Editorial Shoot Competition
2022 AWP Editorial Shoot Competition Prospectus
The Association of Wedding Professionals of Greater Washington, DC (AWP) will host its fourth annual collaborative editorial 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 wedding professionals to collaborate in teams to design, execute, and photograph a wedding-themed editorial shoot for a couple in the Greater Washington, DC area with the budget profile of their choice.
Participation Guidelines:
Team Initiation
A current AWP member must initiate a competition team to participate. Non-members who are interested in participating should contact a current AWP member to form a competition 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 must be a current 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.
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.
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. There is no financial requirement to complete this form—only your declaration that you intend to participate!
This form must be submitted no later than 11:59 pm EST on Friday, September 2, 2022. 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 five (5) 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 Friday, October 28, 2022. 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 6, 2022.
Promotion:
The competition will be promoted online and via social media until the “Intent to Participate” form deadline (Friday, September 2, 2022). 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 editorials 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 editorials 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:
AWP invites the participants of each team to attend our annual gala on Tuesday, December 6, 2022, to cheer on your team during the awards portion of the event! All attendees (no matter your membership status) will have to register to attend.
Teams are competing to win overall team awards as well as stand-alone awards for excellence in individual categories (i.e., Best Dessert Design, Best Photography, Best Fashion Styling, etc.).
Contestants will be notified of their individual and group award standings the evening of the event!
Deadlines & Form Links:
11:59 pm EST on Friday, September 2, 2022
Photo Submission Entry Form (with $75 entry fee)
11:59 pm EST on Friday, October 28, 2022
AWP Awards Gala
Tuesday, December 6, 2022
Competition Scoring Guidelines and Criteria:
Please click here to review the full list of competition scoring guidelines.