Ah, family photos: a cherished part of every wedding day, capturing moments with your closest loved ones. Yet, for many couples, this seemingly simple task can become a source of stress. And it's true! In our many years of experience as a wedding planner, we see time and time again that this part of the day is what is often the biggest source of stress and frustration.
Between wrangling relatives, keeping the timeline on track, and ensuring everyone looks their best, family photo sessions can feel more chaotic than magical. But it doesn’t have to be this way!
With a little planning, clear communication, and the right strategies, you can transform family photos from a potential headache into a smooth and joyful part of your day. In this post, we’ll share expert tips to help you avoid common pitfalls and set the stage for a seamless experience. Whether you're looking to stay organized, manage family dynamics, or save precious time, we’ve got you covered. Let’s make those family portraits stress-free and picture-perfect!
Understand the Family Expectations
Chat with parents well before the wedding about what their expectations are for family photos. Do they want to have a picture with the entirety of each side of the family? What does that mean and who does that include? Does that reach great aunts and uncles, and all 42 cousins? Or is it just your immediate family unit?
Often, there are divided families where parents are split and maybe have their own versions of what an immediate family looks like.
By asking these questions well in advance of the wedding day, you can understand what your parents (who may or may not be contributing to the wedding) are looking for, and can navigate through a compromised list and adjust any expectations in plenty of time.
Write out a Must-Have photo list
Reviewing a list in writing is much different than just naming names and counting on fingers. This ensures that you're not missing people or specific groups of people. You can also step back from the list and analyze what photo groupings may make sense to host all together.
For instance, No, mom, you don't need one photo with these three people, then add in this fourth, and then fifth person. Just take the one picture with all five people.
Also, understand what must be staged as a formal picture, versus a more casual picture at cocktail hour or the reception.
Discuss with your photographer
Your photographer may have a specific list format that works best for them to ensure those pictures and groupings are organized on the day of the wedding. It's always best to follow their format because each photographer thinks a bit differently on how to stage these photos, and you want to help them do their best work.
As you chat with your photographer, they may make some different suggestions on location and timing. It's also important to talk through any underlying family dynamics to help avoid foot-in-mouth syndrome. If parents are divorced and not cordial, for example, you don't want your photographer to force them into a picture and make it awkward for everyone.
Also, discussing your family photos through with your photographer will help determine if it's better to get any other pictures done before the ceremony starts, or if more time needs to be allocated to get through the list.
Timing and Location
Imagine this scenario: After the ceremony, Uncle Dickey heads right to cocktail hour. He gets in line to have a beer and is excited for hors d'oeuvres. I mean, who isn't at this point? However, it's now time for the family photo and Uncle Dickey is nowhere to be found. Your planner very likely has no idea who Uncle Dickey is, so in order to get this picture, we have to pull another family member along to go get him. Now, we're scouring cocktail hour and the various places he could be to find him, and get him back to the designated photo spot. Meanwhile, everyone is standing there, queued up for the picture, waiting on Uncle Dickey to get in the picture. Everyone is frustrated, and we're now running behind.
Let's avoid this.
In our years of experience, we've found it most helpful to host the majority of the family pictures immediately after the ceremony. Everyone is all in the same place and haven't started to wander the property or leave the church for the reception yet.
PRO TIP: at the end of the ceremony, after the party has recessed, ask your officiant to make an announcement. Here is sample verbiage:
"Thank you all for joining us in the marriage ceremony of [Partner 1] and [Partner 2]. If you have been asked to participate in family photos, we ask that you stay put as the photographer will direct you through the organized pictures. If you have not been tapped for these pictures, please make your way to the cocktail hour. Thank you."
Notify the Family Members
How else would Uncle Dickey know to not head to cocktail hour? Or cousin Lucy, or Great Aunt Marge? Alternatively, how awkward is it when someone lurks around waiting to be in a picture that you don't want to be taken?
The week of your wedding (I know, just one more thing to do, but I promise, this is SO HELPFUL), text a responsible party within each family unit. Let them know that yes, they will be included in family photos and that they need to stick around at the end of the ceremony for those pictures. Here's an example of what to say:
"Hey Lucy, we're looking forward to seeing you this weekend at our wedding. Wanted to ask if you could help assemble your family unit at the end of the ceremony and to hang back from cocktail hour momentarily for a family picture. The photographer will direct who and where, but we just need your help in gathering your mom, dad, brother, and sister, along with x, y, and z. Thank you so much for your help! See you soon!"
All of these steps will help make your family photos run as smoothly as possible, eliminating the biggest stressor and frustration on your wedding day, we promise!
TLDR; Key Tips:
understand your family's expectations of pictures well ahead of the wedding
write down and limit your family groupings as best you can
plan for family photos immediately after and near the ceremony
tell a responsible party within each family group that they will be included in family photos and to stay after the ceremony for the pictures
Tell us, did we miss anything? Any other tips and tricks you'd suggest?
At Miss Lyss Planning, we empower couples to celebrate their love story with joy and confidence. By walking you through each of these tips to ease family photo stress, we believe you'll feel that much more confident walking down the aisle. Inquire today to learn what else we can do to make your day truly unforgettable.
Thanks to these photographers for their images:
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