Hey babe! Welcome back to another episode in the Amplify Your Weddings series. Today we are going to be chatting all about styled shoots and why they are so important for your business. There are so many strategies you can use to make the most out of a styled shoot and grow your connections. So today I am diving into my key tips for styled shoots, including how to find them and exactly WHY they are so important. You may even end up wanting to create one of your own!

On Quianna Marie Weekly, we’re chatting about business growing pains, finding genuine connections, and celebrating wins of all sizes through the lens of a photographer at heart. Sprinkled throughout stories and interviews with past clients, photographers and other business owners this podcast is designed to help you step into your purpose and to truly create a life you’re proud of, a life worth photographing and sharing.

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Review the Show Notes:

What Exactly Is A Styled Shoot, And Are They Actually Important? (2:09)

How Do You Find Them? (4:20)

Understand The Rules (5:50)

Arrive Early And Photograph The Setup (7:28)

Shoot For The Vendors (8:08)

Take Your Time And Don’t Be Afraid To Move Things (9:13)

Capture Behind The Scenes (12:08)

Get The Images Back ASAP (12:40)

The Number One Mistake Photographers Make With Styled Shoots (13:37)

Share The Content Like Crazy (15:26)

How To Create Your Own Styled Shoot (19:12)

Mentioned in this Episode:

The Greenhouse: Resource Garden

Episode 27: Showcasing Vendors to Amplify Your Weddings

Episode 032: Creating Reels + TikToks to Amplify Your Weddings 

Episode 036: Boosting Pinterest to Amplify Your Weddings with Jen Vazquez

Episode 047: Blogging + SEO to Amplify Your Weddings with Vanessa Hicks

Review the Transcript:

Hey, hey, welcome back to the party. I am so happy you’re here. We are rolling out and almost ready to wrap up the amplify your wedding series here on Quianna MarieWeekly. I’m your host Quianna and I have been having so much fun interviewing the most incredible small business owners, photographers, creatives. And truly the type of people that are inspirations in my life in real life, that I hope that you get to meet one day, we have been dropping tons of knowledge and encouragement and just really fun things. It’s not stopping yet the ball is still rolling. So today, we are going to be chatting all about styled shoots, and why they are so important for your business. Now, if you have considered joining a styled shoot, if you’ve considered creating one for yourself, there are so many ways to go about it. And so I have a whole bunch of key tips for you. And before we get started, I kind of want to give you a little background on exactly what they are, why they’re important, how to find them, and then possibly even create your own. So if you are thinking, I don’t know, I’ve heard good things and bad things about styled shoots. Are they just fake? And I’m doing air quotes over here? Are they just fake weddings? What does that do for my business? Should I really be even investing in this? If these are your questions, or maybe you’re even thinking, I think I just want to do a styled shoot. So my website looks prettier.

Babe, they are so much more impactful. And I cannot wait to start sharing these tips. Welcome to Quianna Marie weekly, a podcast for creatives who love to celebrate wins, big or small by dancing in the kitchen photographers who are excited to serve their clients and friends who are ready to chase really, really big dreams. You can find all of the resources mentioned in this episode at quiannamarie.com/podcast. Join me as I share with you motivation, chat about growing pains, finding genuine connections and celebrating your wins through the lens of a photographer at heart. Come join me for a dance party. Ready? Let’s go.

So what exactly is a styled shoot? Yes, I mentioned it earlier, a styled shoot kind of is basically a fake wedding to kind of just give yourself a picture for exactly what it is and what it looks like. But it is so much more than just a fake wedding. So what are they exactly, they are the opportunity for you to meet really awesome local vendors. And this is a great opportunity for you to reach out to new venues that you love, possibly even travel across the country. I know styled shoots across America has the most incredibly luxury, high end and just just dreamy shoots available, and we’ll get into how to find them as well. But that’s basically what it is. It’s a collaboration shoot with multiple vendors. And it’s an opportunity to showcase what you want to shoot. Okay, this is really important, especially as you are growing your business, not all of us have the opportunity to go photograph these super high end luxury weddings, we’re either not trusted to do it. We aren’t at that price point yet, or we’re just a super beginner and don’t have those contacts or those opportunities. So in order for people to be attracted to our business and to see or capable of, sometimes we have to do these air quote fake weddings, right? So it’s kind of an explanation of what they are, and why they are important. Okay, they are so important because it really does give you the opportunity to meet new people.

