Man Hires Artist To Draw Wife on Wedding Day, Not Prepared for the Results
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
A man decided to mark his first anniversary by surprising his wife with a hand-drawn sketch of her on their wedding day.
However, when she was presented with the finished sketch, she was not impressed. It is something of an overlooked tradition for couples to celebrate their first wedding anniversary with the gift of paper.
A previous survey by the Paper and Packaging Board found that, while more than 60 percent of U.S. couples polled were unaware of the tradition, two-thirds commemorated their first year of marriage with a paper gift.
Taylor and Lucy Vickerstaff, from Surrey in the U.K. got married on April 24, 2024, but their love story began long before that. "Taylor and I have been together for five years," Lucy told Newsweek.
"We have our gorgeous baby boy, Freddie, whom we welcomed in 2024, and our golden retriever Oakley, whom we have had since 2021."
Eager to mark the occasion, Taylor had turned to personalized gift company Letterfest to create a hand-drawn sketch of Lucy, based on a picture of them together on their wedding day.
Taylor and Lucy Vickerstaff smile on their wedding day.
Taylor and Lucy Vickerstaff smile on their wedding day.
TikTok/lucyvickerstaff
Though Lucy was in the dark about what Taylor had planned, she knew he was up to something special. "He's always very thoughtful and gets sentimental gifts so I was excited to see what he got for our first anniversary," Lucy said.
When Taylor gave Lucy a first glimpse of the sketch, via a preview, she was certainly surprised, but it wasn't in a good way.
Unimpressed with the results, Lucy took to her TikTok, @lucyvickerstaff, to share the "humbling" results. Her post also revealed how Taylor had subsequently got in touch with Letterfest to complain about the sketch.
In his message to the company, Taylor compares Lucy's appearance in the drawing to that of one of the characters in the cult comedy movie White Chicks, in which Black brothers, played by Shawn and Marlon Wayans, go undercover disguised as white socialites.
Lucy said: "The sketch was awful, though we laughed very very hard when we first saw it and immediately thought of the guys from White Chicks.'"
The wedding sketch that Lucy Vickerstaff's husband, Taylor, decided to surprise her with.
The wedding sketch that Lucy Vickerstaff's husband, Taylor, decided to surprise her with.
TikTok/lucyvickerstaff
Lucy's complaints about the drawing go beyond just the artwork. "I actually don't even like the original picture," she said. "It's the only one from the wedding album that I don't like!"
Both she and her husband are skeptical over the claims it is a "hand-drawn sketch" and have asked for a full refund. At present, Letterfest have notified them that, while it is fine to refund the couple the bulk of what the picture cost them, the company will need to retain a fee to cover the work done by the artist.
Responding to the couple's claims, a spokesperson for Letterfest told Newsweek:
"At Letterfest, we take great pride in creating thoughtful, personalized gifts. As part of our process, we share a draft preview with every customer to confirm the personalization details before final production. While the preview is a work-in-progress, we offer unlimited proofs until the customer is completely satisfied with the final design.
"We understand that Lucy and Taylor were not fully satisfied with their portrait. We always welcome feedback and work closely with customers to resolve any concerns," the spokesperson added. "If a customer requests a cancellation after the draft is created, a small fee is retained to cover the work already completed by our artist. Our goal is to deliver a high-quality finished product that our customers love, and we continually review our processes to ensure every experience with us is a positive one."
Though she was unhappy with the sketch, Lucy and Taylor enjoyed a happy anniversary, with the hilarity of what happened only adding to proceedings.
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