How to Plan a Styled Wedding Shoot: A Photographer’s Guide

A styled wedding shoot gives photographers and other wedding professionals a space to try ideas together and build work that reflects the direction they want to take. This guide walks through the planning, collaboration, and practical details behind organizing one.

"But where the heck do I start?" I know, it's overwhelming. Starting with an idea to putting on a fake wedding. It's not as scary as it sounds though.

MOOD BOARD

One of the first steps is having a clear direction of what you want, so you can create a mood board. You'll use this to pass along to all of the vendors so they can easily understand your vibe and style. It's at this point where they say HECK YES or eh, not my cup of tea. The best tools for making mood boards are Canva and Adobe Spark. I use Pintrest for a lot of inspo.

VENDORS

Step two is finding vendors! A few years ago I learned that Facebook groups are a great way to find other wedding industry professionals who know what a styled shoot is. If you go the route I did originally and just email a bunch of businesses in hopes they'll know what the heck I'm talking about, you may struggle. Styled Shoots Across America is a company that puts on Styled Shoots that you can buy a ticket to and attend.

Just go shoot! Hassle-free and you get to meet so many other wedding photographers in your area! If you go to the Facebook page though, you'll find tens of thousands of vendors all creating their own shoots that you can pick and choose to be a part of. If you have a physical product, this is a great way to get it out there! Reply to as many shoots as you can and send your product there so you can get tons of images in return, and backlinks to your website.

The best thing about styled shoots though is that typically vendors provide the materials for free! (in exchange for pictures, and hopefully a feature on a prominent blog). You can find rentals, cake, hair and makeup, models, florals, and invitations, very easily through these pages. A venue and dress prove to be a bit harder because those vendors don't tend to be in the styled shoot groups as often, but if you email them with the mood board and list of other vendors, you should find the perfect dream team! Elopement styled shoots are my favorite because the venue is one part that you can eliminate from your search. 

INVITE OTHERS OR RIDE SOLO

Now it's decision time. Do you want to open your styled shoot up to other photographers, or keep it private so your photos are unique and entirely your own? Both have pros and cons. If you want to submit your shoot to a magazine, it might be in your best interest to keep it private.

Opening it up to other photographers, however, allows you to network and meet other industry professionals. It also allows for a larger event and a higher budget. Lots of vendors will donate their services and goods, but some may ask for compensation. Florals are expensive and cannot be used again, it can be costly for the gown to be cleaned after if it gets dirty, and many established venues will charge for rental space. This is why opening it up to photographers can help! If you choose to do so, communication will be key going forward. It would be beneficial to create a Facebook Event or Group, or start an email chain.

Create an event timeline. If you are allowing 3-4 photographers to join, having multiple "stations" may not be necessary, but if you have a group of more than that, it will make things go smoothly! For example, if you have a bride and groom, then a solo bride, and then the tablescape/cake area, have 3 groups rotate through for 30 minutes to an hour.

SUBMISSIONS

Tell a story. Wedding blogs can be very picky, so be prepared to get lots of rejections before you get accepted! If you tell a story and have a unique theme, the better your chances are. They love originality and personality. Make sure that your content makes sense with your blog submission though. If you have a glamorous and high-end wedding shoot, perhaps don't submit it to Rocky Mountain Bride. Every shoot has a place! Even holiday-themed shoots can get traction.

Now, where to submit? Two Bright Lights is a great place to start because it's a submission platform, and you can submit to hundreds of publications after you create your searchable album. You can also seek out individual blogs such as Brides Magazine, Southern Bride, Martha Stewart Weddings, The Knot Magazine, Green Wedding Shoes, Grey Likes Weddings, Rock N Roll Bride, Dancing With Her, Offbeat Bride, Wedding Chicks, and Style Me Pretty. Lots accept both real weddings and styled shoots, and most require exclusivity. Be sure to read the submission rules! Each blog will want to make sure the content they are publishing is unique to them. I submit this blog post and it was published!