Caricature Artist during Cocktail hour?

I have hired a caricature artist for the whole night starting with the cocktail hour. It will act as entertainment and their favors and i am so excited about it. Anyone i have told thinks its really cool

An artist can only draw so fast .. im having one and i hired her for 4 hours for 80 guests .. it was also cheaper then a photobooth i wanna say the girl i hired is 120 /hr

I love the idea, but hiring and artist just for 30 minutes doesn’t seem quite worth it to me. I think people will barely have time to get a drink, grab some snacks and mingle in that window before they’re sitting down to dinner!

My friend did it for her rehearsal dinner, which I thought was a phenomenal idea! We have our picture hanging up in our hallway.

Hey guys, thanks so much for the feedback and comments. The guy is an amazing artist and is 150 an hour but his rate is prorated so I would only be paying for the time he actually is working. I may just hire him for the reception, my only concern is space in the room...

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Very true. he said he can do one person in 4 minutes but my fiance does not think a lot of people will actually want to sit there and be drawn.. I'm torn

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If you just did cocktail hour, with people moving and getting adjusted for the next person to draw, you are looking at about 5-6 people. Depending on your wedding size, that is a very small amount of people that you will be able to entertain. I would recommend hiring him for the evening or not at all.

I have also hired a caricature artist for the whole night, starting with cocktail hour.

My only concern for you is that they will not be able to get through enough guests in the half hour they are there. I think my artist does 20 people an hour if it's just with black marker and no color (color is obviously more time consuming so less people per hour). So assuming yours can move at that speed, you're only looking at about 10ish people in that time? Is that worth the money to you? How many guests are you having?

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Reading the comments after my initial post all my caricature artist needs is 3 chairs, a place to set up the easel, and near an outlet if extra light is needed (no table or anything). Maybe you could ask yours what they require space wise to work?

UO here but I don’t care for activities at a wedding that pull people away from the main event.

I would love this! I think you should hire him for long than 30 minutes though because he would only be able to draw 7ish people in that time (according to your 4 minutes per person) and that is a really small amount and guests will feel like they missed out. Of course not everyone will want to do this. If your dinner is a buffet or stations I would keep him there until dancing starts. But if your dinner is seated - then I think you should skip him altogether

I wouldn't do a caricature artist or lawn games, personally. I mean, how many people could the artist possibly do in a half hour, then you'll have people upset that they didn't get their turn. The only entertainment you need for cocktail hour is background music and alcohol.

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If you end up hiring him for the whole reception, then you will also need to factor him in to the cost for meals.

I worry that they wouldn't be able to do a lot of portraits. In my opinion, I was never a fan of caricature art and I'm not sure if any of your guests would feel the same way!

My FSIL had one for her wedding. He came during the rehearsal dinner the night prior, but then came for the reception, too. It was ok, and we still have the drawing hanging in our dining room, but it wasn't my favorite thing.

It took forever, too, at least 10 minutes per drawing. I know you said that he can do them in 4 minutes, but I truly don't know if that's possible. If you do end up going with this option, I would recommend he stay for the duration of the reception.

Also, about the lawn games - how many guests are you inviting and what is your venue like? I think these would be appropriate if you have an open backyard style wedding, but I would ditch it if it's a more formal event. I know it doesn't seem like it, but I've never been to a reception that I thought was limited on entertainment. Guests come with the expectation of just dinner, drink, and dancing, so I wouldn't stress about lawn games!

I don't think 30 minutes is enough time for that. If they were there the whole night, they'd get to a substantial number of people.

I really like this idea and wish I had the budget for it. But you definitely need more time!

I think 30 min is too short of a time for more than maybe 5 people to get through the line, I would pass.

Thank you guys so much! My fiancé is prob right about the waste of money. Idk if a lot of his side of the family would even be interested in getting drawn.

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Thank you, that's the same thing my FH said