the bigger, wilder party going on next door. A woman hung from a chandelier where she poured drinks. I started a sketch, but her shift ended and she tried to get down. The clasps that kept her suspended got caught and she couldn’t get down. A man came over to help her. He tried to support her weight while she struggled with the hardware. Finally the clasp was set free and she dropped to the floor. The dance floor was full of women in wedding dresses dancing the night away. I tried a few appetizers and then slipped away to get back home. I had invited Terry but she didn’t come to the party since she knew I would be working.

The Wedding Ceremony of Andrea Kastner and Thomas Morton

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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.

Amanda and Matt Simantov Wedding

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On January 19th Amanda and Matt Simantov were married at Congregation Ohev Shalom Synagogue (613 Concourse Parkway South, Maitland Florida). Terry and I had attended a dinner party as well, but that was on the day of rest, so I wasn’t permitted to sketch. All the men at the wedding were encouraged to wear yamakas which are small caps that just cover the bald spot on a man’s head. Each yamaka came with a hair pin to help hold it in place. I buzz cut my hair, so there wasn’t anything to attach the hair clip to. At the reception before the wedding, I walked around the room like there was a text book balanced on my head. I ordered a soda however and realized that I would have to tip my head back when I drank. A straw would have solved the problem, but I didn’t see any. Whenever I drank, my yamaka would flop off onto the floor.

Plan B. There was a sushi bar. I’ve always found sushi rice to be rather sticky. Rather than eat the sushi I picked up, I dissected it, removing the raw fish and sea weed.  I then took the rice and molded it into a Frisbee shaped disk which I then placed inside the yamaka. I pressed it onto my head and regained my head mobility. As the rice dried, it must have lost its stickiness because just as I entered the Synagogue and looked up at the immense sun lit vaulted ceiling, it popped off again. I sat rice less through the service and avoided tilting my head as I sketched.

Terry and I sat sandwiched between Mark Baratelli and Brian Feldman both of whom claimed that they first introduced the wedding couple. During the service, one of the brides maids must have locked her knees because she nearly fainted and had to be moved to a pew by the brides maids around her. The officiant must have missed all the activity because he didn’t miss a beat.

The reception was also in the Synagogue. The photographer was testing out huge flash umbrellas, one of which war right next to the table Terry and I sat at. The flashes were blinding and constant, so I got up and sat across the room on a couch until the green spots stopped dancing in my vision. Elizabeth Drake Forbes gave a moving speech in which she listed all the amazing events Amanda had attended or helped organize while she was here in Orlando. Amanda had just moved to Seattle to be with Matt and that is where they returned to after the wedding. Amanda hasn’t acclimated herself there yet, so Elizabeth’s speech caused her to cry since she has had to let dear friends go to strike out and create a new life across the continent.

For the first dance, Amanda lip synced to a song by Debbie Gibson titled “Lost in Your Eyes” as she danced with Matt. Couples and friends crowded into a photo booth for regal commemorative shots, and of course there was dancing. When Matt was raised up in a chair for the traditional couples dance, he began to slip forward because the four guys couldn’t support his weight evenly. Terry shouted that I needed to help so I squeezed in and lifted it back up just in time. I wonder what kind of bad luck would have haunted the couple had Matt fallen from the chair. All the guests were given sparklers and they created a tunnel leading to the car as the couple ran from the reception to start their new life as husband and wife.

The Carrie Eshman / Doug Gesiorski Wedding

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Carrie Eshman, a journalist from Washington D.C. asked me to document her wedding on Saturday, January 18th at Casa Feliz, 656 N Park Ave, Winter Park, FL. This is the second time I have been hired to sketch a wedding. It makes perfect sense since I document events every day and a wedding is fairly stationary. I discovered that the actual ceremony would only be half an hour which is too quick for a sketch. I went to Casa Feliz an hour early to sketch in the building and empty chairs. It was late in the afternoon and the golden light of the sun was just clipping the tops of the trees as it set. As guests arrived, I placed then in the sketch. No one ever sat in the front row, so I erased it.

