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About

On Hitched.co.uk since 2021

Last update: November 2024

Barrie James Art is a wedding service based out of Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, in North East England, specialising in caricature drawings. Live caricatures are a fantastic way to entertain your guests at a wedding or party whether as an icebreaker during an afternoon drinks reception or as a hilarious addition to an evening event. Lead artist Barrie is one of the top caricaturists in the United Kingdom and the overall winner of the prestigious Caricon International Caricature Convention 2018.

Services Offered

Barrie James Art is dedicated to providing guests with an unforgettable experience. Barrie focuses strongly on the entertainment value by mingling and chatting with your guests while drawing them. He is able to produce one high-quality caricature every three minutes that many clients keep forever as a souvenir of their day. Unlike many other caricaturists who work from a fixed easel, this method prevents queues from forming and Barrie is able to entertain large groups in a short period of time. As a full-time professional caricaturist, he can be relied upon to provide an outstanding service.

Frequently asked questions

Type of entertainment offered:

For adults

What is included in the wedding package?

I have a range of packages from two hour mix and mingle entertainment for your drinks reception or after meal lull to full day packages where i am drawing a large portrait of the full wedding party

How far in advance should I contact you?

My service is very popular so if you are looking to have me t]entertain at your wedding you should book as early as possible

What other services to you provide?

Other

Are you able to travel?

Yes, i mainly cover the Northumberland, North Yorkshire and Cumbria. But will travel further afield

Is there a charge for travelling?

Yes, there are charges for travel depending on the distance required. Generally there is no travel cost for Northumberland

Do you need specific materials or conditions to offer your service?

No

How long is the act?

A typical performance lasts 2 hours great for a drinks reception or evening event. I can do longer on request

How much time do you need to prepare for an act?

I usually arrive half an hour before I am due to perform. I don’t need to set up anything as I am a mobile act

Do you work alone or do you have a team of professionals?

Alone

Do you do open-air acts?

Yes

Do you charge per hour or per event?

Per event

If needed, would you be able to work extra hours?

Yes

How do you charge extra time?

2 hours is £450 3 hours is £595 A full day is £895

What are the forms of payment?

You can pay by PayPal, bank transfer or cash

Served in

Cumbria, Durham, Northumberland and Tyne & Wear

illustration notebook

Do you have any questions?

Reviews for Barrie James Art

We're all about trust. Our community relies on honest reviews to make your big decisions easier.
5.0 out of 5 rating
Hitched Wedding Awards 2024 Winner
5.0 out of 5 rating
103 reviews
100% recommend it
  • Quality of the service
    5 out of 5 rating
  • Response time
    5 out of 5 rating
  • Professionalism
    5 out of 5 rating
  • Value for money
    5 out of 5 rating
  • Flexibility
    5 out of 5 rating
ExpensiveGoldHair59346
Candice R. Sent on 02/07/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Memorable Entertainment

Barrie was a pleasure to deal with from the first message we sent to him. He commands the attention of your wedding guests, he gave them memories to treasure forever and plenty of laughs along the way too!!!

Always wanted Barrie at my wedding from the moment we booked and I would recommend him to everyone. Thanks Barrie!!
Francesca
Francesca Sent on 02/11/2024
5 out of 5 rating

Perfect for adding lots of laughter to your special day!

Barrie was the talk of our wedding! We hired Barrie to draw our guests (instead of favours) throughout our wedding breakfast and room turnaround. He's so talented and blended in so well with our guests - we could hear our guests laughing with Barrie all day. I'd definitely recommend Barrie if you're wanting to add some laughter to your wedding - thanks again for making our day so special!
stacie28
Stacie S. Sent on 11/08/2024
5 out of 5 rating

Absolutely amazing

Barrie was amazing at our wedding, he had everyone in stitches with his drawings. Would highly recommend him and his work. Kept everyone so entertained.
Amanda
Amanda H. Sent on 11/07/2024
5 out of 5 rating

Perfect addition

Marriage our event extra special and our guests loved him! Wonderful experience, just wish I’d got to spend more time with him to tell him thank you!
Kelly
Kelly D. Sent on 26/06/2024
5 out of 5 rating

Amazing person high recommend

Highly recommend Barrie he is amazing at what he does and is great with the guests. Great way to get people to interact and feel comfortable that are more shy. Amazing with kids and an amazing sense of humour worth every penny and more
Laura
Laura H. Sent on 18/06/2024
5 out of 5 rating

Brilliantly entertaining!!

