The Art of Styled Shoots: Elevate Your Social Media Engagement

Styled shoots can be one of the most effective marketing tools for wedding vendors, and they can also be one of the best opportunities to foster new networking connections in your area. Styled shoots are not only about storytelling but are also a great way to showcase the unique skills and visions of a collection of professionals. Leveraging a styled shoot to not only grow your social media presence, but also to experiment with different concepts and trends, is one of the most effective ways to grow as a vendor, and build your portfolio.

Introduction to Styled Shoots: The Good and Bad

Styled shoots for wedding vendors are a wonderful opportunity to create, explore new styles, and experiment with trends to expand your portfolio and attract your dream clientele. Styled shoots are similar to fashion editorials, where the goal is to tell a story through execution and photography, but also to display the talents of the vendors who create the shoot. Styled shoots are planned by the vendors themselves, allowing vendors to truly showcase their expertise through their own vision and creativity. There are so many great opportunities to grow your wedding business through participating in styled shoots, but that doesn’t mean they’re always perfect, so this section will walk you through some of the potential benefits and pitfalls.

Benefits:

• Seeing Your Own Visions Come to Life: As vendors, we all spend a lot of time dedicated to bringing the visions of our couples to fruition, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t have your own brilliant concepts! Styled shoots are a way to express your own creativity, and collaborate with other vendors, while throwing practicality out the window! Maybe your couple’s venue doesn’t allow candles, but your styled shoot can!
• Experiment: Styled shoots are the perfect time to test out new equipment, styles, and lighting, especially since you’ll be getting feedback directly from the models, who are themselves experts in these settings. Not to mention, with a styled shoot, you have the luxury of not having to adhere to a wedding day timeline, so you have all of the time that you need to try out something new.
• Networking: Styled shoots are a great way to connect with other vendors, and share each other’s work on social media, which is quickly becoming the best way to market your portfolio. Share posts tagging other vendors, and start building a true community – you never know what those connections can lead you to down the road!
• Building Your Portfolio: As a wedding vendor, building and curating your portfolio is one of the best ways to attract your target clients. Participating in styled shoots that resemble the style of wedding that you’d like to specialize in is a great way to build a portfolio, and to capture some shots that you’re notably missing from your current portfolio. Always, always make sure that you’re planning and shooting with your target client in mind.

The Potential Pitfalls:

• So, Wait, Where’d You Take That Photo? Styled shoots can have more of an editorial aesthetic than a live wedding, so some couples will immediately notice when you’re using a styled shoot in your portfolio. Real weddings have more natural and candid moments, different lighting, and only one opportunity to get the right shot. So, be honest with your couples that your portfolio includes images from styled shoots – trust me, honesty is everything! And they can be a great way to create a teachable moment with your clients about shot lists!
• Think About the Potential Costs: Monetary and otherwise. Styled shoots, if you’re the organizer, can be very expensive. Especially if you’re shooting at a location that charges by the hour! And, if you’re a vendor participating in a styled shoot, factor in the materials and equipment that you’ll need to utilize. The other thing to consider is the time cost and commitment, since they generally take a full day. If you’re focused on building your portfolio, no problem! But if your focus is gaining real-life experience or attending educational workshops, maybe your time is better spend elsewhere.

This styled shoot truly embodies romance, and Natalie Dir perfectly captured the angles, lighting, and unique vintage style!

Leveraging the Benefits of a Styled Shoot for Your Business!

Leveraging the benefits of a styled shoot all starts before you even arrive on the day of! In order to determine how you can best utilize the content, you need to be sure of a couple of things. Firstly, are you going to be able to stay committed to the shoot? Keep in mind, it’s a wonderful networking opportunity, but there are a lot of people who will be counting on you to execute the full vision, so be sure that you’re 100% you’ll be attending before you agree. That could potentially be a major mistake in creating positive relationships with other professionals. Secondly, know exactly what your role will be, and exactly how you can be a useful collaborator. If you’re looking to experiment with a different style of makeup or photography, be sure that you have a plan to do so, and that you’re prepared with all the tools you need.

