She Hired A Live Painter For Her Wedding Who Just Unexpectedly Asked For An Additional $1,500 To Show Up
If you don’t know what a live painter is, it’s a pretty interesting new wedding trend where you hire an artist to attend your special day and paint live scenes from the event.
Some of the most popular moments live painters capture are the bride and groom’s first kiss and the couple’s first dance.
It’s certainly a unique element to add, and it immortalizes a wedding in a way that’s different from your traditional photography or videography.
In August, this 32-year-old woman is getting married. She recently was a guest at a wedding that featured a live painter, and she knew she wanted to have something this special at her own wedding.
She began to research how much a live painter in her area costs, and she was shocked to see the range was $4,000 to $6,000.
Knowing there was no way she could slide that into her budget, she dropped the idea. Later on, she was talking about it with her cousin, who lives in Mexico, and her cousin mentioned a friend of hers from art school, 21-year-old Ana, might be available to do it cheaper.
Ana gave her a call, and she was eager to learn more. Ana showed her some things she had painted, which were beautiful.
She could tell Ana had talent, and Ana stated she would like to build her wedding portfolio, and that’s why she was interested in taking the job.
“She said instead of payment, if I covered her art supplies, airfare to the wedding place, and a hotel, she would be our live painter,” she explained.
Forewer – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
“This worked out to be just over $2k, and I extended her hotel stay for a week after the wedding so she could explore.”
It was back in May when they ironed out all of the details. Yesterday, Ana texted her unexpectedly to say she was no longer comfortable working for her anymore.
Apparently, Ana had been doing some research of her own and did the math: the going rate for someone with her experience is at least $3,500 for live painting.
Ana suggested she pay her $1,500 on top of what they had already agreed upon in order to move forward.
“She said that the rate in her area in Mexico is ~$2k, so she was happy before with our deal, but as the wedding area is in the US and they have a different price scale, she said I was exploiting her,” she added.
She has already shelled out a significant sum of money for the catering and the venue, so she doesn’t have another $1,5000 lying around to give to Ana.
She replied to Ana over text, stating it was wildly unprofessional of her to change what they agreed on so last minute.
She clarified to Ana that she felt like she was being forced into paying her more money unless she was willing to risk Ana being a no-show on her big day.
“I did know the price of live painters before I asked her, but I was paying her in relation to our agreement, and I didn’t know she hadn’t researched beforehand a price guide,” she continued.
“She suggested our agreement, and I assumed that the discount on top was due to her being friends with my cousin. I have already reimbursed her for booking the flights and the hotel, so I am aware she could make good on not turning up to the wedding.”
“If she mentioned this before flights and hotel were booked last week, I would still think it unprofessional, but I would have tried to compromise then. We have not signed a contract so I’m not sure what I can even do in this situation.”
What advice do you have for her?
You can read the original post on Reddit here.
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