3 Tips for Wedding Day Family Photos
Family photos on a wedding day should not take long – IF you’re prepared beforehand. The faster family photos go, the quicker you get to wedding party photos, couple portraits, and/or the cocktail hour depending on your wedding day timeline. Here are my top 3 tips for couples on how to handle family photos on a wedding day so they’re fast and efficient:
Wedding Family Photos Tip #1: Make a List
Create a list of ALL the family photos you want taken on your wedding day. To ensure no one is forgotten, include the first names of everyone on the list. Including first names also makes it easy for your wedding photographer to call out names. Hot tip: your photographer should ask for a family photos list as well and should help you create a list if needed!
I recommend keeping this list to just a few combinations. The more combinations you have — the more time we need to take these. Remember that your photographer can always grab family photos more informally during the reception too!
Here is an example of a Family Photos List on a wedding day:
- Couple with Partner 1’s immediate and extended family
- Couple with Partner 1’s grandparents
- Couple with Partner 1’s parents
- Couple with Partner 1’s parents and siblings
- Partner 1 with grandparents
- Partner 1 with parents
- Partner 1 with siblings
- Couple with Partner 2’s immediate and extended family
- Couple with Partner 2’s grandparents
- Couple with Partner 2’s parents
- Couple with Partner 2’s parents and siblings
- Partner 2 with grandparents
- Partner 2 with parents
- Partner 2 with siblings
- Couple with ALL parents
- Couple with ALL parents and siblings
Bonus tip: provide a dress code or color scheme for your guests – or at the very least, for your immediate families. Everyone’s outfits will look super cohesive like the photo above!
Tip #2: Tell Family Members Beforehand
Before your wedding day, tell your relatives that they will be needed for family photos. Tell them at least one day before your wedding: text them, email them, tell them in person – whatever is easiest for you! Make sure to tell everyone that will be included in wedding day family photos – grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings, parents.
Family photos typically happen immediately after the ceremony, so tell your family to stay put once the ceremony is done. Or, if family photos are happening not immediately after the ceremony, tell family members where and when to meet up on during the wedding day.
Wedding Family Photos Tip #3: Have a Person In Charge
Assign a family member to be in charge within each partner’s family. Make sure it’s someone that knows everyone on the list – usually a sibling or a cousin is best! Additionally, people may forget that they’re a part of family photos and wander off to the cocktail hour, so this assigned person is in charge of making sure everyone is present for the group photos.
While the photographer is obviously in charge of taking the family photos on the wedding day, they typically do not know any of your family members or what they look like. Your photographer also does not know who your aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents are – and therefore, do not know who they need to be rounding up if someone is missing. Having an assigned person on Partner 1’s side of the family and on Partner 2’s side of the family is super helpful in making sure family photos on a wedding day go efficiently and smoothly!
Additional Wedding Tips
- Should I Do a First Look on My Wedding Day? & Alternatives If Not
- What to Do with Your Wedding Photos
- 12 Ways to Have a Unique Wedding
- Check out more of my wedding portfolio here
In Need of a Wedding Photographer?
Well hey there – I’m Emily! I’m a wedding and elopement photographer based in California. I spend a lot of time photographing adventure elopements of rad couples around the world.
If you’re looking for a photographer for your wedding who will:
- Photograph your beautiful wedding ceremony and activities through storytelling photos that you can look back on for the rest of your life
- Help you come up with your dream wedding day and itinerary
- Help you to make your wedding intentional, unique, and memorable
…then I’m your person!!!
Visit my website to learn more about me, get to know my approach to elopement photography, and then reach out to me if you think we’re a good fit. I cannot wait to hear from you and start planning your dream wedding day!!