Luis Alfredo Garcia was playing guitar as guests arrived. I have sketched Luis performing once before at the Casselberry House. His soothing music helped me relax into the sketch. Carrie greeted me in her wedding dress before people arrived. She was so much younger than I expected. Doug Gesiorski was just as young, excited to get the wedding started. Tony White was the officiant filling out his long dark robe. He smiled broadly to Doug setting the tone of the ceremony. It was a picture perfect story book wedding with the Spanish style tower looming behind the wedding party.

What was unexpected was how cold it was. For a while I used my Dickens styled glove with three finger tips cut off. The glove made my hand too bulky however, so I took it off and just blew hot air into my fist periodically.  Carrie and her brides maids must have been freezing. At least the groom and groomsmen had suits. Before I knew it, the wedding vows were over. People moved inside the Casa quickly to soak in the heat and get cocktails. I was only half finished with the sketch so I stayed until it was done. The sun set, and the temperature plummeted. I pulled out my book light, but it wouldn’t turn on. I finished the sketch in the darkness only seeing bold values. My cold fingers spilled the water in the grass. Fearing I would shiver and ruin the sketch I had, I finally went inside. I sat at a table in a courtyard away from the crowd and looked at what I had. A space heater near the table kept me warm as I added a few more color washes to finish up.

Wedding of Jonathan David and Anna Marie West

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Jonathan David West invited me to sketch his wedding to Anna Marie. I met the couple for the first time at the Day of the Dead festivities at City Arts factory. The wedding took place at The Springs Gated Community (400 Woodbridge Road Longwood, FL).  I arrived early as groomsmen were getting dressed in their tuxedos. Jonathan, still in a T shirt, saw me and explained that the wedding would take place at the gazebo down by the spring.

I walked down to the water’s edge. The gazebo was dark. I picked my sketching spot because I liked the way a weather vane stork silhouetted against the sky. A Renaissance trio of musicians set up in the gazebo and Christmas lights flickered on.

The wedding was short, sweet and to the point. When the couple was pronounced man and wife, someone pulled out the plug by mistake and the gazebo wend dark. They must have scrambled fast because soon the lights came back on. The couple then ignited a flame that filled a paper bag hot air balloon. The glowing orb floated up, just missed some tree branches and then floated up to the clouds. Everyone was given sparklers. I decided my sketch was done, so I joined everyone forming a double sided line. All the guests raised their sparklers and the newly wed couple ran under the sparkling canopy.

The reception was held at the top of the hill in a club house. There were perhaps fifty guests but I didn’t do a head count. Every puppeteer in Orlando seemed to be there. Jonathan and Anna are both puppeteers. After guests had their meals, Jonathan and Anna put on a puppet show. They had made puppets in their own likeness and they told the story of how they met. They were childhood friends, that used to talk for hours on the phone and play together. For Anna’s 16th birthday, Jonathan took her out. She hoped he would kiss her that night, but the moment slipped by.  Once Jonathan walked an incredible distance, crossing townships, to see Anna. When she asked him why he had come, he unfortunately replied that he just wanted to go for a walk.

College sent the kids to different states.  They each got married starting separate lives and families. Anna had seven children. Those marriages eventually both lead to divorces. Many years later, Jonathan and Anna both moved to Orlando for different reasons. After so many years apart, there was still a spark that remained from their adolescent romance that burned bright. Once again Jonathan and Anna were inseparable. Their respective puppets took a bow and everyone in the room stood and applauded.

Denna and Travis Update their Relationship Status

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Denna Beena and Travis Fillmen were married Saturday August 4th in the Winter Garden Theatre. It was pouring rain as I drove straight from work. Terry let me know that she saved me a seat. The Winter Garden Theater has been the home to some amazing theatrical productions such as “The Diviners“, and “Driving Miss Daisy“. This wedding had a flair of the theatrical and plenty of Pink. Denna’s hair has always had a shock of pink, orange and purple. Her brides maids each had a pink dress of their choosing and long streaks of pink in their hair. Groomsmen and the ring bearer, manikin Hans Hausboi, all had pink bow ties and flowers. Groomsman, Mark Baratelli had a crazy, day filled with drama leading up to the ceremony. But that is a story for another day. Bridesmaid, Amanda Chadwick, with a bright pink coil of hair on her forehead, had flown from Seattle to be in the ceremony.

