Wedding gowns are works of art unto themselves, and no one appreciates that more than fashion designer by day/fashion illustrator by night Emily Behm of Maple Grove. Looking for a way to combine her two loves—fashion and drawing—Behm launched Rabbit Rabbit Studio to give brides a special way to remember their wedding day.
“Women put so much time and care into choosing the perfect wedding dress, and having a stylized illustration is a fun way to be able to remember the dress and the day you spent wearing it,” Behm says.
Behm achieves her lookbook-ready designs by studying photographs—the more shots of the bride in her dress, the better—and loosely sketching in pencil before shading with ink. She then scans the drawings and digitally adds color or additional shading before printing it on archival, 100 percent cotton paper to ensure it will stand the test of time.
Her whimsical, hand-drawn illustrations make great gifts for the bride, bridesmaids and even long-ago brides (think grandmothers in their classic gowns). The portraits are also perfect gifts for husbands to give to their blushing brides.
“My very first sale was to a husband who bought one as a surprise for his wife on their first anniversary,” Behm says. (The traditional first anniversary gift is paper, after all.) “It’s completely unique and lets your wife know how amazing she looked when you started your lives together.”