Sometimes we get so caught up in the rat race with followers and Instagram connections and wanting to go viral, that we’re not even really targeting the right people. So what I mean by that is sometimes we get on this bandwagon where we want to attract all these really high end couples and reach out for the most dream clients. But sometimes, the best best marketing tool are the vendors, the vendors that you love and trust and want to be friends with and want to work with every weekend or as often as we can. Those are your secret marketing tools. And you’re only going to meet them when you do these collaborations or of course on real wedding days. But if you put yourself out there and meet them, that’s where we get really awesome, organic, natural, really easy referrals and how do you find them? There are so many groups whether you are on Facebook and they’re in your local groups. Literally just look up styled shoots and type in your area you will find these Facebook groups HoneyBook community has a great opportunity to kind of collaborate and search for these opportunities. That’s a great way to look for him. Ask around ask your local wedding venues or even your favorite wedding planners. Sometimes they have great insights to upcoming styled shoots. Ask other photographers, oftentimes, we are asked to photograph them or we are aware of them but we don’t always shoot them, but we sometimes know what’s going on.

So ask your favorite photographers as well, that’s a great way to try to make those connections. So I will get into creating your own. After that I have a couple key tips actually have seven key tips to consider when you are ready to shoot your next style shoot. So let’s say you are prepared to do it. Either you’ve bought a ticket to attend a styled shoot or you are planning your own, I want to give you seven key tips to help you truly maximize your time. Because if you’re anything like me, if you’re investing your time, energy, and sometimes we do this for free, right, we absolutely are doing this as a collaboration. Typically, as photographers not paid to do this, right? We’re doing this to benefit our business. So I’m gonna go over those seven key tips and stick around because at the end, I’m going to be sharing the number one mistake photographers make when they are shooting their style shoots. Okay, so stay tuned for that.

All right, so key tip number one, understand the rules before you even begin. Okay, so what do I mean by understanding the rules, it is very, very smart to consider whipping up a contract. So everyone involved knows what’s going on in let me kind of give you a backtrack or some context about what I mean by that. So if you’ve never done a styled shoot, this might be helpful. So for example, when the photos are ready to be delivered, what does that look like? Are you giving that to giving your gallery to the wedding planner, or the coordinator of the styled shoot and may are submitting it for publication? Is it something that you can submit? Are they withholding images and not putting anything online? Are they just is it just a free ball in like, you know, there’s no rules, and it’s just a collaboration and everyone is kind of working together? And then each photographer or each vendor has a capability to post on their own? What can you use these images for? Read the fine lines, because sometimes these collaborations look like a collaboration, but maybe not everybody’s on the same page. And you don’t want to be the bad guy, or you don’t want to step on anybody’s toes, especially if you are so new in the industry. I don’t want to I don’t want to scare you. Okay, so I don’t want to tell you these things, and be fearful about it. But you have to ask these questions. Okay, what can you use the images for? What publications are they hoping to do? Can you have access to your own images to submit for publication.

