It’s your wedding day!!!! You’re marrying the love of your life, you’re re-connecting with friends you haven’t seen in AGES, you’re sooo hungry and can’t wait to start eating and drinking … but it’s time for formal family photos.

It can be super duper tempting to say “screw it!” to what is arguably the least fun part of your day. I get it. BUT there are ways to make it go by as quickly and as efficiently as possible!!

Before we get into these tips, I want to remind you just how incredibly important family photos are. It’s not every day that your entire family is gathered together in one place. It’s vital that we capitalize on the moment and get family photos taken!!

Tomorrow Isn’t Promised

The unfortunate truth about life is that we are never promised tomorrow. You never know if your wedding day is one of the last times you’ll see one of your loved ones. I’ve spoken to multiple couples who have told me their wedding photos are the last photos they have of loved ones who passed away after the wedding day. With this in mind, I will always prioritize your formal family photos because family (& friends that feel like family) is incredibly important!!!

So now that we’ve established formal family photos are a “must” on your wedding day, let me fill you in on the BEST ways to go about doing them to save time and stress so you can focus on dancing the night away!!!

How to plan for family photos:

🥂 Create a family “shot list” of all the specific combinations of people you want included in formal family photos! (These are the “must-haves” — you can still take more pictures the day of!)

🥂 Set aside one specific time for family photos to take place. A wedding day can already be a bit chaotic with all that’s going on — keeping the plan as simple as possible ensures we don’t need to send out a search party for Uncle Bob!

🥂 Plan to do the family photos before cocktail hour. I repeat: Family photos must be done before cocktail hour!!! Once food and alcohol start being served, it becomes a thousand times harder to organize large groups of people!

🥂 Have family photos listed on the wedding agenda at the ceremony. You know those little pamphlets that are handed out to the guests at the ceremony? Include a phrase like “[immediate] family photos to follow immediately after the ceremony”.

🥂 If family photos are happening after the ceremony, ask the officiant/pastor/priest to announce that family photos are happening immediately after the ceremony before sending you back down the aisle as a married couple!

🥂 Finally, make sure your family knows that they will be needed for photos *before they even arrive at the wedding*!!! Include an extra slip in their invitations or send out a massive group text. If your family already has it in their mind that they’ll be taking pictures before the cocktail hour, there’s much less of a chance they’ll forget and run away towards the food!!

Sample Family Shot List

Partner A with mom

Partner A with dad

Partner A with parents

Partner A & B with A’s parents

Partner A & B with A’s siblings

Partner A & B with A’s immediate family (no plus ones)

Partner A & B with A’s immediate family (with plus ones)

Partner A & B with A’s grandparents

Partner A & B with A’s extended family – mom’s side

Partner A & B with A’s extended family – dad’s side

Cousins pic!!

(then all of above for B’s family)

Partner A & B with both parents

Partner A & B with both siblings

Partner A & B with both immediate families

Partner A & B with nieces & nephews

Now it’s time to create your family shot list!

Though they might not be the most fun photos, formal family photos are an incredibly important part of your wedding day. It’s not every day that so many loved ones are gathered together in one place all dressed up, and you may not know the next time that will happen! Trust me when I say prioritizing these photos will be well worth it in the long run 💛

P.S. If I’m photographing your wedding, I’ll ask you to create this list in a Wedding Day Questionnaire that I’ll send you about 3 months before the wedding 🙂