When you think of family formal photos on your wedding day what do you think of? A headache? A necessary tradition? Herding cats? Well I am here to give you some tips to make those photos a BREEZE!

Get Organized

First things first you need to be ORGANIZED. How things get chaotic is when there is no set list of photos and you are going off of memory of what you need, how stressful! Instead, I recommend creating a list of each family group photo combination and each person’s name that is in that photo and giving that to your photographer. I help all my clients with this and give them a form in their questionnaire where they write this list. I then organized it into each families’ side starting with largest groupings first and pairing down. It goes smoother that way. It is important to include the names of your family members and not just “sister” or “father” because then your photographer can call on people by name. An example could look like this (with names of family members added):

B&G with Bride’s Immediate Family

(Parents, Siblings, Grandparents, Nieces, Nephews)

B&G with Bride’s Parents

B&G with Bride’s Siblings

Bride with her Parents

Bride with Mom, Bride with Dad

B&G with Bride’s Grandparents

B&G with both sets of Parents

B&G with Groom’s Immediate Family

(Parents, Siblings, Grandparents, Nieces, Nephews)

B&G with Groom’s Parents

B&G with Groom’s Siblings

Groom with his Parents

Groom with Mom, Groom with Dad

B&G with Groom’s Grandparents

B&G with all family members if time allows

Designate Someone to Help

Second, you are going to want to designate a cousin, sibling, or someone  on each side that knows everyone to be the “organizer.” This is very important, they can help gather your family because while your photographer may have the list of names you’ve given them, they do not know who is who! 

Make Sure You Have Enough Time

Lastly, make sure you include enough time for your family photos. I generally say 30 minutes is a good amount of time. If everyone is gathered and ready, estimate about 2 minutes per grouping. So if you have 14 combinations, that will take approximately 28 minutes!

Family photos on your wedding day may seem like a formality but they are SO important. These people are part of your legacy and capturing that is priceless.