In case you didn’t know the Academy of Wedding and Event Planning are the company behind the International Wedding Trend Report, a comprehensive report that looks at the trends for the forthcoming wedding season. This report is used by those in the industry to help them stay on top of current trends and to use with their clients to show them what is possible. We collaborate with over 30 wedding experts from around the world to help us compile the report and it is fast becoming the industry bible on all things trend related.
We don’t just stop at the published report though. There is a video to accompany the report and this year we have also produced a styled shoot to showcase one of the biggest themes we are still seeing dominate the design of many weddings. With so much going on we thought it would be fun to share a little of what is happening at Academy HQ and give you a behind-the-scenes look at how the trend report has been produced.
The styled shoot concept was created by the Academy but the design was the brainchild of Kirstin Halstead with a team of amazing suppliers behind her. We discussed using a loose theme of festival weddings to illustrate how one idea could be interpreted in different ways. We then went on to brainstorm a variety of festivals that would be used as inspiration and we eventually settled on Burning Man, Coachella and EDC. From there Kirstin created 3 different Look Books and so our styled shoot was born.
The shoot was a two day affair starting on site at 7am on a cold and damp October day in the UK in the grounds of the gorgeous Cannon Hall. As many of you will know the weather in the UK at any time of year is dodgy at best, but in October it is downright miserable, but we were lucky and the sun made an appearance to help us capture the images we were after. On hand was our resident videographer, Dan Flanders, who caught all the action and helped us to create our shoot documentary.
To achieve 3 different looks that included a table set up and aisle set up, not to mention the food, is no mean feat and our team of talented suppliers pulled it off without a hitch. To make sure you get the report hot off the press you can subscribe right here and it will be delivered to your Inbox.
I can’t wait to share the images with you in the report, but for now you can see below a few snaps of the team hard at work. Who doesn’t like a behind-the-scenes of other wedding pros hard at work? First though I need to name our talented team:
- Stylist – Kirstin Halstead www.kirstinhalstead.com
- Photographer – Joe Dodsworth – www.joedodsworth.co.uk
- Tipi – Totally Tipi – www.totallytipi.com
- Florist – Leafy Couture – www.leafycouture.co.uk
- Stationery – By Phylecia Sutherland www.phyleciasutherland.com
- Cake – Whimiscal Cake Company – www.thewhimsicalcakecompany.co.uk
- Linens – Gilded Linens – www.gildedlinens.com
- Catering – EatMe-DrinkMe – www.eatme-drinkme.co.uk
- Furniture – Blacks Event Furniture – www.eventfurniture.com
- Crockery – Whitehouse Event Crockery Hire – www.eventcrockeryhire.co.uk
It didn’t stop there though. The following week we were in the studio recording the video to announce the biggest trends for 2016 and go into detail as to how we researched them, where they came from and how to incorporate them into your design. It was another massive day and whilst we were there we recorded no less than 20 short videos for Academy TV, our free-to-air video series we produce for the wedding industry.
We were lucky enough to have the uber talented Pamella Dunn as our stylist for the day and she turned our studio into a Xmas winter wonderland and styled within an inch of her life. The only problem we had was that we had to turn the heater off every time we started filming as it was so loud and the microphone was picking it up. This meant the studio was freezing whilst filming and it was just the motivation I needed to do each script in one take.
We have some amazing videos to share with you in 2016 with some mini series including how to produce a styled shoot, becoming a trendsetter and lots more. Now although I can’t share the videos yet I can give you a glimpse of the styling on set, so prepare to drool and and squeal with excitement, I did each time Pamella changed the set, as I share some more pics with you.