A strong portfolio is one of the most important tools you can have as a creative professional. People buy into what they see and fall in love with. Talking the talk doesn't translate to clients – you need to back it up.
But here’s the thing: even as my experience grew and craftsmanship improved after launching my first wedding business, Wild Calligraphy in 2017, I wasn’t proud of my portfolio. I knew it was stopping me from attracting more aesthetic weddings and doing work that felt like me, work I was proud of.
So, after multiple failed attempts to join styled shoots, I decided to organise my own. I quickly gained a reputation for detail-led shoots and my work started to be published widely on wedding blogs. I was even invited to BBC Nottingham multiple times to talk about my business. In my prime, I had over 2 million monthly viewers on Pinterest.
Now, as a wedding photographer, the same principle applies—people buy into what they see. After organising two editorials in Croatia and Lake Como, I booked over 10 destination weddings. After organising a shoot at Middleton Lodge, it’s now my most booked UK venue—I will be shooting there 14 times this year.
So, why should you do styled shoots and how do you organise your own?
Benefits of a styled shoot
- Doing more of the work you love: Showcase what you love doing to attract more of it.
- Collaborate and learn: Learn from other creatives who have different experiences and be inspired by them to continue to improve.
- Keep your portfolio fresh: There’s nothing worse than being stagnant and producing the same work time and time again. Demonstrate versatility to potential clients, showing why they need you for their wedding vision.
- Challenge yourself: Organising shoots will make you want to show off the best that you can do and pushes you to create work that you’re proud of.
- Create diverse content: And I don’t just mean the final professional imagery. Behind-the-scenes videos can be used for Pinterest, Instagram reels, or TikTok posts.
- Expand your network: Tag your entire team in your captions so their audience can see your posts. It’s amazing marketing, especially if you’re working with suppliers who are established within your niche and aesthetic.
- Promote diversity: Use styled shoots to diversify your portfolio, showing that you are an ally and work with all couples regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation. Highlight your commitment to representation by working with both real couples and models.
How to plan your own styled shoot
There are multiple stages of planning, and they all feed into each other. This will give you a good idea of where to start:
- Create your mood boards and visuals
This will help you clarify your vision, inspire other suppliers to get involved and create something fresh yet cohesive.
- Think about your budget
Styled shoots often have hidden costs like travel, venue hire, hotels, and contingency. It’s important to budget for these costs ahead of time so you can decide if you are happy to cover them or whether you need the team to split costs evenly.
- Draw up a timeline
The venues are always the hardest to source so you need to book them first.
- Book your photographer
All suppliers will want to know who the photographer is when deciding whether to invest their own time and money in the shoot.
- Source your models and the rest of the team
Consider working with real couples you have collaborated with before and have a good rapport with.
Now you know the general benefits of a styled shoot for enhancing your portfolio, attracting your dream clients and growing your community, it’s time to plan your own. To learn how I organise my shoots, check out my best-selling guide, “How to plan and facilitate styled shoots - A guide for wedding industry professionals”, available here. This resource will give you support and streamline your planning process, helping you with every element of planning and facilitating a styled shoot, and taking one step closer to attracting more work you love.
THIS COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE INCLUDES:
Introduction
The importance of portfolio
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- What are clients considering when supplier shopping
- How to design your portfolio to attract more of the work you love
- [photography specific] Creative photography techniques to get dream content from any situation
The benefits of styled shoots
Finding your why
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- Effectively identifying what you want out of the shoot
- Initial ideas checklist
Mood-boards and visuals
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- How I pick colours / themes
- Best practice for organising mood-boards
- Exemplar visuals
Timeline
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- How to pick a date (day of the week, timings and season)
- How much notice is needed
- What order to approach suppliers
Establishing a budget
Pitching to suppliers
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- Things to consider
- Pitch template
Working with others
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- How to collaborate effectively to achieve cohesion without micro management
- Managing expectations
On the day co-ordination
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- Timeline advice
- How to ensure everyone’s work is being showcased and captured fairly
- What I do to make suppliers feel appreciated and want to work with me again
Features
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- Benefits of having work featured by established blogs
- How to find which blogs best fit your brand
- Best practice for blog submissions (so that they feature you)
- Exemplar pitches
Beyond the shoot
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- Sharing best practice on website/ socials for maximum exposure
- What to do on and beyond the day to maximise reach
Shop the guide
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All images taken from my latest editorial at Vicarage Boutique, Nottingham.