5 Tips to Make Family Portraits During a Wedding Day Stress Free

Advice

Mar 28

Wedding family photos are a HUGE part of a wedding day. Everyone is all dressed up and it’s a time where everyone is all together. Not sure how to tackle planning the family photos for your wedding day? No sweat!! Follow these five tips and your wedding day family photos will be a breeze!

1. Have a list (and be intentional with it!)

There is a reason why is this number one. Without a list, time is wasted trying to find people and just throwing groupings together. When creating you list, start with grandparents and extended family first. That way grandparents can go sit down and your extended family isn’t waiting around just for one photo.

Your list should be well thought out, and when you're writing your list write it out as each individual photo.

For example:

Kim (Partner 1’s mom), Partner 1
Dave (Partner 1’s dad), Partner 1
Kim (Partner 1’s mom), Dave (Partner 1’s dad), Partner 1
Kim (Partner 1’s mom), Dave (Partner 1’s dad), Partner 1, Partner 2

To my couples: About 8 weeks before your wedding day, I’ll send you a wedding day questionnaire. In the questionnaire is a section all about family photos, from location, times and of course a list. From your list I’ll create a photo list in an order that flows - with grandparents and extended family first.

2. Let your family members know when and where family photos are.

Having your family be on time with make photos go smoothly and all the photos will be cohesive. The last thing you want to do during your cocktail hour or reception is try and chase down family members for a quick photo.

In the weeks before your wedding let everyone who is on your list know when and where family photos will be. Especially if you’re looking to do more than just immediate family. This insures that they will all be there and ready to go for photos.

3. Have a point person who knows your families.

Most weddings I photograph allot 30-45 minutes for family portraits. I estimate that every grouping takes approximately 3-5 minutes each, depending on the number of people in the photo. Besides take multiple photos in that 3-5 minutes I also have to:

Ask that keys or cell phones are removed from pockets/handbags are put down
Check for sunglasses/hair ties and ask for them to be removed
Make sure I have everyone’s attention
Adjust hair, clothing and posing
Get everyone into the right spot that fits the size group
Align everyone correctly with the background
Move individuals so everyone’s face is visible to the camera
Make sure I have everyone’s attention again

Having a point person to call out names helps me stay focused on taking the pictures quickly and effectively. We want to keep to your timeline on schedule and make sure we get to all the photos on your list.

4. Be mindful of where you’re taking the photos.

Trying to fit 50 people in a space the size of a small closet isn’t going to give you the best results with photos. If you’re looking to have large extended family photos either pick a separate location or somewhere where there is lots of room. This can be a place indoors or outdoors, as long as you have 6+ feet of space.

Most church alters and outdoor ceremony spaces don’t work with larger family photos. Main church aisles are 4 feet wide, there is not enough room with the pews to take full body photos without them being in them. With outdoor ceremony spaces, the chairs can be too close to the altar, resulting in the same issue. If you are set on having photos at your outdoor ceremony space, having your wedding party or someone remove the first 5 rows, if not all the chairs.

Why is all this important? When it comes to printing the photos that don’t have enough space, you are left with odd print sizes or having to deal with people being cut off the ends. The photo above has space around all four sides and can be printed at any standard print size.