March 11, 2025

Tampa Florida Farm Elopement

Planning Our Co-Hosted Styled Shoot

To start, my Tampa photographer bestie and regular bestie, Caty Folh Photography and I, planned an elegant and timeless elopement. We started the planning process in early January and planned to host the shoot on February 16th. That gave us enough time to reach out to our favorite local vendors, pick the perfect venue, and create a mood board for our vision.

Elopement Shoot Vendor List

Venue: Barrington Hills

Dresses: Nikki Glitz and Glam Boutique

Hair and Makeup: Glam by Ashley Webb

Models: Andreina, Nataly, Jaime

Cake: Baked by Lish

Invitation Suite: Franklin Paper Studio

Florals: Mint Floral Studio

Vow Books: Luna Paper Co

First off, Caty created the mood boards and crafted an elegant creative vision to match our Tampa elopement. She is an expert in design and spacing with her architecture background. I was so excited with the ideas she came up with…

Mood Board Inspiration

Reaching Out to Vendors

When Caty and I were reaching out to vendors, we emailed, filled out their website contact form, or DM’d each one to try to get in contact with them. After each vendor that was interested replied to us, we sent them all our information and vision for the photoshoot. Once they confirmed they’d be ecstatic to join us, we offered to take photos for them of their contributions for their own Instagram and marketing purposes. We absolutely love working with local vendors, and we were thrilled to see they were just as excited as we were!

Planning the Details

Caty and I spent hours planning the details of the photoshoot. There are so many things to discuss and logistics to finalize when planning a styled shoot. To make things easier, we used Notes app, Google Sheets, and Google Docs to keep all of our information organized. It’s so much easier to keep track of information when it’s written down in multiple places and for both of us to check at anytime. I highly recommend doing this when you need to share information and collaborate with other people.

Getting Photos Published

I told Caty that we will both have opportunities to publish our work after the styled shoot. It is always important to keep in mind which publications you want to submit to before you take the photos. For me, I knew I wanted to submit my work to try to get published in Wandering Weddings, or any local elopement blogs for Michigan, New Jersey or Florida. For Caty, because she does more venue, luxury, and high end wedding shoots, a blog like Marry Me Tampa Bay or local wedding blogs in Tampa could be more suitable for her.

Items and Details for the Shoot

We got most of our items for the shoot from Amazon.

Partnerships and Collaborating for Shoots

Planning and organizing shoots can be very stressful. Working and collaborating with people you know and trust is so important. Caty and I are already besties, so it was a perfect fit for us to plan the shoot together. We also discussed in advance our vision, our expectations, our concerns, our goals and everything in advance. We wanted to be sure we were on the same page with everything and make sure we would create a smoothly run and beautiful elopement shoot.

The Day of the Photoshoot

The morning of the photoshoot was chaotic, naturally! Caty and I went to Tous Les Jours to get pastries and our favorite coffee, their Tiramisu latte, before the photoshoot. I never downed pastries and a latte so fast. Then, Caty and I got all of the props organized, and loaded the car together. It was A HAULLLL. Then, as we drove to Barrington, it started pouring rain. We were honestly a little concerned, but also keeping our spirits up and the excitement for the shoot. When we arrived to Barrington, we unloaded everything and put it inside the venue. Now, we could start taking photos, EEEEEEP!

Flay Lay Photos

First, we took photos of the venue. Then, we took photos of the flat lay details, by Franklin Paper Studio, Mint Floral Studio, Luna Paper Co. Caty really shined in this. She knows exactly how to organize the details, and use the space beautifully. It was so great having her there to utilize her expertise.