Let’s be honest, taking family photos for your wedding day can be a little on the stressful side. There are kids running around everywhere, or Aunt Sally is wandering off somewhere on the property, there’s always something. So, what can you do to ensure things go as smoothly as possible for your family photos?
Timeline Planning
Having a timeline for your wedding day is essential. Whether you have a wedding coordinator or not, creating (and sticking to!) a timeline will help everyone make sure they stay on track for the day. So when it comes to carving out time to take your family photos, there’s a few tips you should keep in mind!
First off, figure out if you want to take family photos before or after the ceremony. This will depend on a variety of factors, including your venue (check out my faves here!), what time your ceremony starts, if you’re doing a first look or not (if you haven’t decided, check out this blog post!), and how much time you’ll need to get ready. If you’re unsure, don’t be afraid to reach out to your photographer and ask them for advice. Make sure to build in extra time for missing family members as well, because you just never know who you’re gonna have to send out a search party for.
Family Groups
As much as we would love to say all of our family members get along, unfortunately that’s not always the case. Especially when you’re merging two families together, a little bit of tension is bound to build up! This is why you should let your photographer know if there’s any pairings or groups that they should avoid. Trust me, we don’t want to cause any unnecessary drama on your wedding day, so it’s better to be safe than sorry. This also applies to any special relationships or close family friends we should be aware of. You can even create a sample shot list that outlines all the pairings or groups you know you want photos of! This will help your photographer know what photos are the priorities, and it also gives you a chance to figure out what family photos are most important.
As a photographer, my job is to make sure my couples have all the photos they’d want to look back on 10, 20, 30 years from their wedding. Feel free to reach out here with any questions or inquiries for your wedding! My team and I would be more than happy to chat.
