Planning Family Portraits
Planning Family Portraits
When it comes to the formal group portraits we highly recommend choosing between 8-12 groups as a maximum. These should be the most important members of your family including parents, siblings, and grandparents.
There will be plenty of time during the reception to get lots of fun candids with your friends and extended family so we ask that this time is saved for immediate family members only.
As a general rule, each photo will take about 2 minutes to gather and shoot, 10 groups = 20 minutes which is our standard time allocation for this section of the day. If you have larger families or would like more time allocated, you might consider bringing your ceremony forward to accomodate.
Try to avoid doubling up. A common trap to fall into is to see a list like:
Couple + A
Couple + A + B
Couple + C + D
Couple + A + B + C + D
We understand the desire to cover all your bases, but this can become a time drain.
It's hard to believe, but in the above scenario A+B have often wandered off while you shoot C+D and then they need to be located and brought back to get the last shot. As much as possible, condense your groups.
Please have a loud helper ready to assist with rounding up the family members. Ideally, this person should be on the list themselves as few times as possible. Some of the longest lists have often been done in the shortest time if they're paired with an efficient helper.
A note on the big group photo - Taking a well-composed, evenly lit photo where 100+ people are all visible at once takes time. For some venues, it's near impossible because the team requires elevation. This shot can take around 10 minutes to organise but if this is important to you, let me know and we will do our best to make it work.
We require your list prior to your wedding day, an example of how this should look will be below, however, your version will use first names instead of titles.
- Couple with Mum & Dad A
- Couple with Mum & Dad A + siblings A
- Couple with Grandparents A
- Couple with Aunts/Uncles/Cousins/Nieces/Nephews A
- Couple with Parents A + B
- Couple with Same as above for family B
These images will be cherished by your family members for years to come. We ask that you work with us to make this part of your day to run smoothly.
