In the Studio: Creating My Wedding Bouquet Painting
- Feb 16
- 6 min read
I first saw my bouquet in the trunk of a car, in the circular driveway of our Maui B+B. My florist, Misa (Floralette) had driven roughly 45 min to hand deliver my bouquet. We had corresponded a bit over email, and I had sent her a screen sharing video to walk through my Pinterest board inspiration, but other than that, I fully trusted her to bring my vision to life. I was immediately met with so much joy, seeing this important part of my day brought to life - the size, texture, character - it was all perfect.
My bouquet was truly the only thing extra about our wedding day. We were eloping on the cliffs in Kapalua with just an officiant (Hitched in Maui) and photographer (Lexi Harry Photography) and having forgone all the expenses and extra fluff that comes with a traditional wedding, I gave myself the permission to go absolutely all out on my bouquet.
I wanted something that would match the setting of Maui, incorporate orchids and be huge and sprawling in such a way that the flowers would truly have their moment. Everything else about our wedding was so simple - in fact, my husband and I both got our outfits together within a week of our departing flight - and I wanted to make a statement with my flowers. From the very beginning, I knew this wedding bouquet painting would one day exist, so I was approaching the design of the bouquet through my artist's eyes.
I also gave a heads up to our photographer, Lexi, how important it was for her to capture some detailed shots of the bouquet that I could use as a reference in my studio - she understood the assignment.
Flash forward to about 3 months after our wedding, and I found myself avoiding getting started on the painting. It felt like such a landmark piece - one that I didn’t want to mess up. This wasn’t just another floral study; it was the wedding bouquet painting, carrying so much emotional weight. After getting out of the avoidance spiral, I got the idea to paint this piece BIG. I had never painted anything bigger than 8x10, but felt like painting my bouquet at that size would inherently limit the detail I wanted to achieve. So I adopted the delusional idea to order a 24x43” piece of paper - Arches cold press of course - from Blick. It arrived sandwiched between two pieces of cardboard.
Another month went by, casually moving this massive package around my 10x10ft studio, afraid to commit. But, at some point, I decided to rip the bandaid and begin my sketch. I did so by sketching digitally, as I always do, on my iPad. I then consulted my local library, who has a “library of things” and was able to check out a projector. I set that up on my dining room table and projected my sketch onto the paper, precariously balanced by 2 dining chairs, then used a pencil to transfer the line drawing onto my paper.
It would then be another month (I know, what is wrong with me?!) before I got the mental strength to tackle this piece. I began with the green anthurium - a flower I felt drawn to when originally viewing Misa’s tropical portfolio, and one I felt was the true “hero” of the bouquet.
The process was slow, and it wouldn’t be until 6 months later that I finally decided to lay my last brush stroke on this piece (with weeks-long breaks in between each session). I put a lot of pressure on my wedding bouquet painting, only wanting to paint when I felt in the right headspace - though now I’ve now learned that sometimes you just have to START, and the simple act of mixing paint on a palette has the power to transform me into a creative mood.
That said, I have come to accept that this painting needed space and time to be completed. I was doing something big and bold that I had never done before with the intention to keep it until I die (morbid, but true). Yes, my wedding bouquet painting will be coming to the nursing home with me. So in a way, I think it needed 6 months. I needed time to build my confidence and expand my skills in other paintings to return to it stronger later.
While I had put immense pressure on creating this piece, it was relieving to know I was the client and I didn’t have to worry what someone else would think of it. During my first year as a professional artist, I said yes to almost every commission request and often found myself stressed and anxious about what they would think - all of my clients were thrilled with their work, for what it’s worth - but I think that anxiety was a symptom of painting things I didn’t actually like. With time, I’ve both improved my skills and made it clear what I want to paint, so commissioned work - especially wedding bouquet paintings - feels much more painless these days. That said, there was some joy in knowing I would be the recipient of this piece and all that hard work wouldn’t be whisked away from me.
Before starting this piece, I hadn’t painted anything larger than 8x10 and had just come off a collection of about 12 4x6” paintings. Through creating this wedding bouquet painting, I painted more than 30 individual elements, which could have existed independently on their own small pieces of paper. So in a way, I painted 30 small paintings within this one larger piece - a lot of reps - which explains why it took so long! But through that, I began to really solidify my style.
Yes, style - it’s a buzzword among artists and something that takes a lot of time to discover, hone, practice. For the last 2.5 years, there were times I felt untethered to a specific style and subject matter and was always a bit bothered by hearing more seasoned artists talk about the importance of finding it for oneself.
But through this wedding bouquet painting, I feel I’ve finally found it. Sure, there will continue to be a natural evolution, but I have put in enough practice at this point to feel very confident in the way I approach paintings. I can look at a reference image and build a mental framework for what colors to mix, what to blend, how to layer. And once the brush hits the paper, muscle memory takes over.
Starting with mid tones, I create my “base layer” of paint on the subject. I then deepen the color where shadows are needed. Typically this is 2-3 layers, gradually darkening to create depth. Then I swing back to the opposite side of the spectrum and come in with my highlights. It’s a very layered effect, almost always dry-on-dry.
Translating my bouquet onto paper felt necessary - not only did it scratch a creative need of mine - but it represented this sacred elopement of ours. We’d gone the unconventional route of eloping without any quests, something that felt so true and deeply romantic to us as a couple. For me, my wedding bouquet painting is a reflection of that bold choice - to follow your instincts and do the thing that makes you happy. In many ways, quitting my corporate job to pursue art runs parallel to that decision we made to elope.
The painting is now framed in the most glorious, chunky, gold fame and sits pretty in our living room. It’s the first thing you see when you walk into our house and it brings me so much joy knowing it will follow us through all stages of our lives.
My biggest takeaway from this experience is how it built my confidence as an artist. If I ever feared painting big, I don’t anymore! It only takes one piece to prove to yourself that you can do it. That wall of insecurity and avoidance has been broken down, and I feel excited for the opportunity to paint big again.
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