I’m sure you’ve noticed that we do a lot of inspiration shoots. We always want to try something new, push the trends and, have fun with colour. For most people it’s hard to envision what something will look like until they see it all done up; hence the reason to do inspiration shoots!
We love to be able to give our clients examples of how different themes and colour palettes will look (and it often inspires them in our process of developing what their theme will look like).
We were interviewed a little while ago by Christine from the Wedding and Event Institute on how to plan a styled inspiration shoot. There’s a ton of planning that goes into a good inspiration shoot (it really is a mini event!) and we thought we’d share with you our tips to bring together an amazing shoot.
“Christine: Amanda, your styled shoot looks great. Tell me what your vision or story was for the Shoot.
Amanda: Ow, well thank you! I really wanted to come up with something I hadn’t done before. I always like to challenge myself, try new things and try things that I know my brides and my target market would like. I also like to take on different styles and color palettes that sometimes are a challenge to brides. I know there is this “all white diamond wedding” dream that a lot of brides have, but a lot of them struggle to do it “right” (i.e. it ends up looking cheap, or kitschy, or too over the top, when maybe that’s not what they wanted). I’m a huge lover of simple and clean spaces so an all white shoot was always in the back of my mind and it was inevitable that I would do one.
Christine: Can you give us a brief outline of the process you went through to plan the shoot?
Amanda: The very first thing I do is find a photographer (You might plan an amazing shoot but if you’re photography isn’t skilled your shoot will fall flat). A lot of the time a photographer has approached me wanting to do a shoot already (which is always such a compliment!). If that’s the case I ask them what inspires them, what colours they like, what styles go best with their branding, and from there, I develop something that is a good fit for both of us:
– Pick a theme/colour palette
-Make a list of all the elements I want to have in the shoot (florals, draping, lighting, etc)
– Make a list of all the vendors I’ll need
– Make a muse board (A 5-7 slide PDF to send out as a pitch to all the vendors I want to approach for the shoot)
– Find a location
– Set a date/or a few dates
– Approach vendors
Make sure that you are approaching skilled and talented vendors. Everyone starts somewhere, but don’t just approach whoever you think would say yes (because it’s easy), or wants to do a shoot with you. You need to make sure that you’re thinking of your branding and reputation. You will want to use this shoot for your website, or a submission later, so you want to make sure the quality is there (trust me, I have made this mistake a few times and after spending hours and hours planning, I end up with a shoot that isn’t a quality wedding/event industry standard, and that makes me very sad).
Christine: Did you find it difficult to find vendors to collaborate with you and do you have any tips for putting together a dream team?
Amanda: Honestly, no I didn’t. I find that the biggest challenge you can have is your “pitch” and making sure you’re giving them enough information to insure they feel comfortable being a part of the project. If you just email a vendor out of the blue (and maybe someone you haven’t even met in person yet) and say “Hey, I want to do a styled shoot. I don’t have a concept yet, but I think it would be fun.
Interested?”; you probably won’t get a good response. I always go at it with all the information I possibly can AND make sure I let them know what my plans are with the shoot; “I will be submitting it to Green Wedding Shoes” or “I will be sending it in to a few local print publications” (all the vendors I work with know now that if I am doing a shoot I am doing it with intent – a future feature). They are a lot more likely to say yes if they know you have a plan and know you are taking this seriously and if you show them a full concept, you are building up your credibility as a planner/designer, which is always a good thing!
Christine: How did the shoot run? Were you happy with how it all came together on the day? Is there anything you would do differently?
Amanda: I was really happy with how the shoot went. I think this is my 10th styled shoot now, so I’ve learnt a few things and run them similarly to how I would run an event:
– Make a schedule
– Confirm with all vendors/send out the schedule
– Send out directions if it’s a funny location
– Send out my email and phone number again, the day before, just in case
– Bring my event emergency kit
– Always have an assistant with me
– Bring music – it doesn’t matter where you are, it’s always nice to be able to set the ambience
– Bring snacks! (everyone is happier with some chips, muffins, or water, they can be long days!)
A Styled Shoot really is a mini event and I think sometimes people underestimate that and don’t plan or pack for the shoot right and kick themselves later (I’ve done that a few times, that’s for sure!). On this shoot I can honestly say there is nothing I would do differently, but that’s thanks to messing up a few times and learning from it and a huge thanks to all the vendors and their crazy talent and professionalism.
Christine: How will you use the images?
Amanda: I will be using them on my website, maybe some advertising in the future and I’m waiting on a couple of online features. I’ll also be submitting it to a local wedding magazine here in my area, so that’s very exciting.
Lani Elias Fine Art Photography
Have more questions about photo shots or other wedding planning tips? Check out our Q & A with Amanda Series!
Happy planning!
If you’re looking for even more info on doing a styled inspiration shoot:
A behind the scenes look at a style shoot
How to Plan a Styled Shoot from Southern Cali Bride
5 Tips to get the most out of your detail shots at your wedding
If you want to see more of our inspiration shoots check out our galleries on our Facebook page for all sorts of goodies.
We also did a little behind the scenes video with our Mad Hatter Inspiration Shoot that we think is perfect to show you that much more about style shoots.
We also found some really great videos on bringing together photo shoots that you might enjoy!
If you want to see all the shoots we’ve done:
Lamps & Love Inspiration Shoot
Rustic Chic Yellow & White Shoot
Musical Inspiration Bridal Shoot
Sarah & Adam’s Anniversary Shoot – Part 2
Fall Vintage Inspiration Shoot
Woodlands Wedding Inspiration Shoot
Natural Love Inspiration Shoot
