Inquire

Weddings · Showers · Corporate Events · Parties

Live Guest Portraits in Los Angeles

Every guest gets a small original watercolor of themselves, painted at your event and taken home that night. It is the one wedding favor nobody throws away — and it turns the corner of the room it happens in into the best corner of the party.

From $950 · 4 hours · about 10 guests an hour

Check Your DateSee Packages

Reply within 24 hours · bilingual English and Spanish · insured, COI on request

Finished live watercolor guest portraits of couples in formal wedding attire, each hand-lettered with the couple's names and wedding date

The work

Ink and watercolor, painted in ten minutes.

Loose, fashion-illustration style — the dress, the suit, the posture. Recognizable without being fussy. Names and dates are hand-lettered on each one.

Eight live watercolor guest portraits laid out in a grid on a wooden table, showing couples in green, pink, blue, yellow, and ivory formalwear
The live illustration display table at a wedding reception, with finished watercolor guest portraits on gold easels and laid out in rows for guests to collect

How it works

  1. 1

    Guests come to the table

    During cocktail hour and dinner. A quick photo is taken as reference — nobody has to sit still, and nobody misses the party waiting.

  2. 2

    Elena paints

    About 6–10 minutes for one person and closer to twelve for a couple, in ink and watercolor at 5" × 7". Guests watch if they want to, or go back to their drinks.

  3. 3

    A pop-up gallery for pickup

    Finished portraits go up on a display as they dry, and guests collect them before they leave — each in a protective sleeve. It becomes its own small event within the night.

A guest in a green polka-dot dress holding a watercolor portrait of herself wearing the same dress
Styled example illustrating the format — not a photograph from an event.

What a guest walks away with

One original on watercolor paper, at 5" × 7", in a protective sleeve — their outfit, their posture, the bag they actually carried. Recognizably them, which is why these end up framed instead of in a drawer.

Time per portrait
6–10 minutes
Guests per hour
About 10
Paper size
5" × 7"
People per portrait
Up to 2, or 3 at a push

Packages

Priced by hours on site, because that is what actually determines how many guests get a portrait. All materials, the display setup, protective sleeves, and travel within 30 miles of West LA are included.

4 hours on site

$950

Roughly 40 guests painted

  • Original 5" × 7" ink and watercolor portraits
  • Protective sleeve for every portrait
  • Pop-up display for pickup
  • Hand-lettered names or date, if you want them
  • All materials, setup, and cleanup
Check Your Date

Most booked

5 hours on site

$1,150

Roughly 50 guests painted

  • Original 5" × 7" ink and watercolor portraits
  • Protective sleeve for every portrait
  • Pop-up display for pickup
  • Hand-lettered names or date, if you want them
  • All materials, setup, and cleanup
Check Your Date

6 hours on site

$1,350

Roughly 60 guests painted

  • Original 5" × 7" ink and watercolor portraits
  • Protective sleeve for every portrait
  • Pop-up display for pickup
  • Hand-lettered names or date, if you want them
  • All materials, setup, and cleanup
Check Your Date

Add-ons

  • Additional hour on site$250
  • Studio-finished portrait, mailed after$20/guest
  • Hand-lettered names or event dateIncluded
  • Second artist for large guest countsQuoted

Terms

  • 25% deposit confirms the date; balance due 14 days before.
  • Travel included within 30 miles of West LA; beyond that it is quoted on the proposal.
  • General liability insurance, with a COI naming your venue on request.
  • Elena arrives 60 minutes before the start time.

Events this works at

Weddings

The most common booking. Cocktail hour through dinner, with the couple's own portrait done first so it can sit on the card table.

Bridal & baby showers

Smaller counts and a longer, calmer pace. Three hours usually clears the whole guest list with room to spare.

Corporate events & brand activations

Holiday parties, client appreciation, conference booths, and product launches. Portraits can carry a logo or event date if you want them branded.

Bar & bat mitzvahs, quinceañeras

High energy and a lot of teenagers, which this format handles well — the queue moves and the portraits get posted immediately.

Milestone birthdays & anniversaries

Smaller gatherings where every guest getting a portrait is realistic within a three-hour booking.

Engagement parties & rehearsal dinners

A good way to test the format before the wedding — and the portraits often end up in the guest book.

Planning a corporate event rather than a wedding? Our corporate art events page covers team-building workshops, and holiday office parties covers December.

Where we work

Guest portraits travel anywhere the easel does. These pages cover venue-by-venue notes for each area.

MalibuSanta MonicaBeverly HillsPasadenaCalabasasPalos VerdesDowntown LATopangaHollywoodLong Beach

Other ways to work with Elena

Live Wedding Painting

One large canvas of the ceremony or first dance, painted on site and finished the same night.

Learn more

Watercolor Silhouettes

Faster than full portraits — about 14 guests an hour, so a bigger list gets through.

Learn more

Illustrated Invitations

Original watercolor artwork of your venue, built into a paper suite and matching website.

Learn more

Frequently asked questions

How much do live guest portraits cost?
Four hours is $950 and covers roughly 40 guests. Five hours is $1,150, six hours is $1,350. Every price includes all materials, the display setup, protective sleeves for each portrait, and travel within 30 miles of West LA. Additional hours are $250 each.
How many guests can actually be painted?
About 10 an hour — 6–10 minutes for a single portrait, a little longer for a couple. So four hours is roughly 40 portraits. If you have 150 guests, plan on portraits being a lovely thing some guests get rather than a favor for everyone, or look at silhouettes, which run closer to 14 an hour.
Do guests have to sit still while you paint them?
No — and this is the thing people are most surprised by. A reference photo is taken at the table in a few seconds, and then guests go back to the party. They come back later to collect the finished portrait. Nobody spends their reception posing.
What if you don't get to everyone?
Anyone not reached on the night can be finished in the studio afterward and mailed — $20 per guest. We take reference photos for the ones we cannot get to, so nobody has to be told no at the table.
How many people can be in one portrait?
Two comfortably, three at a push. Beyond that the faces get too small at this size to look like anyone. Families with several children usually do better with two portraits than one crowded one.
Are the portraits dry before guests take them home?
Watercolor at this size dries within a few minutes, and each portrait goes into a clear protective sleeve. Guests can put them in a bag or a jacket pocket without any trouble.
Can the portraits have our names or the date on them?
Yes, at no extra charge — hand-lettered names, the date, or a short line of text on each piece. Tell us at booking so the layout leaves room for it.
What do you need from the venue?
A long table with two chairs in a well-lit spot — in shade if we're outdoors — and somewhere nearby to display finished portraits as they dry. We bring the paper, paints, sleeves, and the display itself.
Do you do non-wedding events?
Regularly. Corporate holiday parties, brand activations, bar and bat mitzvahs, quinceañeras, showers, and milestone birthdays all work. The format doesn't change much; the pacing does.
How far in advance should we book, and what's the deposit?
Four to six months for a Saturday in peak wedding season, less for weekday corporate events. A 25% deposit confirms the date, with the balance due 14 days before.

Check your date

Tell us the event, the venue, and roughly how many guests. We'll come back within 24 hours with the right number of hours and a flat quote.

Check Your Date

Or reach out directly: hello@elenamarmol.com · (747) 329-0774

CallCheck Availability