Wedding Party and Family Photos (It's a Lot Like Wrangling Cats)
To get through family photos, you have to be organized and willing to “use your teacher voice!” And never stop smiling. :-)
Both Jaycie and Brooks have huge families, so I had to get on a chair and back WAY up in order to get them all in without chopping off their feet with the church pews!
The most traditional and expected part of wedding day photography is the wedding party and family photos, but I’ll be honest— it’s a lot like wrangling cats. Without proper planning and coordination, you’ll lose groomsmen and several cousins to the bar, Uncle Joe will wander off to the bathroom, and you’ll be left standing, frustrated, as you wait for someone to go find your missing family members. However, with careful planning and an experienced coordinator/wedding photographer, this part of the day CAN be made as painless as possible.
As a seasoned wedding photographer, my approach to this part of the day is to be as organized as possible! Because I am also a teacher, I have learned to be an expert planner and master of time management. So take a look at the following tips to help you prepare and make this section of the day run as smoothly and easily as possible.
As you are planning your timeline, keep in mind that family and wedding party photos need appoximately an hour of time, if you do them all after your ceremony. (Family groupings will take 15-20 minutes, wedding party photos will take 15-20 minutes, and you want to leave 15-20 minutes for some intimate portraits of the bride and groom in your post-wedded bliss!) If you decide on a “first look,” some, if not all, of these photos can be taken prior to the ceremony so that the wedding party and family can enjoy cocktail hour! After all, you’ve probably spent a lot of money on food and drinks—why miss out? Your photographer and/or coordinator can also help advise you on the best timing for these photos.
Several weeks before your wedding, make a list of the groupings you want. That way you can review it several times to make sure you’re not leaving anyone out! Try to keep it to a maximum of 10-12 groups, and start with the largest groups so that you can dismiss people as their portraits are completed…you don’t want your family members or wedding party getting antsy or feeling deprived from enjoying cocktail hour! Here’s a sample list of how you might want to organize your groupings:
Whole Family (Bride + Groom’s Extended Family)
Groom's Extended Family
Groom's Immediate Family
Bride & Groom + Groom's Parents
Bride & Groom + Groom's Siblings Bride's Extended Family
Bride's Immediate Family
Bride & Groom + Bride's Parents
Bride & Groom + Bride's Siblings
Whole Wedding Party
Bridesmaid/Groomsmen Photos
Intimate Portrait Session with Bride & Groom
And a note about these groupings: make sure you list out everyone’s names! That makes it so much easier for the photographer/coordinator to make sure everyone is present who needs to be. And, you won’t have to try to think of who is missing in the moment…you can just smile and help make pretty pictures!
Ask the wedding coordinator or a representative (who doesn’t mind speaking loudly) to be in charge of helping the photographer read off the list. Your photographer won’t know everyone in the family, but there might be a bridesmaid or aunt who does! And better yet, appoint someone in the group who is a teacher—they are experts at wrangling large groups of people!
Decide with your photographer where these large group photos will take place ahead of time so you aren’t having to figure that out on your wedding day. Traditionally, these photos are taken in the ceremony space, but depending on the time of day and weather, there may be somewhere else at your venue that is more picturesque to have these portraits made. Keep in mind grandparents and other family/wedding party members who may have mobility issues, though.
If you are doing these photos during cocktail hour, prearrange with your coordinator/catering staff to bring you and your family/wedding party something to drink and munch on so that no one feels like they are missing out on the goodie!
At the wedding rehearsal the night before, make sure it is announced exactly where and when these photos will take place, and insist that the people involved in the photos stay in the ceremony space until they are dismissed.
After the ceremony ends but before your guests are dismissed to cocktail hour, have your officiant remind everyone taking part in the family/wedding party photos to stay put! After the excitement of the ceremony, someone is bound to forget, so this is a great way to gently remind them that they have a task to complete before they can leave the area.
While you are waiting to have your photos taken, relax, smile, and enjoy all the time with your loved ones and friends! You don’t want to appear frustrated and angsty in your photos. While it might seem like things are taking forever, a well-organized timeline and photographer will ensure that things run smoothly! And ultimately, the real party can’t get started without you!
Sarah Claire and Chandler had an extensive list of photos with their family, but one of Chandler’s cousins who knew everyone stepped in to help me gather people together—since he knew everyone, it was SO helpful! And I think I got through their family groupings more quickly than any other wedding I have photographed!
For more wedding planning tips that will help the photography part of your day run as smoothly as possible, check out some of my other blog posts:
Kimberly Cauble…
…is a teacher and wedding & portrait photographer in the Charlotte, NC area who has been photographing families, seniors, and weddings since 2012. She has photographed over 90 weddings and loves people, the art of photography, and sharing what she has learned with others!
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