The art of simple black portraits from paper has a long and interesting history in England, but is rarely heard of today. Booking a silhouette artist to entertain your guests will add a unique, artistic touch to your special day. Weddings do, in fact, offer a great challenge for our artists. With a wonderful array of hats, and family profiles to compare, there is never a dull moment!

Charles speaks on "Entertainment at Weddings" (video interview)

To see how silhouette cutting could work at your own wedding view this video interview of Charles in action, made at a wedding in Buckinghamshire.

This interview is a clip from the From This Day Forward DVD by Galaxy Videos

The Silhouettes

If you're planning a wedding you probably have a thousand questions. Take a look at our weddings FAQ on this page to see if any of them are answered there. Then you can call us and ask them all again anyway if you wish!

Cutting full length silhouettes of the bride and groom has become something of a tradition when Charles attends a wedding. This classic and unmistakable outline makes a wonderful alternative wedding photo, and are definitely among his favourite subjects!

Take a look at these hats!

Silhouettes at weddings FAQ

1. How long does it take to cut a silhouette?
   Not very long. Anywhere between 60 & 100 seconds! Very complicated hats may slow us down a little...
2. My wedding will be in Timbucktoo! Can you help me?
   Yes, certainly we can. Although based in the south of England we do travel, and have attended events as far afield as Dubai, Edinburgh, Berlin & Marrakech! (You may have to consider travel costs.)
3. How much does it cost?
   Not as much as you might think. Because of the variety of events we attend and the wide area we cover we don't include our fees on this site, do please make an enquiry and we'll send a free quote for you to consider.
4. Are you available?
   The big question! You can get a good idea by checking the date on this site (see Check a Date), or just send an enquiry with the details of your event.
5. How long will you stay?
   Usually from 2 to 3 hours. Most people book us for the reception and "wedding breakfast", but silhouette cutting also works well as an evening entertainment.
6. How many silhouettes can one artist cut?
   Roughly 50-60 silhouettes. This means silhouetting about half the guests at an average size wedding (if there is such a thing!) We find this works very well from an entertainments point of view, and is the way most people choose to book us.
7. Can't you simply "DO" everybody?
   For small events, yes (up to 60 people). For larger events, if you feel it's important that all your guests be profiled (for instance if you want to create a print of all the profiles cut at the event) you may need a second artist.
8. Does it cost extra to have the full length silhouettes?
   No. We usually make them as a "special" for the bride & groom, but we can do everybody this way if you wish! (This can work well at smaller events).
9. Can we put the details of our wedding on each silhouette?
   Yes. We can print a "custom card" with your names, the date of the wedding, and even your own silhouettes if you wish! There is a small extra charge to this, to cover artwork and the cost of printing a 'short run'. We do recommend this for weddings, but if you opt to do without we will supply our standard mounting card free of charge. (Samples of both these cards are on the Silhouette Extras page).
10. Can we have more than one copy of each silhouette?
    Yes are two ways to do this. Our preferred method is by scanning the artist's white off-cuts and compiling these into a print which can be sent to you after the event. The other way is to insert a second sheet of black paper so that the artist can cut two copies at once, we call this "cutting duplicates". This has the advantage of giving you an actual paper copy but it does slow us down and can result in a less detailed silhouette, which is why we prefer the electronic print. There is a small extra charge (see Silhouette Extras).
11. How do I book you?
    Make an enquiry & we'll send you a proposal. We'll also send a PDF booking form which you can print out and post to us together with a deposit to secure the date. If you need time to consider things please let us know so we can pencil your date in the diary. The diary can change alarmingly quickly sometimes, and it's always a shame when people miss out because of a few days delay.

Call: 0118 947 6637

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©Charles Burns/www.roving-artist.com/The silhouette cutting site/charles@roving-artist.co.uk/This page was last updated November 2011