So those are all the types of questions that you should be considering. And everyone should be on the same page before you begin. Number two is arrive early and photograph the setup. So this is just a me thing. This is just me being your big sister and kind of chirping in your ear being your cheerleader. Arrive early. Okay, I’ve been to quite a few styled shoots in my day. And sometimes it’s not as pretty imperfect as it seems. Sometimes it’s a hot mess, as everyone is kind of rallying to get those details together, models are late sometimes. And it can just be kind of a hot mess. So arrive early to offer your help. This is huge. So whether you are literally moving tables and chairs for setup, or just offering an extra hand. Plus, this is a great opportunity, which rolls me right into number three is shooting for the vendors. Okay, so oftentimes, vendors don’t have beautiful curated images of themselves. Yes, maybe sometimes they have the final product, just iPhone photos or their own imagery that they captured, have them in front of the complete ceremony space or in front of the sweetheart table or something like that. But they may not have the progress of their installations. And they would be so grateful to do that, especially coming from just someone in the industry and with lots of lots of experience, maybe even before they get all hot and sweaty and bothered, like, right, so you don’t have to arrive an hour early.

I’m talking about just a good 1520 30 minutes early, and then ask sometimes there are some planners that they don’t like to show the smoke and mirrors behind. They don’t want those images before they just want the final product. And that’s fine. But I can almost guarantee that the majority of people are going to be so grateful to have a hand and to capture those vendor photos for them. Okay, number four. Another key tip for your next styled shoot is to take your time, and don’t be afraid to move things. Okay. Sometimes I feel like there are just so many moving parts. And then people sometimes there’s multiple stations, for example. So you have the ceremony space and a sweetheart table or a table scape. And then oftentimes there’ll be a stationary flat lay. Don’t be that person that just shows up and clicks and just looks I mean, it could be styled so perfectly and don’t get me wrong. Maybe the stationary person, I guess, like the calligrapher. I was thinking of the vendor. Maybe the calligrapher has a certain way that they want it photographed. And you know, that’s something to ask. But if you have the ability to kind of wiggle things around and move a ribbon or kind of shuffle the the mutation sweet around and make it unique.

Okay, like that’s just, that’s just my reminder to you because if there are more than one photographer photographing the event, you don’t want your images to look exactly the same. And this goes with posing the models as well. So if you have access to your models, I encourage you to pose them, get them moving, feel free to take them from the ceremony space, for example, if that’s where they are, and just move them two feet away, to capture the landscape or to capture a more broad image of the venue, okay? So don’t be afraid to wiggle things around within reason, okay, but you don’t want to be that annoying photographer that rolls in and starts moving things around. And you know, being dramatic about making things different. I’m not encouraging you to do that. Don’t tell anybody like Jana told you to do that. But I am encouraging you to truly use your voice. This is your time to practice baby. This is your time to try new posing. This is your time to feel more confident while you are posing and chatting with the real life models pretend like they are just a real couple. And you get to play with them. Okay, you really push the limit on those. Hey, photographers, as our business grows, we find ourselves on a timeline. We start with photographing families lifestyle portraits, try hosting puppy mini sessions, we capture birthday parties, cake smashes, and some of us dream of photographing luxury celebrity status weddings.

But what if that timeline isn’t in a straight line and it feels more like a roller coaster? Did you know that as a photographer you can offer seasonal photoshoots? Yes, everything in life including our business flourishes during different seasons. This is why I created the greenhouse or resource garden planted just for you. The greenhouse offers tons of education, digital workshops, guides and templates. To help you confidently connect with your dream clients and shine online. Grab the link in the show notes for exclusive access of the greenhouse today. Each season, new products, freebies and education will be sprouting to help your business bloom, click the link in the show notes to gain access to the greenhouse today. All right. And then number five, it’s really important, as you know, I’m crazy about this is to capture behind the scenes. So don’t be afraid to whip out your phone, capture some quick video, capture some photos of vendors working their magic of the details. Try your hardest to try to create little behind the scenes, video clips, things that you can make a little montage of the day. Or just capture as much as you possibly can with your phone. Okay, or video. If you have have you had that on your camera as well.

