A Time to Create! Forest Hall at Chatman Mills – The Gathering & Co – 2019

Every once in awhile I find the need to create. The want to exercise my passion of photography through something other than a real wedding, a family photo session or whatever the occasion may be. I’ve mentioned before how much I LOVE styled shoots and today I am going to share a few more reasons why they are so much fun & I believe essential to photographers and other creatives in the wedding industry! While sharing these reasons I am going to share a recent styled shoot I participated in this past week!

….Queue: Taylor Swifts, Are You Ready for It?

Last Tuesday, I traveled to Pittsboro which is about an hour away from me to be a part of The Gathering & Co’s first what they call Shootout! Chelsi & her incredible team created not only one but THREE “weddings” for photographers & videographers to capture; it was absolutely amazing! So here is reason #1 I love styled shoots: I get to work with other people in the industry! Yes, on a wedding day we work with one another but for the most part its hustle and flow kind of work but in an environment like styled shoots, we are able to talk to one another and really get to know the videographer or the other photographer that may be assisting the wedding! We also get to capture details of people we may have not had the chance to work with before for our own weddings, etc. It is really something special!

Can we talk about how gorgeous these details were??? I am loving the industrial vibe mixed with pops of color and textures! Reason #2 I love styled shoots is the ability to try out ideas you’ve come across on Pinterest, Instagram or wedding magazines you’ve read while at the hair salon or in the middle of your crown placement at the dentist (this was me last week, haha!)! When you are hired to photograph a wedding, you get to photograph other people visions so when you organize a styled shoot you can pick & choose your visions! Chelsi’s vision for the Shootout was three different vibes; a moody, a cheerful, and a casual all with a bohemian romance feeling. What do you say? Did she knock it out of the park? I THINK YES! As far as the venue, Forest Hall at Chatman Mills was the perfect place! With the multiple rooms Chelsi was able to have multiple settings and people photographing at once!

SO! You may be wondering about these two couples! Chelsi chose two couples who were willing to model for the entire day, yes from 10am to 8pm! She did so good!

Amy & Andrew are recently engaged and are actually planning their upcoming nuptials for January 2020 so they got a good taste of how their wedding day will be as far as photography & videography!

And then Sarah & Caleb have been married for almost 2 years and they have worked with Chelsi before and were awesome and willing to do all the things we asked them to do!

And lastly reason #3 why I love styled shoots is because we get a chance to submit them to magazines, websites and all things wedding inspiration! It’s a wonderful way for us as photographers to share our talent with others. So without over sharing in my blog post, be on the lookout for a publication (fingers crossed!))!

Incredible Vendors:

Bushel and Peck Wedding – florals @bushelandpeckweddings

Forest Hall – venue @foresthallatchathammills

The Gathering Co. – Planner and Design @thegathering.co

Sugar Euphoria – Cakes @sugareuphoria

Megan Strimbu – invites, mirror, and leather/terra-cotta escorts @megan.strimbu

Brittnie from AL.Calligraphy – Hanging cake sign and geometric escorts @al.calligraphy

ElleWoodsCo. – Lounge wooden signs and wooden rounds @ellewoodsco

Greenhouse Picker Sisters – Lounge pieces, rugs, cake stands, black plates, special goblets @greenhousepickersisters

thebardotbeauty – The Barbox Co. – mobile bar and menu board @barboxraleigh

Shopbofemme – Jewelry (necklaces, earrings, ring) @shopbofemme

NYBG – Dress and Black Tux @newyorkbrideraleigh