Lawren and Michael:
Degas House Wedding in New Orleans

This wonderful couple’s wedding took place at the elegant and historic Degas House on Esplanade Ave. in New Orleans.

It was a perfect, beautiful Autumn evening, and everyone had a great time!  This ceremony is a great example of perfect light for an outdoor wedding, as it was scheduled to begin a little less than an hour before sunset. Actually, the final half hour of daylight is really the best light, but when formal group shots are to take place outside after the ceremony, I like to leave a little light to work with for these photographs. While venue scheduling restraints and other logistical issues mean that not every wedding can have the luxury of starting the ceremony to occur in the best light, if other considerations allow, it’s definitely an important factor.

Lawren is an artist herself, so the Degas House, named for famed impressionist Edgar Degas, was a perfect venue choice for her wedding. The mansion was constructed in the 1850s as the Esplanade Ridge area was being developed, and Edgar Degas lived here for a few years in the 1870s.

About Degas House

Interestingly, though Degas House as we know the venue today consists of two side-by-side homes with a common courtyard, originally it was one single large house. In the 1920s, a developer believed two smaller homes would be more valuable in the housing market than one very large one, so he split the building in half.

One of the dilapidated homes was bought by current owner David Villarrubia in 1993. In 1995 he bought the other after it was discovered that the two homes were originally one. Much effort was put into researching and restoring the homes to the appearance they would have had back during the time of the Degas visit.

Today, Degas House serves as a museum, bed and breakfast. It frequently hosts weddings along with other special events.

The historical marker plaque in front of the location reads:

Edgar Germain Hilaire Degas – French “Impressionist” master whose mother and grandmother were born in New Orleans. Painted many famous subjects on a list here in 1872-1873 at Musson Home on Esplanade. His “Portrait of Estelle” bought by Delgado Museum.