Stylized Shoots: A Planner’s Perspective

I absolutely love stylized shoots. Like seriously, where were they when I started out as an assistant? Many wedding professionals use stylized shoots to try new and innovative ideas while others use them to build their portfolio. Either way, you are guaranteed to have fun and build relationships with other wedding professionals. When planning a stylized shoot networking is key. I look at stylized shoots as fake weddings on a smaller scale, and just as a wedding needs vendors so does the shoot. It is imperative to have others on your team to help execute your vision. We will go into greater details of selecting vendors later.

In the wedding world things are always changing. What one bride wants today, another may not want tomorrow or six months from now. Why is this? Simply put, brides find it difficult to figure out what they want for their wedding day. And we as creatives don’t make it easy for them. We are always searching and researching for the latest fashion trends and color palettes.  Seriously home decor stores know our names when we walk through the door. I like to think we planners are the low key celebrities in the wedding world.

 

Recently, I was reading a blog by a fresh new face in the wedding planning world, Amber Christine of Oh My Occassions!, spoke of this lady called Pinelope. See this lady is someone I have a love-hate relationship with because I think she can hinder one’s creativity but if used correctly, she can elevate your creativity. She can literally take your design to a WHOLE ‘NOTHER LEVEL! Which is totes awesome by the way. So, when you’re planning a styled shoot you may want to create a board and invite other creatives from the team  to the board but you also want to keep a few things in mind when planning:

1. Concept. Before you scroll through the endless pages of Pinelope make sure you have an idea of what you want for your shoot. Anyone can simply save items to their board and replicate them but last time I checked we were here to be innovative. Give brides something to heart throb after.
2. Peanut butter + Jelly. Just as we expect our brides to do research about vendors, even the ones on our preferred list, it is our responsibility to know about the vendors we will be working with. Does your brand mesh well? Personalities? To name a few. You have to find your creative soulmates.
3. Budget. Which by far is the most important element of the stylized shoot. So I should’ve probably put it first and in ALL capital letters but nonetheless here she is, the elephant in the room. If you are the leading person in the shoot please have money in reserve to rent or purchase needed items for your shoot. Many times we find ourselves having to pay for florals or at least helping with some of the cost. You may even be responsible for the printing cost of stationery. Please, please don’t expect everyone to contribute free items because you never know how their advertisement budget is allocated for the year. However, there may be vendors out there willing to provide their services for free, you just have to keep asking.

As you know these are just the tip of the iceberg if you would like to learn more about styled shoots and become the styled shoot guru in your area by follow us on Periscope as we discuss more elements of stylized shoots and also join our email list to get notifications of our hands on classes and workshops or video chat classes. I hope these tips helped you understand the planning perspective of stylized shoots better and if you’re local to Virginia Beach, Northern Virginia or even Texas and have an idea you need help executing, Shamira, Magnolia Rose’s Principal Planner,  is always here to help. I don’t know if I told you this already but I am in love with styled shoots. If you like to share your latest styled shoot with us make sure to use #magnoliarose that way we can see all the awesomeness you’re up to.

XOXO,

Shamira

Principal Planner, Magnolia Rose Company

P.S. just in case you are not a planner or designer, I’ve took the liberty of finding information from different creatives to help you understand from their perspective. Simply select your title below:

Cake Artist

Florist