Wildly in Love: An Editorial Shoot for The Southern Social Magazine : stohree-events.com

Greetings!

It is another beautiful day (or night) depending on when you read this blog post. I am so excited because Issue 5 of The Southern Social magazine has dropped and now I can officially share with you the photos from the editorial shoot that we were asked to create exclusively for the magazine.

In order to plan for a style shoot, I follow just about the same process that I use for my couples to plan for their wedding.

Secure a Location
Create the story and mood board
Locate Vendors
Cast the vision to vendors
Create a timeline details sheet
Execute the shoot

I am going to walk you through this process and show you how this shoot when from conception to completion. So stay tuned, it will be lots of fun!

Secure a Location

Typically I scout out a location, but in this case Melissa with The Southern Social approached me with the idea to do a different style of shoot at the Dallas World Aquarium (DWA). It is a gorgeous space with so many areas and opportunities to create beautiful photos. Kyle with the DWA wanted to show off their newest space, Cloud Forest Trek and also show case the Endangered Species Gallery and Palm Court. As you will soon see, these are all equally beautiful spaces and my mind was racing to create a story to design this editorial shoot.

Create the Story and Mood Board

When I am working with an actual couple, the story is easy because it is almost always their love story combined with some very special dates and a few fun and unique details of their relationship. In addition most of the time they have a vision and or color palette in mind so I am able to use that as a base and build their wedding story and design around it.

In order to make sure that everything is cohesive for any shoot, I create a story based that all the vendors can identify with and this ensures that the finished look is complete and polished. For this shoot the story was very simple. We were planning for a couple that lives in the city and they love a modern and unique space. In addition they champion the rain forest and conservation and love animals so the Dallas World Aquarium was a perfect choice for their wedding. Their non-negotiables for their wedding are:

Beautiful florals
Excellent food with unique plating
Drinks must taste as good as they look
A private dinner before going in to the reception with their guests.

Once the story has been established then it is time to create the mood board and color palette. This was the mood board that we used to create the shoot.

Locate and Secure Vendors

When doing a styled shoot is important to choose your vendors wisely. They need to be about to see the vision and create it based on the story and the mood board. I will introduce you to our vendor partners at the end of the post so you can check out their websites and see how truly talented they are.

Cast the Vision to your Vendors

As the planner it is very important for you to communicate with each of the vendors individually and collectively to convey all the details and information. It is a collaborative effort and requires all hands on deck to ensure the success of the shoot.

Create Timeline and Details Sheet

My styled shoot timelines are identical to my wedding day timeline with just as many details. This can make or break your shoot. Most styled shoots take 6-8 hrs to shoot and we were shooting at 3 different locations within the aquarium during and after business hours.

Execute the Shoot

This is where all the hard work pays off! Everyone comes together bring the vision to life that has been discussed for months. Now to share with you photos from the shoot

The Invitation Suite

I believe that the first touch of any wedding or celebration comes with the invitation suite. It should make your guests excited and also set the tone for the entire event.

Invitation Suite

Ceremony Details:

We created a modern look inside the DWA. It was important to us to showcase the spaces but also create a beautiful space that couples would like to re-create in this space. I chose the location for the ceremony, this was directly in front of the large fish tank. It only made sense that since the wedding was taking place in an aquarium that the backdrop should be a fish tank. We framed it with gorgeous flowers and it was simply stunning.

Wedding Ceremony at Dallas World Aquarium

Wedding Ceremony at Dallas World Aquarium

Wedding Ceremony at Dallas World Aquarium

Wedding Ceremony at Dallas World Aquarium

Wedding Ceremony at Dallas World Aquarium

Cocktail hour

Since our couple champions the rainforest cause, it only made sense to have their cocktail hour in Cloud Forest Trek, this is the newest space in the DWA and features a full video wall with a live feed to 8 of the world’s rainforests.