We were recently invited to be part of a styled shoot with other vendors in our area and to say we were thrilled was putting it lightly! We immediately began thinking about what we would contribute and how we couldn’t wait to dive into the creative wonderland that is a style shoot. As we were excitedly telling our husbands, we were all met with their supportive but blank looks- huh? What’s a styled shoot?
Well, to put it in non-wedding-ese, husband/man speak, a styled shoot is a made up event where different vendors contribute their work to produce essentially a fake wedding, rehearsal, party or reception. At this point my husband was still looking at me blankly because as a creative professional himself, he couldn’t imagine doing all that work for a fake couple! What’s the point? Well, for wedding vendors, it’s actually a pretty exciting opportunity to create your portion of a wedding exactly as you want to see it. It’s a space for showcasing the final product in a way that best features each of our individual contributions. It’s also a really fun way to connect with other industry professionals you wouldn’t ordinarily interact with, like a stationer building a working relationship with the florist or photographer. On a real wedding day, we wouldn’t be there to point out the small detail that ties the invitations to the signage we want them to pick up in the detail shot, and they wouldn’t be able to tell us how to angle the paper to best show off the blending of colors in the paper and florals in a photo. In a real wedding, the elements come together seamlessly to tell the story of the couple. In a styled shoot, there is no love story that needs to take center stage- each artist can slow down and take time to focus on the story told by their piece of the puzzle.
Now the husbands were on board, but still wondered why anyone other than an industry insider would be excited about these kinds of collaborations. Sharing these shoots with our clients is one of the most fun parts! When we are working with a paying client, we don’t usually have the luxury of being able to slow down and experiment. There are timelines and budgets and many other fast paced moving pieces. A styled shoot gives us time to try out new things, pieces that really reflect our style and show our clients what we are capable of. We LOVE getting the chance to create with no limits and showing you all different things we may otherwise not get asked to do. This is true for all the vendors! So for a bride, checking out a company’s style shoot is an awesome way to see the “Met Gala” of their portfolio: the most ultra creative exhibition of their talent where they aren’t limited by time, money or materials.
We can’t wait to participate in another style shoot (hint hint to any wedding coordinators that are thinking about one!). Be sure to follow us on Instagram for the images from this fun day and many more as we share what we have been working on recently!