Welcome to what we are calling “inspiration week” here on United With Love!  You may have noticed a recent trend on wedding blogs: styled photo shoots.  Just in case you aren’t familiar with styled shoots these are staged events/photo shoots with a certain theme and a team of vendors who come together to pull it off.  The end result is some fabulous eye candy and great ideas, all packaged with gorgeous photography that showcases the talents of each participant.  These shoots are a chance for wedding professionals to show off their skills and have fun with different themes and techniques all the while giving you, the engaged couple, ideas and inspiration for your own event.

Photo Credit:  David Hartcorn Photography

Before we get started, we’ll offer a few helpful tips.  The trick when viewing styled shoots is first to identify when something is actually a styled shoot.  It can be hard to tell!  And some blogs don’t make it obvious, which can be confusing to a bride or groom.  But since a styled shoot typically involves only a few people (or just a bride and groom) and perhaps one table setting rather than a wedding of 100+ people, there is definitely a big difference between a styled shoot and a real wedding.

The second trick is to emulate only the elements that you like.  Styled shoots tend to pack a lot of different things into one shoot.  You aren’t going to love everything in a certain shot.  OK, maybe you will, but not all of it will be practical and applicable to your wedding.  We don’t want you to be overwhelmed and think you have to take each image as an entire package it’s totally fine to take the things that you like and then emulate them in your own way, making them unique to your wedding.  (More advice on dealing with styled shoots is coming later, we promise!)

Photo Credit:  Kate Triano Photography

Over the past year, many wedding professionals in the Washington, DC area have put together some truly inspirational photo shoots.  (You might even see us in one or two!)  We’re always amazed by the fantastic work that vendors in our area produce on a regular basis for photo shoots and real weddings.  So what better way to feature some of the talent in this area then to do it all at once?!  We’ve seen a few of these shoots around the blogosphere, on websites and in other formats throughout the year.  We wanted to put the best of the best in one spot to make it easy for you to scour for inspiration.

Photo Credit:  A Britton Photography

All this week, you will be seeing styled photo shoots from our wedding friends and neighbors in MD, VA,  and DC.  So settle in and get ready for some fantastic inspiration!