Barrie provided a bespoke package for our wedding at Doxford Barns, and he went down an absolute storm with our guests! I've loved caricatures since getting one done as a kid in Portugal, so I was chuffed to bits when I stumbled across Barrie's insta profile and he was available for our wedding date. He's a phenomenal talent but not only that, he's professional, respectful, a bit cheeky when the tone is right, reads the room really well, and keeps to his communications (which was a big thing for me). Our guests have proudly taken their pictures home to Jersey, Scotland, Oxfordshire, Durham and Ilfracombe!
Georgia
Georgia T. Sent on 25/05/2024
5 out of 5 rating

An absolutely awesomr addition to our drinks reception

so glad we booked Barrie J for our drinks reception entertainment. Created so many laughs and his talent is just unreal. Hilarious and talented but BRUTAL! Loved it. Plus just a genuinely lovely man, easy to deal with, booking process very straight forward - highly recommend. Our bride and groom joint drawing was also a lovely touch and a great memory. Thanks Barrie!!!!
Charlotte
Charlotte J. Sent on 16/04/2024
5 out of 5 rating

Such amazing entertainment, guests leave with such good favours and memories of the wedding

Barrie was so professional and easy to talk to, whenever I had questions he replied back to me instantly and everyone on the day absolutely loved him for his work and for his personality, I would definitely recommend Barrie for any event!
Paula
Paula F. Sent on 03/04/2024
5 out of 5 rating

Fabulous addition to our Wedding

We had Barrie James Art at our wedding after we seen him at another wedding we attended. He never stopped from the moment he got in the door until he finished. The kids and adults absolutely loved every minute and it gave everyone a good laugh. It added something a little special to our day and couldn’t recommend him enough. The drawings were absolutely awesome and the photo frame for the bride and groom was also a nice touch. Barrie is also a very nice, honest and trustworthy guy and I couldn’t recommend him enough. Thank you for making our day.
Denise
Denise S. Sent on 01/04/2024
5 out of 5 rating

Brilliant addition to our wedding day!

Barrie was an absolute brilliant addition to our wedding. We knew we wanted some entertainment for our wedding, and also wanted our guests to receive a unique favour each - so we found Barrie online! Barrie was quick to reply to emails, made us aware of the packages he offered and once we knew he was available for our wedding date we made sure to book him in. On the day, Barrie was on site for when our ceremony had finished and just cracked on with his drawings in amongst our guests. It was great walking around and seeing the crowds gathering around him and then all the laughter that followed. When Barrie sent over the digital copies the following day, I was in stitches seeing all the drawings - they were amazing - the lads definitely came off worse than *most* of the women! Also, we loved our bride and groom framed portrait - we just need to work out where we're going to hang it in the house! Thanks for everything Barrie!
Lauren
Lauren M. Sent on 29/02/2024
5 out of 5 rating

Excellent entertainment

We had Barrie entertain our wedding guests this week and we were thrilled with his service. What a lovely guy he is, super professional and friendly. I would highly recommend as wedding entertainment 👌
Siobhan
Siobhan S. Sent on 15/12/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Amazing Day!!

We were so pleased to have Barrie join us on our special day. He was an absolute hit with all the guests, seeing everyone’s pictures was amazing. The fun and laughter was exactly what we hoped for. I would recommend Barrie James Art for any event to entertain your guests.
Hamza
Hamza A. Sent on 14/12/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Great entertainment!

It was a pleasure to have Barrie James at our wedding. He provided a lot of entertainment to our guests, and produced great caricatures. Highly recommend!
Erin
Erin S. Sent on 04/12/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Goodall Wedding

Barrie was a great additional entertainment to have at our wedding. He went round our wedding party and had massive queues following him all wanting to be drawn. He made everyone laugh and we were blew away with his talent and creativity. He added a different entertaining value to our wedding to make it more fun for adults and children. And even with the high demand off our guests he still managed to make time to draw us as newlyweds which was also framed for us by Barrie. Highly recommended wedding entertainment thank you so much you made our day even more special.
Many thanks and well wishes
The new Mr & Mrs Goodall
Helen
Helen Sent on 30/11/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Fantastic addition to our wedding day

Barrie’s caricatures were fab, such fun, our guests loved them and all commented how lovely it was to have something different as a momento of our wedding!
illustration stars

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Badges

Hitched Wedding Awards 2024 Winner
Hitched Wedding Awards 2023 Winner
Hitched Wedding Awards 2022 Winner

Barrie James Art Real Weddings

Nicole & Richard
7 photos · 21/10/2024
Natalie & Chris
13 photos · 22/08/2022

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Map

29 Broadpool Green, Whickham NE16 4RH Gateshead (Tyne & Wear)

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