Styled Shoot at The Barn at Righteous Oaks Farm
July 21, 2022 was the date of my first styled shoot I planned. It was located at The Barn at Righteous Oaks Farm in Fayetteville, NC. It turned out AMAZING!
You may be wondering; what is a styled shoot? A styled shoot is basically a mock wedding. A styled shoot normally takes place at a venue, has a model bride(s) and groom(s), wedding dress, hair and makeup artist, flowers, photographers, videographers, wedding cake, and even personalized stationary. Another question you may be wondering; why plan a styled shoot? Styled shoots are very important to vendors all across the wedding industry, including couples planning to get married. Having a styled shoot allows vendors to increase their portfolio (especially if they are a new business, or wanting to offer a new service), get to meet new vendors, create partnerships, receive advertisement and promotion, and showcase their talents for potential new clients. Some styled shoots are open to the public, so couples can tour the venue and meet the vendors.
With planning any event, some things don’t go as planned, and that is okay! I want to share what went great/according to plan and what didn’t go according to plan.
What went great/according to plan: all of the amazing vendors showed up and did an AMAZING job, the model brides and groom were absolutely beautiful/handsome and did great in front of the camera, advertisement/promotion for all vendors, and the timeline went according to plan.
What didn’t go according to plan: there was a heat advisory and thunderstorms in the area so the ceremony location had to be moved inside, I was sick so I couldn’t attend in person, and it was so hot we were afraid the cake would melt by the time we got to the venue.
Even though there were things that didn’t go as planned it still turned out amazing, fun, and was a huge success! The ceremony location was beautiful inside, no one got overheated, the rain held off for outside pictures and video. I was able to join on FaceTime to see how everything was going and answer questions. My amazing husband took all the supplies needed for the styled shoot for me, so I didn’t get anyone sick and the styled shoot could still happen. All the vendors on site helped with decorating in my absence. The cake made it in one piece despite the 90 plus degree weather and 2 hour drive.
With listing what did and didn’t go according to plan, I wanted to give insight into what all goes into planning. You can have everything planned out perfectly, but sometimes the weather or something else makes you change your original plan. Change is not always a bad thing, just keep an open mind and go with the flow for things you have no control over, like the weather. Even though a styled shoot is a mock wedding, the planning process is very similar to a real wedding. It is important to have a wedding planner or someone you trust the day of your wedding to make sure everything runs smoothly. Things will come up, so it is important to have someone in charge of everything on your wedding day, so you can enjoy your special day relaxed and stress free. That is one of my goals as a wedding planner, to take the stress off the couple and make sure everything runs smoothly, even if it doesn’t go according to plan.
Now it is time to highlight all the amazing vendors from the styled shoot:
Venue: The Barn at Righteous Oaks Farm in Fayetteville, NC
Photographers: Hollenbeck’s Photography and Wanderingwithmj Photography
Videographer: Katelin Riccio Photography
Bridal Shop: Beautiful and Borrowed Bridal
Stationary: Kathy Magee Designs
Hair and Makeup Artist: Allyson’s Chair
Live Wedding Painter: Savannah Ivey Art
Bakery: The Backstreet Bakery
Rentals: Taylor’s Touch Rentals
Florist: Fur-Ever Floral
Models: Aslyn DeHart, Kayla Fernandez and Taylor Fernandez
I highly recommend all the vendors from the styled shoot! Everyone did an amazing job! If you have any questions about planning your wedding send me an email at atruelovestoryweddingandevents@gmail.com.