Wedding Planning | Tips for Family Wedding Photos | New England Wedding Photographer

Family wedding photos can be one of the most stressful parts of a wedding day. It doesn’t have to be that way! To ensure you have the best possible family photos on your wedding day, I want to share these helpful tips with you! One of the most treasured and important aspects to wedding days are the family photos. These photos are not only special for the couple themselves but also for parents, grandparents, and siblings. Chances are these photos will be one of the first ones printed from their wedding gallery. Creating timeless family wedding photos is always a goal of mine. I want to make sure this part of the wedding day is as stress free as possible! So let’s get started!!

#1. Budgeting Time

There is a reason I put this tip first. I feel that many times I have to suggest and recommend more time in the wedding timeline for family wedding photos. It is always a shock for couples to see how long combinations can take. Even though my hope is to keep family formals to 25-30 minutes, it can take upwards to an hour to finish all of the desired combinations. Each group photo can take up 2-3 minutes each. I recommend keeping this in mind when creating your list of desired family photos. It is also best to include both the bride and groom in the groupings with extended family. This not only saves you time but most couples and family members print photos with everyone in it.

#2 List everyone by name

Creating a master list for your photographer is essential for not only him/her but also for you. By creating a list, with everyone by name, it will help to ensure that you don’t miss an important combination. It will also help decrease the total time it takes to shoot family photos.

#3 Communication with family

Is your family one of those families that is always running a few minutes behind? One of the essential parts of having seamless family wedding photos is communication with your family prior to the wedding day. Make sure to include important information like the time and the location when requesting their presence during family formals. If you are having a first look, have them show up 15-20 minutes before the start time if they are people who run late. This way they are on time and everyone else will not have to be waiting around for them. This will also eliminate the famous line I hear commonly, “oh, its okay, we will get the photo at the reception,”. 8 out 10 times, once the reception starts couples have 1. forgotten about the group photo 2. are relying on their photographer to remember or 3. they can’t find Aunt Betty and Uncle Bob and the photo doesn’t end up happening. I don’t want this to happen to you!

#4 Let your photographer know about awkward family dynamics

Every family has their awkward family dynamics! There is no reason to be embarrassed or ashamed of this! To decrease the drama/stress associated with these dynamics let your photographer so they can avoid any more awkwardness. Thinking ahead to these dynamics will also help when deciding what order photos should be taken in.

#5 Location

Location is an important aspect when planning family wedding photos. Whether these photos take place in a park or church, the location will determine the overall feel of your photos. As a natural light photographer, I highly recommend an outdoor location that fits the theme or vibe of your wedding.

Finally, #6 Relax, family can be stressful

Family can cause anxiety and be stressful but please try and relax! Planning out your family wedding photos and using these six tips will help everything run smoothly. As a professional wedding photographer my job is to guide couples through this process and with using these tips along with clear communication with your photographer there is no doubt your family photos will be fantastic!