Number six, this is really, really important. This should be like the number one key tip, but it’s just kind of an order here. Number six is to get the images back a s a p. Now one key tip that I have for this that is like 6.5 is like the next tip is make sure that in your schedule you have that evening. So let’s say your salad shoot is on a Thursday afternoon, I would totally advise you to make sure that you have time either that evening, or allow time early as like the first thing you do that Friday morning that morning after your salad shoot to get your images edited and delivered to either the lead lady like whoever was putting it on or you know, whoever the images are due to or maybe that is just getting sneak peek. So if you have free range, and there’s no rules, it’s just kind of like, Hey, you’re all out on your own, then get those images up that night. So here’s what happens. This is this is the number one mistake that photographers make after shooting their styled shoot is they sit on them. Maybe they will post one or two sneak peeks because they’re really excited about it. But then I know they’re bombarded with their own edits and wedding galleries and it’d be sent back and video session season. I don’t know why style shoots typically happen in our busiest time of year. But this is something you absolutely have to make time for. And I’m not even joking where this is the big sister knee comes out when I say if you don’t have time to get those images back that night or that next morning, don’t do it. I’m not even kidding.

Like yes, it’s worth it for the connections and making vendor friendships like Okay, I like do it anyway, even if you don’t have the time like because those are really most important. But I really want to reiterate and just kind of hit home how important it is to get those images back and to have them visible. Literally ASAP. There are so many photographers that miss out on this opportunity because if you wait weeks or even months to pass it’s kind of lost is pizzazz, it’s lost its sparkle and it’s fizzled out and it’s just not as exciting. So we want your images to be number one especially and this is going back to marketing like literally one Oh, marketing one on one free marketing is let’s say you get your images back right away and they For a handful of photographers, guess who’s going to post those images first, the florist who probably just has crappy iPhone photos, or the actual wedding planner, or the coordinator who put all this on, or the venue, they don’t have the professional photos.

So if you’re the first one to get them back, post it and tag them, make sure you’re tagging them in every single image that you post. And that will be really helpful. Number seven, share the content like crazy. So after you have delivered the gallery to, you know, to whoever’s in charge, or you have submitted for publication, this is when you need to just blast your images, like confetti online, okay, make sure you’re tagging the vendors and create really fun content. So don’t just post, hey, I was a part of this styled shoot. And you know, this was great. And these are the vendors involved, like yes, do you recap of the stylesheet in a blog, but then I highly encourage you as well, to create highlights for each vendor. So you could literally write a blog about every single vendor involved. I mean, you can do one big Max one, which would be awesome. But then showcase the vendors with another blog post or their own actual Instagram posts, for example. So you can highlight the venue, you can just create so much content, it’s crazy. From this route, shoot, don’t let them just live on your website and be the homepage update for you or your weddings portfolio page. These need to be posted online, everywhere. Because once again, if you can get your images up and be magnetic for other vendors and other brides and grooms to find you, this is where the magic is. And that I believe is what’s missing with a lot of photographers once again is they do it and they’re like, they just kind of lean on other vendors to do the marketing for them.

And no, that’s not their job. Like their job is to market their own business if they happen to use your images. That’s great, right? Like that’s, that’s the whole point. But I want to give you the confidence and just remind you that if you want your business to go viral in your own neighborhood, in your own local community, you have to mark it and showcase other vendors, especially yourself. So I hope that you find this helpful. This is going to be just a quick episode today. I have four episodes that if you’ve missed, I feel like this would actually be really helpful for you to go back and listen to so episode number 27. I actually go in detail about showcasing vendors. So if you’re kind of like okay, well, I can do so much and I need some help with showcasing vendors. That’s exactly what you need to listen to. Episode number 32 is creating reels and tick tock so I go into even more detail about easily capturing and creating these fun reels, which would be great for you to listen to before your next style shoot as well. So you can get those ideas, get those creative juices flowing. So on the day of the style shoot, you feel prepared. And number 36 We talk about boosting Pinterest. So after you’ve completed your styled shoot, go and create those images that are floating all around Pinterest that future dream brides are pinning dream couples are searching for and Jen boss was who was our guest for that for episode number 36.