Before the actual ceremony, the theater curtains opened and friendly trivia was projected on the movie screen. Denna and Travis’s first date lasted ten hours. They met thanks to OKCupid.com. Denna kept getting Travis’s bio and she ignored it five times. She finally decided that the guys she usually dated were all wrong for her, so she took a chance. They might be bipolar opposites politically but deep down the found happiness and creative unconditional love. There was a small canvas center stage and as part of the ceremony, the couple painted a heart together. Young Chloe and Naomi Borchers recited the lyrics to “Personal Penguin.” Mike Carr explained, “Why Love is Like Owning a Dog.”

It was a ceremony in which laughter was a fine compliment love. The officiant, Mike Carr, earned his ability to unite this couple from the internet. When the knot was tied, Denna and Travis took out their cell phones on stage and updated their Facebook status to “Married“. The audience cheered. As everyone filed upstairs for the reception, I rushed to throw color on the sketch. A black and White film flickered onto the movie screen as the projectionist got ready for that evenings showing. As the colors dried on the page, I went upstairs for plenty of awkward yet enthusiastic dancing.

Jordan & Jared’s Wedding Reception

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Outside the ballroom at the Sheraton Hotel on Lake Destiny Drive up in Maitland the plaque read, Jordan Martin and Jared Clark Wedding reception. I entered and scouted the room for a spot where I could sketch. Rachel McCurdy, a wedding designer at An Affair to Remember, was quick to introduce herself. She helped me pick a spot, making sure I wasn’t in the way of the wedding cake or bar. I had been commissioned by the brides aunt, Linda Sheftel, to do a large 18 by 24 inch sketch of the occasion. I was a bit nervous about trying to complete such a large sketch in the duration of a reception so I had arrived several hours early to get the stage set lightly in pencil first.

The room was a constant flurry of activity. Tables were set and glasses filled with water. I would sketch the table setting then someone would come along and move all the cups. Rachel and her assistants were unpacking lanterns and a nautical cork float that would be draped in front of the bar. The wedding cake or perhaps the grooms cake was a mountain of donuts. The DJ arrived and began setting up his sound equipment. He was pleased that there was such a large dance floor. The videographer introduced himself and asked me a few questions about my work.

I could hear the reception crowd growing larger in the hallway where hor dourves and drinks were being served. Staff positioned themselves around the room and stood at attention. The DJ shouted, “It’s showtime!” and the doors were opened. As people seated themselves, I sketched frantically getting them in the composition. Throughout the night people walked up to see what I was up to. I would crack a joke or acknowledge any praise while keeping my hands moving. Color was quickly blocked in with a one inch brush.

The wedding party was introduced and groom’s men and brides maids entered with unexpected drama. One groom’s man waddled in like Toulouse Lautrec while a brides maid “wheeled in” her groom’s man like a wheel barrel. Another couple walked in backwards then vogued for photos like Charlies Angels. I knew that the newly married couples first dance was the focus of my sketch. They danced slowly as people crowded around the edge of the dance floor. I focused on Jordan and Jared. They danced slowly, kissing and smiling at each other. Jordan’s sister gave a toast in which she kept getting choked up and crying. She related an incident where Jordan seriously injured her back and Jared stayed with her in the hospital, never leaving her side. The best man’s toast unearthed the groom’s wild side.

After diner the dance floor got packed as everyone did the electric slide. The bouquet was tossed and the garter cinched up. The bride got a special treat when all the groomsmen danced around her doing a strip tease. They piled all their dress shirts on her and one groomsman gave her a lap dance. The women in the room screamed! With the dance floor packed, and the music getting louder, I realized that my sketch was done. I packed up my supplies and left as the bass vibrated the walls.