New Orleans Wedding

Posted on by Thor

On October 22nd, Shannon Marie OBrien and Andrew Julian Ranck were married in the Saint Louis Cathedral in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Terry and I arrived a bit early so I could start sketching the church interior before the service started. Terry was nervous that I would be asked to move since family usually is in the first two rows. Stubbornly I stood my ground since I knew my view could not be obstructed by someone sitting in front of me.

A lone trumpet player stood in the balcony and his notes echoed joy. The Trumpet Voluntary filled the cathedral and everyone stood and turned to watch the bride walk down the isle. The flower girl and ring bearer followed her. They were just toddlers and there were murmurs of adoring laughter. Andrew beamed as he watched Shannon approach. All the young female attendants filled the row in front of me.

It was a very traditional Catholic wedding with prayers and New Testament readings. Vows were exchanged and the rings blessed. High above, statues of Faith, Hope and Love looked down on the young couple. Saint Peter stood holding a key with his arm reaching out. Saint Paul stood on the right holding his sword. The ceiling was a swirl of activity as the apostles surrounded Jesus who radiated beams of light. As the couple signed their marriage license at a separate altar, Ave Maria wafted up echoing off the vaulted ceiling. The music made the moment truly feel divine. There was one final blessing and then Ode to Joy played as a recessional.

Before I knew it, I was alone again in an empty Cathedral. Marriages seem like such fast paced ceremonies when you are trying to sketch them. This flurry of activity would lead to a lifetime commitment.

A familiar face stood before me admiring the Cathedral’s architecture. It was Kevin Deters who worked at Disney Feature Animation in Florida at the same time I did. Kevin is now working for Disney in LA and he has directed several shorts one being “Prep & Landing” for the Company. He let me know they are working on another Prep & Landing short now. What a wild, small world. I gave him my card and explained the blog and the work I do to pass along the animation tradition at Full Sail. Kevin let me know that he has now worked longer in the LA studio than he did in Florida. I admire what he has accomplished. I wonder if he came to New Orleans when Disney premiered “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” That was an amazing party.

The priest walked up to me as I sat alone finishing my sketch. I was sure I was about to get kicked out. On the contrary, he loved the sketch and joked with me that usually the pencil snaps if someone tries to sketch him. There was another wedding happening in half an hour and he encouraged me to go right on sketching. I was getting close to finishing however, and I decided to leave as the church was emptied for the next wedding

Denna Beena’s Wedding dress

Posted on by Thor

Denna Beena is engaged to Travis Fillmen. The wedding is being planned for fall of 2012. Amanda Chadwick arranged for Deena to try on wedding dresses. Now Deena isn’t someone who I would consider to have conservative tastes. Her hair is bright pink with purple and yellow highlights. I am more used to Deena wearing bright colors and black leather boots.

I got lost trying to find the Bridal shop. I thought it was in the Millenia Mall but Amanda texted me to let me know it was in a strip mall near a Super Target. Deena had already tried on a dress as I scrambled to find the place.

The Bridal shop was a flurry of activity. Tony Bennet crooned. I walked past row after row of white dresses toward the back of the store, then Amanda flagged me down. Deena was inside the dressing room. When she came out she was wearing this simple elegant dress with a brown sash around the waist. She liked it but wasn’t sure it was “the one.” The shop only allowed the future brides four dresses to try on. The dressing rooms had to be booked in advance. After four tries Deena had not found the perfect dress. This was a major step forward towards making the dream wedding a reality. Amanda offered some advice but was mostly there for moral support.

At lunch afterwards we had a long discussion about whether I should post this sketch. After all Travis shouldn’t see his blushing bride in the dress until the wedding day. It was decided that since this wasn’t “the” dress, it would be alright to post it.

McFeldman Wedding

Posted on by Thor

At the start of the year I was asked to join the Feldman family as they celebrated the wedding of Adrienne Feldman to Jason McIntosh. The wedding took place at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater (812 East Rollins Street). When I arrived, I immediately went inside the Goldman Theater where the ceremony was going to take place. The Houpa was already set up, so I used the time prior to the ceremony to work out the details of the space. It was on this stage that the Feldman family once performed as the “Feldman Dynamic.” This Fringe show organized by Brian Feldman, simply featured a dinner table and the family eating dinner as they always did. There was no script, this was a simply demonstration of life as theater. Now the family once again took to the stage to enact the simple drama of joining two hearts. Before the ceremony Brian paced the stage excitedly.

When the wedding party took to the stage, I started sketching frantically, since I knew the wedding ceremony would last at most a half an hour. The family had saved several seats for Terry and myself in the front row but I liked the view from the back row where I could work some audience members into the foreground. When it came time to exchange rings, a small Dachshund ran up to the stage. The dog was wearing a tuxedo and the rings must have been tied to the outfit. Everyone laughed out loud at the sight. The ceremony was quick and to the point. When Jason had to stomp on a glass, he missed on his first and second try. Once again the seriousness of the occasion was broken and people laughed.

The reception was held in the Patrons Room which was once a planetarium in the buildings past. A green laser projected thousands of green points up onto the dome shaped ceiling. Every table in the room was labeled with a month of the year. The newlyweds sat at the January table at the front of the room. Adrienne approached me and said she was excited to finally be in one of my sketches. She was upset however that only her back was in the sketch. I decided I would have to sketch her during the reception to make it up to her. The moments of the celebration seemed to fee by as I sketched. Brian joked with me that this assignment was much harder than the sketch I did of the swan boat talks. He was absolutely right. Getting this sketch was a major challenge since the reception flew by at the breakneck pace of an MTV music video. As I worked, the caterer insisted I move to make room for an ice cream table. I said that wasn’t going to happens, he shoved the table up behind me. Jason’s mom, Janice, tackled the job of cutting the wedding cake. She joked with me that she hadn’t signed on for cake duty but she was a trooper and as the last slices were being handed out, I was finally wrapping up my sketch.

Wedding of Miriam and Chris

Posted on by Thor

Chris and Miriam were married in Greensboro, North Carolina by Rabbi Eliezer Havivi. Miriam Dolan is a cousin of my wife Terry. We took a long car drive up to attend the wedding. The wedding day is considered the happiest day of one’s life. It is a personal Yom Kippur for the groom and for the bride. On this day all their past mistakes are forgiven as they merge into a new, complete soul. The veil conveys modesty for the bride and stresses that no matter how physically attractive she may be, it is the soul and character that are most important. The couple stood under a chuppah or marriage canopy which is a symbol of the home to be built and shared by the couple. It is open on all sides to convey that the couple should welcome people in unconditional hospitality. Miraim circled Chris seven times, which symbolized that the world was built in seven days. Two cups of wine were used in the ceremony. The first cup was sipped when the rabbi recited the betrothal blessings. Wine is a symbol of joy in Jewish tradition. The wedding is a sanctification of a man and woman. After the ceremony, the groom placed a glass on the floor and shattered it with his foot by stomping on it. This tradition stresses that even at the height of one’s personal joy, we must remember the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. After the ceremony the couple was escorted to a private room and left alone for a few minutes. This time of seclusion signified their new status of living together as husband and wife.

All of these traditions are somewhat new to me since I was raised christian, so I sketched with fascination. I was still adding watercolor washes when the ceremony was over and people began to file out to go to the reception. Terry lost patience when the synagogue was empty since she wanted to get to the reception to see the newly married couple arrive. I got my sketch done.