It’s Thursday! YAY:) That means tomorrow I have the Kate Spade Styled Shoot with Alex Meyer Events, Saturday starts vacation and Monday an amazing feature will debut!!! I can’t hardly wait for the next few days, friends!!!

Since I’ve been knee-deep in styled shoot planning (1 this month & 2 amazing ones coming in Aug!), I thought I’d share a some thoughts on planning a styled shoot. Again, these are just things I’ve tried to do, and things that have helped me. They’re in no way perfect; I’m still experimenting & learning a lot along the way! When I styled my first shoot, I had NO CLUE what I was doing!!!!! It was terrifying!!!! And I couldn’t find a lot of information about how vendors put shoots together… so hopefully this will help point you in the right direction!

• Design It Your Own Way. I talked about this a little last week… I’d wager that no shoot idea is completely original. Creatives have been orchestrating styled shoots for YEARS, so chances are it’s been done. But has it been done YOUR way?! Rather than copying what’s already been done, try to think outside of the box & give it a unique spin.
• Stalk the Blog. What’s the point of a styled shoot? While one could argue multiple things, I think it’s: to allow your creativity to flow, to work with vendors, to inspire brides with new ideas, to gain more experience styling/planning and to earn publicity through a feature on local/national blogs. When you begin putting together a styled shoot, look at the blog you’re hoping to be featured on. What have they done? What haven’t they done? What do they look for in shoots? You want to make sure your shoot not only fits the flow of the blog, but also brings something different to the table. You want them to see your shoot on the “pages” of their blog, while also recognizing that it’s breaking a mold.
• What’s the Protocol? There isn’t one:) Which is why it’s both exciting and terrifying for the planner in me, ha! Sometimes I have the initial concept, so I’m putting together vendors/ideas from square one. Other times, a photographer has reached out to me with a concept & asks for help “bringing it to life”. In that situation, I make sure the photographer and I are a WONDERFUL fit!!! I need to understand their vision so well, and they need to trust me to plan & style it in a way that showcasing their concept & puts a DSE spin on it. I’ve worked with a photographer that I did not mesh well with… and if I’m being honest, the styled shoot process was horrible. Don’t do that!!! Say no if you don’t think you’ll mesh well! Trust your gut instinct!!! Refer them to other planners you DO think will work well with them & their theme! Personally, I thrive off of collaborative effort; I love being able to chat and grab coffee with the other vendors in the shoot to bounce ideas off of one another. 2 heads are better than one, and I never want a styled shoot to feel like Kat is Dictator. I want to facilitate ideas between vendors, and creatively incorporate my own. (And, side note… don’t be afraid to say no if you have too much on your plate. Styled Shoots should be FUN; do not stress yourself out by doing one because you’re too afraid to say no!! Trust me on this:)

• Do You Have to Pay Them? I’ve been asked this question a lot, and there’s no black & white answer. But in all the shoots I have done, I’ve found this to be the norm: most vendors do it because they want the marketing/publicity, therefore they do not charge. I’ve never worked with a photographer, calligrapher or stationer who charges. And most bridal salons will gladly allow you to use a gown so that they can see the dress “in action”. Some salons will ask for a CC to put on file for incidentals, and most salons want to make sure you (the planner) understand how to take care of the dress (have a white sheet to use under the gown if the ground is dirty, etc.). Florists usually charge the wholesale price of flowers & waive the design fee; and rental companies will usually charge a travel fee, and sometimes a small rental fee depending on the items you are using & your relationship with them. Bottom line, most vendors LOVE to be apart of styled shoots… all you have to do is ask!!
• Plan Like A Wedding, Style Like A Shoot. I don’t have an “official” planning checklist for a styled shoot. I plan it like I would a wedding… date, venue, vendors, models, etc.. Sometimes I have the photographer before the date or the venue; sometimes I have models in mind before anything else! It varies depending on the shoot concept, details, etc.. The point is, you plan the shoot like a wedding, but you style it like a shoot. It is NOT an actual wedding, therefore you can “get away” with things you won’t be able to on wedding day. Chances are, for a styled shoot: you have a more flexible timeline so you can spend more time on the “pretty” the day-of, you don’t have to worry about the “flow of events” (i.e. ceremony, cocktail hour, reception) or the “flow of décor” (i.e. you can reuse cakes table pieces on the tablescape). Styled Shoots are a way for you to truly allow your creativity to flourish; they’re a GREAT way for you to get more comfortable styling items so that on Wedding Day, you can stylize décor perfect for the couple & in a shorter period of time.
• Have fun!!! Cheesy, I know:) But a Styled Shoot should NOT feel like work, friends!! It’s a way for you to play with details, think outside of the box & plan something simply because you love to do it:) While I LOVE wedding planning, and I LOVE my brides, the truth of the matter is that there are some aspects that aren’t as fun as others! Styling a shoot is a way for me to remember why I love details in the first place, why I want to recreate Wedding Day over & over, and why I love what I do!

If you can’t tell, I ADORE shoots, which is why I frequently do them! I like how every single ones has helped me grow in one way or another, and I’ve met some amazing vendors & friends a long the way. If you haven’t styled one, please do:) Yes, it’s scary at first!! But when you receive the gallery from the photographer, it makes it all worth it:)

P.S. The iPhone images in this post are from a shoot I did with Rachel May & Letters of Grace. The “behind the scenes” is oh-so-glamorous don’t you think?!:)

xo! kat