"A pivot is a change in Strategy, not a change in vision"
One thing I love about this industry is the endless opportunities to create. If you think about weddings or remember a wedding you've been to, it is likely you have a basic idea of what that looks like or can imagine how a gallery of wedding photos will look like. It can definitely become repetitive, but with the right community, each season can grow and change with new styles and trends. Doing styled shoots gives vendors the opportunity to create something new and fresh, which can be used to inspire those in the midst of wedding planning.
You might be asking why pivoting is going to be a focus in this blog, and I would love to share with you why! First off, one thing I would highly recommend to anyone involved in a wedding is to be able to pivot as needed to make your day easier. Sometimes what you planned is not going to happen exactly as you thought, but that doesn't change the overall goal or vision. The same can be said for setting up a styled shoot- in fact sometimes the need to pivot can create something even better than originally planned. I will be sharing with you the vision behind this styled shoot, how and why we needed to pivot, and how the end result ended up being exactly what we envisioned. Photos are at the bottom of this blog, so make sure you stay around long enough to check them out!
I had only ever attended a styled shoot, so organizing one was a very new & daunting experience for me. Luckily I have connected with some AMAZING local vendors and through that community I was able to put everything together without any issues. The original idea was to do three outdoor locations and to do an engagement look, as well as an elopement look. My vision was whimsy with a dash of romance, and the look was earthy meets fairytale. The look itself was fairly easy to put together with the help of Mathea(Hair By Mathea), Amanda(Mount Baker Blooms), and Laura & Leslee(Astraea Bridal). We chose a purposely wind tossed braid style paired with makeup that gave our bride model a dewey sun-kissed look, a cascading bouquet of white and deep maroon flowers, and a dress straight out of a fairytale with the loveliest details and flowing sleeves. For our groom model we chose brown & black lined pants with a black top, which was the perfect offset to the brides look. The engagement look was similar but with a gorgeous gold colored wrap dress, provided by my friend and associate Mckenna(Alder & Pine Photography).
Our locations fell through the week before our scheduled date, which is where pivoting became important. If you live in the PNW you may be familiar with the months on end of rain here, and if you are not familiar with the area, just know that we get about 6-9 months of rain & gloom. If you are not scheduling during the summer months, there is always a chance you will be rained out and that is exactly what happened to us. The dress provided by Astraea Bridal was a consigned dress, which meant it needed to be kept as clean as possible and that wasn't going to be possible on muddy ground. So after months of planning, all of the sudden we had no where to shoot! After a moment of panic, I reached out to several venues, even the ones that didn't necessarily fit my vision. During my search, I had a conversation with my friend and associate Lillian(Lillian Jean Photography) about the potential of just doing it at the bridal shop itself, and creating this fun "Playing Dress Up at the bridal shop before they elope" with the same whimsy & romantic vision we had started with. This idea ended up being the one that worked out best and so we pivoted, cut out the engagement look and made it happen!
The day started at Mathea's new salon in downtown Sedro Woolley, with hair & makeup. Lillian and I joined them to take photos of Mathea at work before grabbing some coffee, and then we headed to Astraea Bridal which is located in Mount Vernon Wa. Once we arrived we shot details with the bouquet, boutonniere, dress, and shoes. Once our models arrived they changed and magically- the sun came out! Since we were downtown and the sidewalks were dry, it was suggested we go over to the local courthouse. This grandiose building was built in 1923 and boasts four huge columns with red and tan bricks and ornate lamps, and was the perfect backdrop for a courthouse elopement. So again we pivoted and played in the sun with our models using alleyways and on the steps of the courthouse.
We finished at the bridal shop, capturing our models frolicking through rows of dresses and snuggling tucked away in their own little bubble surrounded by tulle & satin.
My take away- Pivoting during an event like this(whether that be a styled shoot or an actual wedding) does not mean everything is ruined. It does not mean that your vision won't happen or that changing the strategy will change the vision. In fact I look at it as a way of making sure that what was meant to happen, happens. I look through the gallery from this event and I am not only obsessed with every photo, I am also proud. I am proud that I was able to pivot, change strategies and still capture what my imagination had created.
A huge shout out to everyone who helped put this together- you are all lovely & creative humans and I am so grateful for your time and vision!! You will find all of their Insta info underneath the photos below so keep on scrolling!
Thanks for reading,
Kymber