Organizers of styled shoots are generally reaching out to vendors after they research the specific style that a professional is skilled in executing. There should be a mood board or other form of inspiration for the shoot that is shared with all of the vendors beforehand. Using this information, make a plan for the type of content that you’d like to leave the shoot with that you can share on social media and your own website. That way, you’ll be much more focused, and you’ll have curated content for your business, which will be much more beneficial than ‘going with the flow’ on that day. Your content will be fabulous, and everyone there will rave to potential clients about how professional you are.

Consider this beautiful engagement photo from Rhett Marley, who used the opportunity to try out different framing for the shot!

There will generally be a timeline that the planner sets up for the day of the shoot, and they’ll make sure that everyone has access to it beforehand. Keep in mind that this timeline is probably not only geared towards the other vendors, but the venue owners, as well. Know and adhere to this timeline, because you never know when you’ll get an opportunity to work with the other participants in the future, and they could give you a glowing referral for your organization and punctuality! Every time that you step onto a set for a shoot, you are representing your business, so be sure that you are presenting yourself the way that you want everyone else to speak about you!

Do NOT post your photos from the shoot on social media until you are 100% sure about the status of getting the images published. If the images from the shoot are being submitted to a publication, posting them before the publication does will likely ruin any chance of the shoot getting published. Even once the shoot is published, make sure that you’re aware of their rules regarding social media – you don’t want yourself and the other vendors to lost out on an incredible publishing opportunity.

“Make sure that every online representation of your business shows the content that you love creating.”

Keep your eyes on your own paper (or, in this case, portfolio)! This amazing opportunity to create content for your portfolio and social media means that you need to be sure that you’re using this new content for your portfolio to update it! Go through your photos and make sure that every online representation of your business shows the content that you love creating and want to continue creating in the future. And, if the shoot gets published, make sure that potential future clients know that you’re a published wedding vendor!

What better location to embody romance at a styled shoot than an art museum? This dream portrait was captured by Naomi Gilbert, a talented Bridal Connects photographer.

Finding Styled Shoots to Participate In

If you’re a wedding vendor who’s looking to expand their network of connections and build a stunning portfolio, styled shoots might just be the place to be. But how do you actually participate in one? Let’s go through some of the different options.

Experimenting with different colors, settings, and lighting can allow a wedding vendor to truly express their creativity, just like this unbelievable shoot from Vanessa Blair, Bridal Connects photographer.

1. Often, the organizers of styled shoots will sell tickets to photographers, so that they can come and capture as many photos as they’d like for the duration of the shoot. A good place to check for upcoming shoots is Facebook groups – look for ones that are specifically for styled shoots and be sure to check both local and regional groups. You may also find shoots through wedding vendor Facebook groups in your area.
2. Connect with planners on social media! Bridal Connects is a great example of this *wink wink.* However, planners who are organizing their own styled shoots will reach out to vendors on social media to ask them to participate, so make sure that they know who you are! A great tip would be to reach out proactively: find a planner who has hosted a shoot before and let them know that you’re interested and available.
3. Determine your goal: Is is to create new connections? Potentially get published? Gather new material for your portfolio? Know what the goal is going in and be aware of the fact that you might not get paid for participating in the shoot, so it’s important that you focus on your objective. Planners will often offer incentives for being part of a styled shoot, but it’s not going to be a huge payout, so focus your attentions elsewhere.
4. Create your own! You can either do this as a solo planner or reach out to a collective of other vendors to plan one together. Keep your eyes peeled, since we’re going to be posting an upcoming blog about how you can most effectively plan and execute your own styled shoot.
5. If all else fails – Google! There are some websites where you can find styled shoots, and make sure that you check with publications, because many publications will host their own styled shoots to create content that they need to showcase upcoming trends. This can also give you a great idea of which publications are pushing styled shoots and especially which ones are highlighting the vendors in their articles.

Finding the inspiration to capture ethereal images like this one can come from the experiences and expertise gathered in styled shoots. This gorgeous photo comes from Alicja Gronert, a Bridal Connects photographer.

Conclusion

Styled shoots can be an amazing way to boost your bridal business, create meaningful connections, expand your network, and improve your skills! If it’s something that you’ve been considering, this advice should give you an excellent idea of where to start. And if you’re a Bridal Connects vendor, reach out! We’d be happy to guide you in the right direction with some new leads!