Kristina Brewer - Chicago Live Wedding Painter - Vendor Spotlight
Meet Kristina Brewer:
Photographer: Josh Ducommun Photography
Kristina is a live wedding painter that finds herself addicted to the wedding industry. She grew up in Antigo, Wisconsin and moved to Madison for college. Her degree is actually in interior design - she is completely self-taught in her painting journey without any formal training except learning how to draw from her grandma. She got married in Hawaii nearly 9 years ago and currently lives with her husband and blue heeler named Cody.
She produces beautiful paintings of weddings that I just had to look into myself! I really love the details that really make the couple look like themselves. I originally found Kristina on Instagram and fell in love with her work.
How it Started:
Kristina first got introduced to weddings with helping out her parents with their wedding decorating business when she was young. She formally started her art business in 2017 and focused on painting landscapes and portraits. In 2021, she saw a live wedding painter on Pinterest and instantly fell in love. She knew it would be the perfect fit for her because of her experience within the wedding world with her parents, and her experience with painting both landscapes and portraits. Kristina describes herself as a social artist that likes to have fun, so it only makes sense that this would work out perfectly for her.
In Kristina’s eyes, it’s almost like every weekend is a romantic comedy where she gets to meet so many fun, incredible people. It’s really enjoyable for Kristina to pique guests’ interest and answer all of their questions. And she also is grateful to be involved in such an important part of the couples’ lives to capture the beauty of the day.
When she’s not working weddings, she’s working on her skills by watching painting tutorials or painting portraits and landscapes from photos. Outside of painting, she tends to her flower and vegetable garden, reads art books, or wake surfs on her boat. I have to say, wake surfing sounds like loads of fun!
Kristina runs her business by herself. She recently made the jump to painting full time. She jumps between live wedding painting, being commissioned to paint from photos, and selling her landscapes and portraits. She says that she’s been working the hardest she ever has, yet still feels like a kid on summer vacation! It definitely sounds like Kristina has her work cut out for her, but enjoys it all the while! (Photography by Bon Photage)
Her Favorites:
Even though Kristina said it’s practically impossible to choose a favorite wedding, she says that she loves barn weddings because they are usually smaller and everyone makes her feel like a part of the family. She also enjoys weddings with different cultures from her own because everything is so new, exciting, and beautiful. Kristina also enjoys the cool vibe of a tent wedding as well, but she says she loves all of them because of how every one is different.
Photographer: Valerie Halling Photography
Her Advice to You:
Consider a Friday or Sunday wedding to be able to book all of your dream vendors. Saturdays are booking up quickly, so consider being open to other days to ensure you don’t miss getting good vendors.
I definitely agree! The wedding season months (June through October) are pretty busy, so the alternative days that aren’t as commonly sought after will make your wedding planning experience easier. Also while looking for your key vendors, the sooner you can book them the better! It will ensure the vendors have more availability.
Where to Find Her:
Kristina posts in many places about her work. You can find her at her website here. She also has Instagram and TikTok pages at @kristinapaintsweddings or @kristinabrewerart. If you’re looking for more content, you can also check out her YouTube channel here. If you’d like to reach out directly, you can email her at kristinastudioart@gmail.com.
