Navigating Family Formals on Your Wedding Day | Advice From a Wedding Photographer

Many wedding photographers will tell you that bride and groom portraits are the most important photos captured on a wedding day. While they are certainly on the important photo list, I like to argue that family formals are just as important. Photos with your loved ones on such a big day is not something you want to skip over or skimp on.

On my wedding day, I didn't get photos with my grandparents or my great grandma (my GG) and I really regret and wish that I had those photos. Especially since my GG passed a couple of years ago. I have no photos of her from my wedding and it's something I wish that I had. So take it from me and make them a priority!

Planning out family formals and who is going to be in them can be really overwhelming. Especially if you have a big family. I'm here to help! A couple of weeks to a month before your wedding, I will send out a pre-wedding questionnaire that covers your timeline, any last-minute details, and your family formal list. This list helps everything run smoothly so we can capture the photos that matter most to you without any stress.

I typically photograph family formals right after the ceremony, at the ceremony site unless the space is being flipped into the reception space. If that is the case, then we will find a different location prior to the ceremony where we can have everyone meet at. I always recommend letting your family know before the wedding to stay at the ceremony site after the ceremony so we don’t have to track anyone down. Having a list ahead of time allows me and my second photographer to call out names and get everyone together quickly. This makes it easy on you; you don't have to do anything but relax and enjoy the photos!

When deciding on family formal groupings, I suggest including anyone who means something to you—whether that’s grandparents, cousins, or close family friends. I typically recommend keeping it to around 10 groupings, but you can always add more. It's your wedding day and if we end up with 30 groupings, that's perfectly fine! Family formals usually take about 20-30 minutes, depending on how many groupings there are. The more groupings - the more time it'll take.

If family like mom or grandma wants to add extra groupings that are not on your list, we can always get those photos during the reception. That way, we make sure there’s plenty of time for wedding party and bride & groom portraits. This is where your timeline comes into play because if you have bigger groupings of family photos, you'll have less time for other portraits. We could always plan to take those other portraits earlier in the day if you're having a first look, capture extra family formals during the ceremony, or only do bride and groom portaits at sunset time.

Planning ahead and making sure there is enough time in your timeline will truly make a huge difference!