Your wedding day is sure to be filled with love, laughter, and happily ever after. But it is also sure to be filled with a whole lot of photos! Not only will you have bridal/groom portraits, wedding party photos, and couples portraits, but you will also have the (usually dreaded) family photos. Have no fear, your wedding planning dream team is here!
We have worked with hundreds of clients and their photographers to make the family portrait sessions as seamless and painless as possible. We completely understand that you want these photos that you will cherish forever, but you don't want it to take up your entire cocktail hour. There is a way to ensure efficiency - all you have to do is follow this guide!
Before You Begin - You Must Have Some Family Discussions
Before we can even start with the family photo shot list template, you and your fiance will need to sit down with your families or give them a call to discuss family photos. This may seem unnecessary, but TRUST ME, you have no idea how many parents, grandparents, etc. we have come up to us on wedding day trying to add in a whole bunch of people and poses. Your wedding day photos will go WAY smoother if you have a conversation on the front-end with everyone to make sure you are all on the same page.
So... what does this conversation look like?
Well, most importantly, you and your fiance need to decide how much of a say you want the rest of your family to have in what photos are being taken. Do you want your parents to be able to dictate how many people they want in the photos, or do you want to decide for yourselves and just let everyone who is in the photos know what time to be there? There is no right or wrong way to do this. It is completely up to your discretion and is based on your relationship with your family.
If I had to make a suggestion, I would highly recommend extending family photos only to parents, siblings, and grandparents. Once you add in aunts, uncles, cousins, etc., it becomes chaotic and difficult to draw a line (are second cousins included if they are close in age to you? What about significant others of your aunts or uncles or cousins?). However, if you DO want to include aunts, uncles, and cousins, I recommend having them in only ONE big group photo at the very beginning so that they can then head to cocktail hour. The less people you have around, the easier these photos will be.
Let's Get to the Template!
When setting up the order of photos, it is important to start with the largest number of people and work your way down. This way, those who are only in the large family photo (i.e. aunts, uncles, and cousins if you choose to have them in it) can head to cocktail hour immediately after their photo is taken, thus creating more space and less stress for the remainder of photos. A sample template is below - you do not have to have this many photos taken, but if you/your family want your entire extended family in photos, this is the best way to do it!
NOTE: This template is based on a typical nuclear family unit. Your family is unique, so your photo shot list will be unique! Please edit this shot list as needed.
PRO TIP: As soon as someone is done being in the photos, as them to head to cocktail hour (or in another space at the venue if you are doing photos before the ceremony) to clear the space. This will make your life and your photographer's a LOT easier when trying to finish all of these photos!
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