We recently caught up with Steph the owner of Venues Covered, a venue styling and decorating business based in Swindon, Wiltshire. Who are an award-winning venue styling service with over 10 years’ experience dressing weddings for couples getting married, as well as working within different events and settings. Steph worked with her local Ronald Joyce stockist Trousseaux and used some their beautiful bridal gowns in a recent styled shoot, so we wanted to find out more and share the images with our readers.

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So, what exactly is a styled shoot?

A styled shoot, or photoshoot, is an opportunity to tell our viewers a story of a wedding day, as well as try out some new products and to work collaboratively with different suppliers. This culminates in beautiful imagery that gives our couples lots of inspiration for their big day as well as providing all suppliers with beautiful advertising imagery but with a shared cost. We plan a concept for the shoot, to ensure that all suppliers taking part are able to work to a brief and come together seamlessly.

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How did you come about organising this shoot and why at this time?

Due to the Covid pandemic, most of the suppliers who took part in the shoot hadn't been able to work for well over 8 months, and are only just now starting to see work come back in. Planning this styled shoot enabled us to not only have a day working with other people, but also get creative again, have fun while working on new ideas, and capture some wonderful fresh imagery for use within social media over the next year.

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How did you find suppliers and why did you choose them?

The group of suppliers who all took part have all worked together for weddings in the past. We all follow each other through social media, and we love working together. 

And how did it go?

Considering it was the first shoot I'd ever planned, I was super happy with how it went! We had a few hiccups the night prior (having to change our model last minute and one photographer having to self-isolate), but it all came together beautifully! The vision I had in my head came together brilliantly, and we were effectively able to do 3 shoots in one day, so lots of content and gorgeous imagery.

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How will you use the images?

We are all using these images throughout our social media campaigns and advertising. It's given so many of our couples inspiration for their wedding days already!

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Here are all the suppliers so you can take a closer look:

Photographer - Copper & Blossom - www.copperandblossom.co.uk@copperandblossom

Venue - De Vere Cotswold Water Park Hotel - www.devere.co.uk/cotswold-water-park-hotel@cotswold_waterpark_weddings

Concept & Venue Dresser - Venues Covered - www.venuescovered.co.uk@venuescovered

Dresses – From Trousseaux - www.trousseaux.co.uk@trousseauxbridal

Cakes - Sugar Bowl Bakes - www.sugarbowlbakes.co.uk / @sugarbowlbakes 

Flowers - Wendy House Flowers - www.wendyhouseflowers.co.uk@wendyhouseflowers

Hair & Makeup - Rachel Neate Hair & Makeup - http://rachelneatemakeup-hairartist.co.uk/  / @rachelneate

LOVE Letters - Burnt Orange Events - www.burntorange.co.uk / @burntorange.co.uk

Printed Stationery - Archibald Edwards - https://www.archibald-edwards-weddingstationery.co.uk@archibald.edwards

Laser Cut Stationery - SL Laser Inscribe - https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SLLaserInscribe  / @sllaserinscribe

Furniture Hire - Hospitality Services - www.hospitalityservices247.co.uk@hospitalityservices247