What Is A Styled Shoot, And Why Do We Do Them?

Styled shoot. Maybe you’ve come across the term while browsing your favorite wedding blog or on the social media of your photographer or planner, or maybe this is the first time you’re hearing of it. But what exactly is a styled shoot? And why do people do them?

A styled shoot is exactly that- a shoot that is styled. A group of professionals (in our case, wedding vendors) come together to create and capture a common vision, sort of like a magazine editorial. Obviously a photographer photographs it, oftentimes a wedding planner spearheads the over-all style and coordination of the shoot, florists do the flowers, bakeries do cakes/desserts, etc. Sometimes there’s a theme, other times it’s just a general style. It’s variable, it’s creative-which is the point!

 

Now, you may be wondering why any of us wedding professionals do these shoots. Don’t we already get photos of our work from the weddings we do? Yes…we do. BUT those weddings are your weddings. Lovingly crafted by the people participating in them- real and perfect and amazing. Sometimes it is fun and freeing, from a creative perspective, to create something in a vacuum that is purely your vision and purely for the purposes of beauty and showcasing the talent of the vendors involved. Not to mention it will show to prospective clients what our style is, which can really help in determining if we’re going to be a right fit! If you look onto a planner’s website and see photos of a styled shoot they did, that is totally your dream, then you’re much more likely to entrust your wedding day to them!

 

There’s also another practical reason for these shoots. Styled shoots are oftentimes picked up by popular wedding blogs and websites, and at the very least are shared by the professionals involved, which gives priceless exposure to everyone who worked on it. Maybe your photographer shared a beautiful shoot and you notice the calligraphy on the invitations is stunning, so you end up looking into the calligrapher and hiring them as a result. That sort of scenario is invaluable to creative professionals! And by the same token, it’s a fantastic networking opportunity for different vendors. We get to work together and see how we all operate and vibe, which can play a huge role in if we give referalls to each other or even just how smoothly we’ll be able to work together down the road. If we work with an amazing hair and makeup team on a shoot and then one of our brides asks for a recommendation, we will absolutely feel comfortable connecting them after our experience together. And hopefully they would feel confident recommending us to their brides as well!

Now you know: styled shoots are a fantastic creative outlet and amazing business practice for people in our industry but also…they’re just fun and pretty to look at! A perfect way to keep inspired and get ready for wedding season.

 

Photo credit: The Cannons Photography