When I think back to my wedding, the one part of day that I really felt like I was maybe doing a little bit of the “fake” smile was during family portrait time. Since we did not do a first look (something I regret), we did all of the family and full bridal party pictures after the wedding. The last minute alterations on my dress had not gone as well as I would have liked and the corset part of my dress was slightly too tight, thus making it hard for me to breathe. On top of that, the dress was SO heavy from all of the beading that it put a ton of pressure on my hips and left bruises! Bruises, I tell you. Ahhhhh, it’s hard work being a bride. :-)

Needless to say, by the time family photos came around I was so ready to just sit down, unzip the back of my dress so that I could breathe, drink some water, and have my serva–, I mean bridesmaids, fan me! I was tired. I pretty much gripped and grinned throughout the family photos because they were important to me and I wanted to make sure we got them done. What can I say though–you live and you learn!

Not only have I learned about what can make the family portrait time better from my own wedding, I’ve learned so much in the past few years from shooting other people’s weddings from a photography perspective. Here’s a few tips…

1) Make list of family groupings and give to photographer

This is something that I now require with all of my couples, as I learned my lesson in the past! Before I started requiring a list of the family photos beforehand, we had one wedding where I did not receive a list at all and it was total CHAOS during the family portrait time. I now request the family photo list when my couples fill out all of their other info about their wedding 6-8 weeks before the actual shindig. It makes my job so much easier and it makes their wedding day so much more enjoyable for them!

As far as the amount of groupings go, a dozen “groupings” will take about 20-25 minutes. On average, it takes about 2 minutes per “grouping,” so that’s a good estimate to use when figuring out how long your amount of family groupings will take. If you are wanting a large family group shot or two, keep in mind that that can take extra time, so you’d want to plan accordingly. What usually works best is to take pictures with immediate family (moms, dads, siblings, grandparents) during the family portrait time and save all of the extended family (cousins, aunts, uncles, great-aunts, 2nd cousin half removed) for the reception. :-)

2) Communicate with family and set expectations

What can sometimes take up a lot of time when it comes to family portrait time is simply getting all of the family members to meet at the portrait location at the right time. Email or call all of the family members involved in the family photo time in advance to let them know exactly when family photos are and where they should meet for them. If you don’t lay out expectations beforehand they’ll just be guessing and everyone will be sitting around while Grandpa is in the bathroom because he didn’t realize it was picture time!

If you have any unique family situations (i.e. divorced parents and step-parents), be sure to let the parties involved know before the big day which photos you would like for them to be in so that things are not confusing on the day of. This is also something I ask my couples in advance so that I can avoid any potential awkward situations!

3) Think outside of the box on your family photo location

Just because your wedding takes place in a church doesn’t mean you have to take your family photos inside the church in front of the alter! For some people it might be a family tradition to get the family photos taken at the front of the sanctuary because their parents got married in the same church, and that’s totally fine. But for most people, they think that that is just where you go for family photos at a wedding. It doesn’t have to be that way though!

Most couples who have outdoor or non-church weddings have already figured out that having their family photo time take place outside produces awesome family photos in great, natural lighting, that you just can’t get inside a dimly lit (and usually yellowish light color) church. Another thing to think about is that if you’re getting married in a gorgeous church and you’re thinking you want your family photos inside that church because it’s gorgeous, well, you really don’t see very much of the church at all in family photos because of how they are cropped to show off the people, not the surroundings! Your ceremony location will be shown off in pictures taken before and during the wedding, not during the family photos.

While I would never push my couples to choose outdoor family photos, I definitely want to make sure that they know it’s an option! If outdoor photos are just not a possibility due to the weather, another option is to let me find an area inside that has the next best lighting situation for those photos.

4) If you choose to do a First Look, consider taking family photos before the ceremony

In this scenario, you’d simply be asking your family members to arrive about about a half hour before they normally would, if they’re not already at the ceremony location. In many cases, most of the family involved would already be there anyway, so why not go ahead and get the pictures out of the way? This way everyone can relax and enjoy themselves after the ceremony. Instead of sticking around for family photos, they can head to the reception and enjoy cocktail hour with all of the other guests. It’s a win win for everyone!

 

I hope this was helpful and if you haven’t already checked out the other parts to this series, feel free to take a look:

Part 1- Making the Most out of… the Booking Process

Part 2- Making the Most out of… Getting Ready Photos

Part 3- Making the Most out of… the First Look

 

Here are some more examples of beautiful outdoor family photos!

 

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