Editorial Shoot Competition
2023 AWP Editorial Shoot Competition Prospectus
The Association of Wedding Professionals of Greater Washington, DC (AWP) will host its fifth annual collaborative styled shoot competition. This experience will allow AWP to broaden its reach as a business network for wedding professionals in the Washington, DC area; and allow members to network with other AWP professionals to curate content and be imaginative with their peers.
AWP invites ALL wedding professionals to collaborate in teams to design, execute, and photograph a wedding-themed styled shoot for a couple in the Greater Washington, DC area with the budget profile of their choice.
Participation Guidelines:
Team Initiation
New this year!! A current AWP member or NON AWP Member can initiate a competition team to participate. All wedding professionals, who are interested in participating there is a minimum of 2 AWP members required to be on your team. A list of current AWP members may be found here.
Team Captain
A team captain must be designated by their respective team. The team captain can be a current AWP member or NON AWP member. Team captains are responsible for the formation of a competition team. AWP will not assist, nor be responsible for assisting in securing team participants.
The team captain will be the main point of contact between their team and AWP for competition follow-up actions. Team captains will also be responsible for ensuring the fulfillment of all required participation forms and fees on behalf of their team.
There will be a Team Captain meeting held on August 23rd to answer any questions you might have that were not answered in the Cocktails and Conversation meeting. Team Captain's will receive a meeting invite after August 14th.
Intent to Participate Form
The “Intent to Participate” form must be submitted before commencing work on your team’s styled shoot. Completion of this form is your initial step to participate in the AWP competition.
There is a $75, non-refundable fee associated with submitting this form. We ask that you commit yourself to the process of completing a styled shoot and follow the contest entry rules and deadlines upon submission of this form.
As planning a shoot takes more time on the front end to coordinate, this form is your team’s way to inform AWP that you would like to participate, but that team members and concept details are forthcoming.
This form must be submitted no later than 11:59 pm EST on Monday August 14, 2023. Please find the form here.
Team Structure
A minimum of five (5) businesses must participate to form an official team. Each team must include at least one (1) professional photographer and the use of at least one (1) model of any gender to qualify. Models do not have to be professionals.
Team members must be professional businesses—whether seasoned or just starting their entrepreneurial journey! While we allow material sourcing for shoot enhancements from non-traditional means (such as Amazon), the major components of your team must be sourced through a professional creative partner (because Amazon cannot win your team’s award)!
Competition participants can participate on more than one (1), but no more than two (2) teams. It is up to each respective team to discuss confidentiality guidelines and procedures. Participating vendors must be located within the following service areas: Washington, DC; Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and West Virginia.
Teams should represent a minimum of two (2) AWP membership categories; however, more categories may be represented if desired. Membership categories may be found here.
Official Entry Form
To be successfully judged, participating teams must submit the competition entry form, inclusive of the following:
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a collection of a minimum of twenty-five (25) or more photographs of their editorial event housed in one easily downloadable link;
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a listing of all participating members (inclusive of their contact information, websites, and social media handles);
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their inspiration/mood board;
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a written description of your shoot concept;
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individual image submissions for contest category judging; and
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the contest participation fee of $75 per team.*
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* Individual teams are responsible for deciding how fee dues are collected.
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This form must be submitted no later than 11:59 pm EST on Saturday, October 21, 2023. Please submit your official competition entry form here.
Competition Judging:
A team of three (3) or four (4) independent, non-AWP member industry professionals will preside over the judging. Each judge will individually award points for each category based upon the criteria and rules set forth by AWP.
Final scores will be awarded by calculating the average of each judge’s scores per point category. In addition to scoring, judges are tasked with providing written feedback and constructive criticism to the teams to contribute positive reinforcement and guidance to participants.
Team images will be featured on the AWP website and social media platforms at the conclusion of the AWP Awards Gala on Tuesday, December 5, 2023.
Promotion:
The competition will be promoted online and via social media until the “Intent to Participate” form deadline (Monday August 14, 2023). Participating teams will be featured on the AWP website and social media channels upon completion of the awards ceremony. Teams are not permitted to publicly share professional images from their styled shoots until after the AWP Awards Gala or risk being instantly disqualified. However, teams are encouraged to post behind-the-scenes candid shots of their shoot and tag AWP—but we ask that you do not show any “wow” factor images until the completion of the competition.
Once images are submitted for judging, teams are free to solicit their styled shoots for publication outside of AWP channels as these shoots are not exclusive to AWP. We ask that team captains email info@awp-dc.com if your team’s editorial is selected for publication so we may celebrate your team’s accomplishment!
AWP Awards Show Gala:
The competition will be promoted online and via social media until the “Intent to Participate” form deadline (Monday August 14, 2023). Participating teams will be featured on the AWP website and social media channels upon completion of the awards ceremony. Teams are not permitted to publicly share professional images from their styled shoots until after the AWP Awards Gala or risk being instantly disqualified. However, teams are encouraged to post behind-the-scenes candid shots of their shoot and tag AWP—but we ask that you do not show any “wow” factor images until the completion of the competition.
Once images are submitted for judging, teams are free to solicit their styled shoots for publication outside of AWP channels as these shoots are not exclusive to AWP. We ask that team captains email info@awp-dc.com if your team’s editorial is selected for publication so we may celebrate your team’s accomplishment!
Deadlines & Form Links:
Intent to Participate Form (with $75 entry fee)
11:59 pm EDT on Monday August 14, 2023
11:59 pm EDT on Saturday, October 21, 2023
AWP Awards Gala
Tuesday, December 5, 2023
Competition Scoring Guidelines and Criteria:
Participating teams will be judged based on the following criteria:
