STYLED SHOOT: Unicorns and rainbows #Wedding industry advice#marketing#photography Updated Oct 12 2015 (Posted Sep 26 2013) Ariel arielmstallings Photos by Rodeo & Co. Photography. Unicorn mask by Accoutrements. On Monday, I wrote about why we never featured styled shoots on Offbeat Bride… mainly because I don't want brides being misled by marketing materials into unrealistic expectations for their weddings. Here on Offbeat Empire, however, I love scheming about small business stuff like marketing, and so I asked wedding vendors to share a few of their favorite styled shoots. There were a whole bunch of great links in the comments over here, and there's one styled shoot from Offbeat Bride vendor Makeup Aristry By Liz that I simply HAD to share. I mean, it's rainbows and unicorns. It's like this shoot was designed for me. Related Post Show-don't-tell marketing: how to share your business story with integrity I spent over a decade in the corporate marketing trenches before I founded the Offbeat Empire. If I learned anything from my time with Microsoft,... Read more Photography: Rodeo & Co. Photography Design & Styling: Emily B. Event Design Make-up: Makeup Aristry By Liz Floral Design: Valley Flower Company Stationary: Coral Pheasant Stationary + Design Cake: Pleasant Street Sweets Gown: Badgley Mischka Veil: Emily Riggs Bridal Bridesmaid Dresses: Ouma Purple sequin linen: Nuage Designs This post features Offbeat Vendors! Check out their vendor listing to see how they cater to Offbeat Brides: Makeup Artistry by Liz Share this:TwitterFacebook Reporter Name * Reporter Email * Original text Enter the original text here. Edited text* Enter your suggested copyedit here. Notes You can add a note for the editor here. * Required information. Fix Typo Ariel Author of three editions of the Offbeat Bride book and the forthcoming From Shitshow To Afterglow, Ariel acts as the publisher of all the Offbeat Empire websites. She lives in Seattle with her son, and if she's not reading or writing books, chances are good that she's dancing or happy-crying. She writes weekly essays for her new publication, The Afterglow. PREVIOUS How we do stock photography NEXT Four years is a good run: why Offbeat Families is ceasing publication (and how it will live on) Show/Hide comments [ 5 ] I used to work for a stationer who did these styled shoots regularly. I came to learn that everything she put together was, actually, really affordable and DIY friendly because she would have to go out-of-pocket for the materials. She just had that rare ability of seeing ordinary objects differently, like when she cut up monopoly boards for flower vases. I think the real deal makers and breakers are photographers. A great one can make a plastic flower in a garish vase look amazing, while an average one can't do a Tiffany ring justice. Some of the stuff might be budget and DIY friendly. But a LOT of styled shoots I see on other blogs use high fasion/designer dresses and veils that are not. Being able to just borrow a dress makes shoots like this one doable. Another thing I notice in a lot of these styled shoots is the AMOUNT of decor on the table. Like that place setting up there is DIVINE. The one table probably only cost like $50 to put together. But translate that up to 10-100 tables and all of a sudden plates from target, a giant bouquet, and 3 yards of sparkle fabric become quite expensive. To do this in real life would be pretty expensive, even if a lot of the elements are DIY…. That being said I am a styled shoot junkie (only reason I went to a lot of other wedding sites when I was planning). I used inspiration from a lot of them to figure out how to utilize things I already had access to (my mom's china and teapot collection, rocks from the yard, decor from a friend's baby shower). But none of my tables looked as full as those you see in styled shoots… Ahahahaha, oh god, the unicorn mask. Amazing. I love this shoot! I totally have been checking that Badgley Mischka gown out online, and I've been obsessively checking out Ouma on Etsy for the last few days! I wish there were more/clearer pics of the bridesmaid dresses. And I love the invites! YAY! This is why I love the OBE. Those OTHER wedding sites would never show this. VIVA LA UNICORN! Comments are closed.
I used to work for a stationer who did these styled shoots regularly. I came to learn that everything she put together was, actually, really affordable and DIY friendly because she would have to go out-of-pocket for the materials. She just had that rare ability of seeing ordinary objects differently, like when she cut up monopoly boards for flower vases. I think the real deal makers and breakers are photographers. A great one can make a plastic flower in a garish vase look amazing, while an average one can't do a Tiffany ring justice.
Some of the stuff might be budget and DIY friendly. But a LOT of styled shoots I see on other blogs use high fasion/designer dresses and veils that are not. Being able to just borrow a dress makes shoots like this one doable. Another thing I notice in a lot of these styled shoots is the AMOUNT of decor on the table. Like that place setting up there is DIVINE. The one table probably only cost like $50 to put together. But translate that up to 10-100 tables and all of a sudden plates from target, a giant bouquet, and 3 yards of sparkle fabric become quite expensive. To do this in real life would be pretty expensive, even if a lot of the elements are DIY…. That being said I am a styled shoot junkie (only reason I went to a lot of other wedding sites when I was planning). I used inspiration from a lot of them to figure out how to utilize things I already had access to (my mom's china and teapot collection, rocks from the yard, decor from a friend's baby shower). But none of my tables looked as full as those you see in styled shoots…
I love this shoot! I totally have been checking that Badgley Mischka gown out online, and I've been obsessively checking out Ouma on Etsy for the last few days! I wish there were more/clearer pics of the bridesmaid dresses. And I love the invites! YAY!