Mortals Meet Percabeth

Mailey Laurel

There is something so classic about a painting. I know the saying is "A picture is worth a thousand words," but there's some things not even the most high-tech camera can capture.

That's part of the reason I became a live wedding painter.

So yeah, hi, my name is Mailey Laurel and I'm a professional live wedding painter. Basically, I paint the happiest moment of people's lives for a living. Live, while said moments are happening.

Painting used to be a hobby of mine but once I painted a picture at my best friend's wedding as a gift, I just...found my calling.

I feel like the world is so digital now. People rely on photos and videos to remember all the important moments in their lives, forgetting that in an instant, all those memories they cherished could be erased. Accidents happen. Memory cards get damaged or lost.

Paintings are permanent. Or at least more permanent than photos.

And sure, you could say that you can print photos and make them permanent like a painting. But like I said, there are some things even the best cameras can't capture.

So yeah. Me. Wedding painter. Love it.

Anyway, this is how I ended up here, at the Jackson-Chase wedding.

As a live wedding painter, there was always a fair bit of pressure. I mean, the guests, oftentimes including the bride and groom were actively watching me work. Someone always had something to say about the angle I'd chosen, or the way I painted the dress, or the way the groom's hair looked. But that kind of came with the territory of painting an event that was actively happening.

But I had never felt the pressure of painting like I did when I had to paint Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase's wedding.

Don't get me wrong, it's an honor. Being able to capture what is likely going to be one of the most iconic celebrity weddings. But more importantly, I'm capturing the happiest moment of two people's lives. A moment they'll forever reflect one. A moment they can show their kids, or even their grandkids.

This point is, this is going to be the single most exciting and terrifying moment of my entire life.

Time Skip

Percy and Annabeth went with a sea green and grey theme for their wedding. Even without knowing that was the color of their eyes, it's incredibly fitting.

I chose a sensible patterned dress. Nothing too noisy that was draw attention or distract from the main event, but something I could accidentally get a little paint on and no one would notice.

Wedding painting may be just as hard and as stressful as it sounds, but there's nothing quite like it for me. Though it's a lot of work to get my pictures and images lined up before I start painting (I need reference photos), it's also one of my favorite parts of the experience.

This is the time where I have an honest conversation with the bride and groom about what they're looking for in their painting like angles, people in the frame, lighting, etc.

And right now, before all the festivities started, I had Percy and Annabeth in front of me.

They were seated in two chairs facing back to back. As per tradition, they weren't to see each other before the wedding. And as they were facing different directions...

They were unironically so funny.

Anyway, they had their fingers intertwined in the space between the chairs, though they kept facing away from each other. I had to stop myself from "aww"-ing. I've been to many weddings and I've seen many couples, it comes with job, but there was something so pure about Percy and Annabeth's love for each other.