Wedding Family Formal Photography Tips
Family formals are probably one of the more stressful times of a wedding day. There is usually a good amount of people on the list who either aren’t paying attention to when their name has been called, weren’t aware they were supposed to be a part of family photos, or ran off to cocktail hour the moment the ceremony was over. While I don’t share many of these photos on social media or my website, we always make sure there is plenty of time to get photos with your loved ones! Here are a few tips tp help make this part of your day less stressful AND get everyone on your list in a photo.
Family Formal List
When a couple books with me, I send them a questionnaire to return to me a month before their wedding. One of the things I ask on the questionnaire is to provide a list of family formals they want. Knowing this list of groupings helps make the whole process go smoother. And if you can group by “family” that helps even more so we don’t tell Uncle Bob he is done with photos and then need him in 20 minutes when we get to the end of the list.
Deciding on what family groupings you want ahead of time alleviates the stress of thinking about which family shots you want in the moment. When you are put on the spot, you may accidentally forget a grouping you really want!
Smaller List
Try to keep the list smaller. That doesn’t mean cutting someone out of a photo but maybe consider doing larger groups for extended family and small groupings for immediate. This could mean doing a photo with both sets of parents, just siblings, full immediate family together and then immediate family on both sides.
Family Wrangler
Choose someone from both sides to be what I call the “Family Wrangler”. This person is someone who knows most if not all of the people on your list. While we will call off the groupings, having someone who actually knows your family members to make sure they are on deck for the next photo or everyone is accounted for in the current photo is a huge help to us. And make sure this family wrangler isn’t you. One of the best pieces of advice you can get for your wedding day is to let people help you. Give them tasks! Let other people worry about things so you can enjoy every aspect of your day. If you are running around your cocktail hour searching for someone or yelling at cousin Joe to pay attention, that is unnecessary stress for you.
Preplan
Whether you are doing a first look and tackling family photos before the ceremony or waiting until after to take photos, make sure to let everyone who is needed for family photos know where and when to be. If you are doing a first look, I typically plan for family to come an hour before the ceremony. This will give us enough time to get the photos done AND give you a 30 minute break before your ceremony. If we are doing them after, tell family members to meet near the ceremony space immediately after. The sooner we get through the photos, the sooner they can get their drink on ;)
