Weddingbee Blog

Ideas in-hand, I sat down for a conversation with Mr. CA regarding my idea for using silhouettes on our invitations. Nervous. Hopeful. Ready for a Wild West-style showdown in case he didn’t like the idea. Miraculously, I got the green light from him to proceed with the concept. Yes!! Admittedly, we were a bit worried that plastering silhouettes of ourselves all over our wedding stationery might seem slightly vain, but in the end we decided that we wanted our wedding to be as personal as possible, and the silhouettes would give them that little special personalization that I wanted. Plus, they just look cool.

After receiving a tip towards BlueClara on Etsy (I love the Hive!), I went and checked out her Etsy store. It was love at first sight! Her silhouettes are awesome—very clean and well-done. I love that she gives you different options: full body or just heads, digital or print. What a great steer!

I immediately placed an order with the shop about doing our silhouettes, and then attempted to take the side profile pictures that were required for them to do our silhouettes. Um, why was this so difficult?? Someone please explain.

Having looked at quite a few silhouettes on various invitations, I had a very clear vision of how I wanted the silhouettes to look.

For some reason, though, we just couldn’t get the camera angle right! Every shot turned out super weird, and either 1. made my chin look both nonexistent and with double-chins at the same time (how is that possible??), 2. made my hair look/ wispy/ flat/ weird, or 3. the angle just wasn’t right for a silhouette.

We finally got one of each of us that we were semi-okay with. And by semi-okay, I mean it didn’t make me look like I have 12 chins and an over-bite.

So we finally had our shots. They looked pretty shabby (at least mine did. Mr. CA is way too photogenic), and weren’t quite what I was expecting or wanting. Dang it—why did I decide to do this again, and why had I already paid for the listing on Etsy? I hoped beyond hope that our silhouettes might turn out semi-decent. Maybe. I wasn’t expecting much, though.

I sent the pictures off to Jamie (with the requests “please smooth my ponytail, and that tuft of hair on Mr. CA’s head that’s sticking up.” I am incredibly eloquent and clear, let me tell you), and she told me that she had a few jobs ahead of me, and would get proofs to us in a few days. Guys, let me tell you—this was one part of the wedding process that could not have been easier or smoother or faster. We sent her the profile pictures on the same Saturday we placed the order, and she got the silhouettes to me on Sunday. Um, yes. Sunday as in the next day. Speedy speedy!

I would like to say that Jamie is absolutely amazing. I could not sing her praises enough (and no, she did not pay me to write this. I just love her and her work). She was super fast, and guess what? Super good at what she does. Honestly, she worked magic with the crappy profile shots I sent her. I was absolutely blown away by our silhouettes, and couldn’t stop staring at them for a month. Oh, who am I kidding—I still stare at them.

Jamie sent the files as PDFs, two solo shots, and one with the two of us facing each other. I, of course, was a big, demanding jerk and asked her for the files as high-res Jpegs, and she happily sent those along as well. Have I mentioned how much I love her?

{BlueClara, on Etsy}

Yes. They are amazing. I am in love with them. If that is vain, then call me vain. I don’t care. They rock. Jamie made us look super-awesome and elegant in our silhouettes, and I was incredibly excited to work them into our invitations.

I think one of the best parts about using silhouettes is that they look really neat, but they are also you. They capture you and your SO (or whoever) at that moment in time, in a classy, timeless way. I think they work really well when integrated into wedding themes and decor, but you could also do something like this for a birthday, anniversary, pictures of your children, etc. Endless possibilities, really! Basically, silhouettes rock. The end.

Once I had the silhouettes, I had no excuse to put off the invites any longer!

Did you work silhouettes into your wedding invitations? Did you attempt to do them yourself, or did you have someone else take care of them?