She kills it like she literally will open your eyes and just educate you to the max about Pinterest and ways that we can organically and super super affordably market your business on Pinterest. And then number 47. I just did this one last week. And it was with Vanessa Hicks where we chatted all about blogging and SEO. This will help you truly create magnetic content things that live forever. So you’re not just posting Insta Stories that are gone in 24 hours. You’re not just posting to social media that you have to beat these algorithms. You are in charge of these posts, okay, and these blog posts and the SEO is going to make you very gullible. Okay, so I did promise and before I wrap up, what are some tips that you can do to create your own styled shoot and I wanted to give you some inspiration about the fact that it doesn’t have to be this humongous, expensive styled shoot like luxury wedding status because sometimes I think we get like a little spammy, pretty brain about things where we want things to look like they are in the Martha Stewart magazine and they need to be so luxurious and so extra like guacamole.

Okay, I want to remind you that you can literally create Mike Rowe style shoots. So one way that you can do that is reach out to your neighbors. Reach out to your best friends, reach out to family friends and ask them like I wouldn’t just blast this online. Personally I wouldn’t do that. But I would individually ask them say, Hey, do you guys have an anniversary couple coming up, I would love to offer you a gift session. And maybe when we without offending anybody, you can ask your family and friends or your besties, if they actually fit into their wedding gown still, and if they still have it, and I say I kind of laugh about that, because that could be a touchy subject in case they don’t fit into it anymore.

Or, of course, you can provide some type of Amazon gown or you can collaborate with local boutiques, that’s a great way to kind of do it on your own. And I’m not even kidding, when you really just need a fun loving, happy couple. They don’t have to be professional models, and they can model for you. So take them out to the desert, like I’m here in Arizona, take them out to some beautiful landscape, it doesn’t even have to be at a specific venue, I highly encourage you, if you could collaborate with a venue, that will be awesome. But consider location landmarks. So for example, for me, it would mean so much more for my SEO and for my business being located here in Arizona, to photograph a couple out in the desert, literally in front of a saguaro or like in front of something that looks very deserty. So that really helps with my SEO and helps with those location awareness thing. So yes, it would be gorgeous to photograph them in like my living room with a really cool backdrop. So it just looks, you know, that would be really classic and modern and gorgeous. But I’m looking for the impact. So I would want to find something that is identifiable. So if you’re at the beach, if you’re you’re in Northern California, and you have access to Santa Cruz or Davenport, or down in Big Sur or Carmel like take your couple there, that’s where you want to shoot weddings. And that goes for you listening anywhere around the country or anywhere globally, photograph that couple. So it is the landscapes or identifying to you and your business and where you want to shoot. Okay, so that’s just an example of a micro styled shoot that you can create.

I highly encourage you to reach out to vendors see if they would like to collaborate with you. But sometimes a styled shoot could be as simple as purchasing a ring box that you find on Amazon picking up some florals at your local farmers market and just playing with rings. Right? Like I want you to really think outside the box like content ring boxes. And you know truly be resourceful for what you already have. If you want to go to Nordstrom and go purchase like a super expensive pair of the I can’t pronounce it the Badgley Mischka is I think that’s how you say it, go find a pair on sale and return them like photograph them and return them. Like, um, you know, play with them doesn’t have to be this huge, huge production. It’s just an opportunity for you to create that imagery that you want for your business. And so you can attract and be magnetic for those dream couples and then also collaborate. So I hope you find this helpful. Please please consider doing this you know doing these tips before your next style shoot. And if you have any more questions, please shoot me a DM I am always open to your suggestions to your questions. I hang out on Instagram. Way too much. So stop my scrolling and let’s chat. I hope you have a beautiful beautiful day. May your business continue to grow and create really, really strong roots. always cheering for you, babe. Hope you have a great day. Love you.

That’s a wrap on another episode of Quianna Marie weekly. Thank you so much for your listenership and support. You can find the resources and show notes for this episode and more at quiannamarie.com/podcast. I’d be honored if you show your support by leaving a review and rating on your favorite podcast app. Until next time, keep on dancing.