How to Put Together a Styled Editorial for a Blog Feature

How to Put Together a Styled Editorial

Have you ever wanted to submit a styled shoot to GWS? Or maybe you’ve wondered what it could do for your business? Have you ever looked at a styled shoot/wedding in major awe and wondered, “Where the heck do I start?” If you’re chock-full of creative ideas that simply have to be shared, but just don’t know how to go about it — listen up! We’ve teamed up with Lynzie Kent, owner + creative director of Love by Lynzie Events + Design to give you the inside scoop!

First off, a styled shoot can propel your business by exposing your work to a larger audience. By being featured on GWS, along with our social media pages (Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.), you’re able to build a following + share your work on a larger scale with potential clients who seek a similar aesthetic. Additionally, when working on a styled shoot, you’ll be introduced to a network of vendors who are all in the same industry! Styled shoots also allow you to create something that hasn’t been seen over and over again. No couple is the same, therefore no wedding should be the same — GWS readers definitely know that! So styled shoots are a great way to introduce new  inspiration for couples, and expand their ideas about what their wedding could be!

This morning’s GORGEOUSLY styled shoot in Palm Springs, is the final product that we’ll be referencing today. Weeks and months of hard work paid off to ultimately bring the bright beads and bougainvillea to Palm Springs, and we can’t wait to show you how it’s done!

Here’s Lynzie with the rest. :)

How to Put Together a Styled Editorial

How do you create a concept and plan of execution?

For me, a concept often presents itself through an inspiring image or interaction. From there, I flush this out by creating a design proposal that clearly outlines a color scheme, an atmosphere, textures, patterns, visual references in each category (i.e. ceremony setting, florals, tablescape) and a project list. The project list is really where the plan of execution comes in. You’ll need to treat the shoot like an event and create load in/load out schedules, a timeline of when certain vignettes are being shot and set up, and let vendors know when they need to be on site or when they can leave.

How to Put Together a Styled Editorial

Finding the perfect collaborators for a shoot is all about understanding your own personal brand and reaching out to a team that you feel shares a similar client to you. You’ll need to take the time to listen to what each team member wants from a styled shoot and who (i.e. what type of bride) they want to reach with the shoot. As long as their feedback aligns with your ideals, it could be the right fit for your shoot. When getting a team of vendors together, its always important to have a clear vision and let each vendor know well in advance what is expected of them for the shoot, so that they are agreeing to a clear ask and no surprises will arise.

How to Put Together a Styled Editorial

What do I need to know about crediting people for their work?

Because one of the benefits of styled shoots is the social media response, its paramount that everyone’s work that is seen in an image is credited. This is the only way that the entire team of vendors can benefit from a shared audience. It’s also just good manners! You would never want to see another vendor posting an image of your work without crediting you, so it’s important that you show the reciprocal respect of giving credit where it is due. Aside from this, if you are posting a photographer’s image on any platform, be it social or web, you’ll need to credit them as they legally own the image. You’ll find that the more you give credit on social, the more you’ll receive it. It’s like a “good vibes” thing — send ’em out and then feel them start to come back to you.

How to Put Together a Styled Editorial

How can you ensure harmony on set and post shoot? How do you ensure everyone’s work is represented in the final project?

It’s really important not to have too many cooks in the kitchen, which is super hard on a styled shoot. Everyone wants their work to be represented in a way that suits their business. This is why you need to broach these topics in advance. For example, with our Palm Springs shoot, it was super colorful and that made sense for my brand and for Jesi’s brand, but not for Jen’s brand (from Ferre Sposa). To make sure that Jen had images she could use post shoot, we shot the bride in the desert without a bouquet or a colorful backdrop, so that Jen had neutral images to use for her website and social. This was one way to ensure everyone would receive content that made sense for them. You’ll want to ensure that in your shoot timeline, you carve out time to properly shoot everyone’s contribution to the project. You’ll also want to ensure that you carve out time for the photographer and videographer to work with the model separately as they inevitably have different shooting styles.

How to Put Together a Styled Editorial

What do collaborators get out of styled shoots?

I find that I get a number of things out of working on styled shoots. The most incredible benefit is the relationships I build with other vendors. I have received the most word of mouth referrals from vendors who I worked with on styled shoots. The day is not only a time to build your portfolio, but to spend time getting to know and cultivating friendships with like-minded vendors. Aside from the wonderful networking benefits, styled shoots offer an unparalleled opportunity to build your portfolio with the exact type of content you’ve been dreaming to add. Further to that, vendors often benefit through shared social media audiences. 

How to Put Together a Styled Editorial

What type of budget is required for a shoot?

There are multiple schools of thought here and my personal opinion is that you must leave the conversation and communication open with your team at all times. I’ve been in situations where everyone paid for their own supplies and did the labor for free. I’ve been in situations where as the producer of the shoot I have paid for the materials of another company, but they gave their labor for free. I’ve also been in situations where I paid the model personally, and other times where everyone contributing to the shoot split the cost of the model. For me, before I even begin a shoot, I like to put a price on it. In the past, I have spent anywhere from $400-2500 on a shoot. I think you need to ask yourself what a shoot is worth before you take it on. Will it be published in a magazine that is in your area? Do a lot of brides read it? Do a lot of industry people read it? Is the shoot more of a passion project? All of these questions should lead you to a financial figure that makes sense to you.

How to Put Together a Styled Editorial

What types of materials do publications require you to submit?

You’ll need to ensure you have a concise write up describing the purpose and style of the shoot. You’ll also need a list of credits for the shoot with each vendors’ business name, email, website, and social handles. You’ll need to submit about 100-150 web res files to blogs and hi-res files to print that best represent the overall feel of the shoot. If you are submitting video, you’ll need to ensure the link you are submitting is not private or password protected. You’ll also want to ensure you are following the submission process of the publication your are aiming at — they usually publish this on their website and some require you to submit via a platform like Two Bright Lights or Dropbox.

Interested in putting together your own styled shoot? To give you some more insight into the production day and all that goes into it, here’s a video featuring the creatives behind this shoot!

Such good input, right?! Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone involved with this!

photography: Braedon Flynn // venue name: Casa De Monte Vista // event design: Lynzie Kent for Love by Lynzie Events + Design // planning: Jess Forstner for Love by Lynzie Events + Design // florals: Revel Petals // wedding dress boutique: Ferre Sposa // hairpiece: The Loved One // makeup artist: Sarah Smith // videography: Wild and Free Films // paper goods: Pigment and Parchment // handmade details: Jesi Haack Design // cake: Nadia and Co // tabletop rentals: Archive Rentals // furniture rentals: Archive Rentals // linen rentals: La Tavola Linen // models: Megan Cameron // fashion stylist: Jennifer Dang

Explore: