A Gilded Goodbye to the Year: Live Painting Guest Portraits at a New Year’s Eve Wedding at the Four Seasons Nashville

Jul 9

There are evenings that feel like magic even before the first champagne cork pops. This New Year’s Eve at the Four Seasons Nashville was one of those nights.

Set high above the city lights, the ballroom glowed with candlelight, gilded accents, and the kind of sparkle only a bride in sequins can outshine, designed by the one and only Sarah Oakland. As the hotel’s iconic skyline views faded into night, guests arrived dressed in velvet tuxedos, sweeping gowns, and just the right amount of shimmer. It was, in every way, a celebration drenched in glamour.

I had the joy of capturing the evening not with a camera, but with a brush — painting custom watercolor portraits of the guests as part of the night’s entertainment. Positioned just outside the grande ballroom, my little painting station became a place for quiet connection and joyful anticipation. Guests would strike a pose while sipping their cocktail, and I’d begin sketching their likeness in soft washes of paint — often capturing couples arm-in-arm, groups of friends in laughter, and a few unforgettable feathered headpieces and glittering bow ties.

Each portrait became a keepsake of the night — a frozen moment before midnight struck. As I painted, I could hear the band warming up with jazz standards, the clinking of crystal glasses, and that low, rising hum of excitement that only comes on December 31st.

The energy in the room built as the countdown approached. Just before midnight, I paused between brushstrokes to take it all in: confetti cannons were prepped, the cake had been cut, and the bride twirled under a ceiling of chandeliers with the groom beaming beside her.

When the clock struck twelve, the room erupted into cheers, kisses, and a glittering storm of gold confetti. And though the year had turned, the celebration continued long after. I kept painting well into the night, each portrait a love letter to the joy of that moment.

Being a part of this celebration was more than an honor — it was a reminder of the beauty in pausing to see people, really see them, and offering them a little piece of art to take home as the night faded into memory.