Sweet Moments by Ren

I once was working with a non-profit client on their annual fundraising event and asked them if they had sent over a shot list to the event photographer yet and they looked at me perplexed and admitted they had never given their photographers shot lists before because they trusted them to get “good shots”. While shot lists are not required and have nothing to do with the quality of photographer or videographer you use for your events they are helpful in planning the story you want the photos to tell of the event. Especially when thinking of corporate, non-profit or large events such as weddings, that story becomes really important. For this example the reason I was working with this client in the first place was to solve the “we are spending more on our fundraising events than what’s coming in, how do we get people to attend?” and it was all in the marketing and having photos and videos that not only showcased the event but the organization behind the event.

I was reminded of this and inspired to write this post because I was scrolling on tik tok as one in their twenties do and came across a post from a wedding photographer on 2025 wedding photo trends and how traditional flat lays are out and late night flat lays are in. The reasoning for this being that traditional flat lays do not have a place in the photographic story procession of the wedding day.

A Flat Lay for those who may be wondering is a photo shot that traditionally includes bits of the elements of the wedding that showcases the wedding event’s theme, color scheme, and aesthetic. These shots as pictured below normally include the wedding invitations, shoes, rings, florals, etc.

A Late Night Flat Lay more aligns with the current social aesthetic trends of showcasing authenticity through dishevelment. If you are on instagram the trend of photo dumps but the majority of the photos are blurry or unfocused there’s everyday messes included and random shots meant to give the feeling of authentic life as a response to Instagram and social media being heavily edited and unrealistic portrayals of people’s lives. Similarly a phototrend that was big last year in weddings was blurry or strategically off centered or crooked photos. A late night flat lay follows those trends as you can see below, the photo including elements that you would find towards the end of a wedding event; half eaten slices of cake, partially drank signature drinks that have lipstick on the rim of one, shoes posed in a way to look like they were slipped off after hours on the dance floor vs perfectly posed.

The idea of the late night flat lay being that it shows more realistically that the couple enjoyed their wedding while also fitting in with the story progression of this event, where a traditional flat lay stands out because no one bring wedding invites to the event anymore and every thing staged perfectly does not feel authentic to the rush and excitement of the day and does not fit in with the getting ready with the bridal party or the just married reception.

What are your thoughts? Do you prefer the traditional version or the late night version? 

If you are looking for an event planner on site in the Chicago land area check out my website or socials! I also do remote event planning internationally!

Until next blog this is Ren from Sweet Moments by Ren~

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