Organizing Family Formal Photos
Keeping your family portraits running smooth is a huge time and stress saver.
Family portraits are one of the few parts of a wedding day where organization saves significant time and stress. These photos are almost always taken immediately after the ceremony, when everyone is already together in one place. Once that window passes, people disappear quickly to cocktail hour, the bar or their rooms, and tracking them down becomes difficult and time-consuming.
While I don’t recommend a general wedding “shot list” - I highly recommend a very specific family photo list for this particular part of the day.
This is more of a logistical tool, not a creative one. It helps us stay on track with:
Who needs to be present
How the groupings should be arranged
The order we should move through them
It is typically focused on parents, grandparents and siblings, but it can include anyone important to you. Just keep in mind that the longer the list, the more time this part of the day will require.
How to organize your list
To keep things moving smoothly and make sure we don’t miss anyone:
Separate the list into each side of the family
Place grandparents and young children at the top so they’re not standing around waiting for too long
List first names as opposed to “Mom”, “Dad” etc. to avoid confusion
I’ve included a simple sample format to give you an idea how this can be effectively laid out.
With a clear family photo list, I’ll ask you to assign one person who knows everyone well to help identify and gather each group while I’m photographing the previous one. This single step saves an enormous amount of time and helps ensure no important family members are missed.
The more organized this part of the day is, the faster we’re done and the sooner everyone gets to get back to the festivities.
Family photos are meaningful, emotional and important. A well-organised list makes sure they’re done efficiently, minimizes stress and makes sure we don’t miss any VIPs.
