Plastic Wedding Bells

Grace Paul Stylized Shoots is what she calls them. They should be called “One day fairy tales for your inner romantic”. Grace’s attention to detail was so captivating, I can’t put it in words. People, she even had a water color of the location done…the entire thing was impeccable. However… the mile long trek from the parking lot to the house was ridiculous. I applaud Grace and her willingness to make the walk multiple times, pulling a wagon of details, but I couldn’t do it. Once was bad enough. This was my first styled shoot and I’m very glad I did it. Modeling as a bridesmaid gives you the sideline view I needed to make this blog post useful to models and photographers. I’m not taking shots at anyone, I swear, just pointing out places to improve.

Models, loosen up! I know it’s difficult, but this isn’t your actual wedding day. You can goof off some. Talk to your fellow models. That makes it easier to relax, for one, and for another, it’s a lot easier to pretend you’ve known someone for years when you actually know their name. By the end of the day, the other bridesmaids and I were calling ourselves “first day best friends” and “professional cuddlers”. Wedding shoots are different than the shoots we’re used to because they want smiles. They want you to look at the camera, look happy, etc. We’re used to looking anywhere but the lens, mouth slightly open, a slight smirk or no smile at all… So for models, wedding shoots can be more challenging than anything. By the end of the day, not only were we exhausted, our mouths hurt from smiling so much.

A couple things for photographers…some of the girls brought step stools because they knew they’d be a lot shorter than their models. Actual genius here, just saying. When your model is six foot who knows what and you’re just shy of five three…you have to make it work. So kudos to them for thinking ahead. One thing to think about though, is respect the time limits. When there are ten photographers and only one traditional bride/groom, you have to be a little more considerate than usual.

If you’ve never done a styled shoot, (or if you’re in Charleston and have never done one with

Grace) I highly suggest them. Very eye opening, and, as I told the elopement bride model, gets you some practice so the next time around it won’t be so scary!

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to shoot me over your tips and tricks for styled wedding shoots through my contact page or on social media! I’ll be back next week with something random!

(Photography credits: Alexis Moore Photography, Kate Dye Photography, Alexis Moore Photography). Also, check out Grace Paul's photography page on FB: https://www.facebook.com/gracepaulphotography/?pnref=lhc