In my experience, no one really likes standing around taking formal photos. Especially when you could be spending that time chatting to people, drinking champagne and enjoying your wedding day. This is where it pays to be efficient with photos and to spend a little time in advance thinking about what you really want.
Only go with what’s needed
Lots of times, the group photos are more important to certain members of your family than they are to you, the couple. So you don’t necessarily need every permutation of a group – you might be able to just do the ones you know certain relatives are going to want to see – often the older generation. Having said that, you may also want some of these photos for family history yourself.
Timing is Everything
First off, you need to decide which groups are important to you to photograph. Bearing in mind each photo may take around 3 minutes, you need to ensure that your reception has enough time to accommodate this. I recommend drinks receptions are 1.5 hours to 2.5 hours in length. Go on the shorter side if you have smaller guest numbers, and longer if you want lots of photos. We have lots to fit into this time, including: mingling with guests, formal photos, b&g inspect the wedding breakfast room, photos of the room and details, couple portrait session. So, you can see it’s not just photos and mingling – there’s a lot to do!
I typically advise couples that 20-30 minutes is absolutely ample for formal photos. Any longer than that and it starts to show – the smiles look a bit forced, shall we say. I’ll also tell you that most couples find the standing around with a fixed grin on their face the LEAST enjoyable part of the whole day. So it’s really great to make it as swift as possible.
The Process
I like to work by starting with the bride’s whole family. We’ll then send people away for drinks as needed until we’re down to the smallest groups – typically the parents. We’ll then repeat this for the groom’s side and then move on to the bridal party shots. This might sometimes go in a different order depending on who is present and who has gone AWOL.
Ideally, we’re shooting for around 10 groups total, but that number might rise, particularly if we can quickly get people to hop in and out who are already present, to do certain permutations – for example: bride and groom with the groomsmen, and then just the groom with the groomsmen. Easy.
Larger groups take far longer to round up and organise than smaller ones. This is why we’ll start with the whole family, and send people away once they’re done. That way we have everyone present to start with. If it’s taking a long time, I’ll be able to do a few groups whilst we wait.
It’s great to choose 2 people from both sides of the couple’s families that are bold and good at organising who also know a lot of your family. They can do the rounding up to keep this quick and efficient.
Location, Location…
Because in the UK the size of venues and indoor light is often a little limiting, we tend to photograph people outside. Whilst you may have some favourite places around your venue where you’d like to do group photos, where they’re done should really be down to the photographer as it will largely be dictated by where the sun is and the quality of the light. This way we can avoid dark shadows under eyes, hotspots of bright light, mixed lighting from sun and shade and of course people squinting from bright sun, not to mention how many people can fit into a space and what the background is like.
Whole Group Photos
Whole group photos are popular but they do take some time to arrange – only go for it if there’s plenty of time. It’s useful to do this whilst everyone is already together, after confetti, say. You can also seize the opportunity to address everyone together so they know what’s happening next – for example making their way to the wedding breakfast, or over to a certain area for the remaining formal photos.
Unless taken from a higher vantage point, a large group photo may not show everyone’s face. Coupled with the fact that some people just don’t like having their photo taken and will actively hide amongst the group. Just so you know!
I use a drone for large groups or go to an upper storey window if possible. Rarely, a venue will have a space with steps where you can arrange everyone and take the shot from the ground. It takes a lot of organising though.
Some other issues that can arise
- Baby feeding – ask people with babies to feed them before or after the formals, otherwise they won’t make the photos, or we end up waiting a long time for them to finish.
- Ladies who want to re-apply makeup – you can’t see the difference when taking wide shots with lots of people in them. Save it for the close-ups!
- People nipping to the toilet – go well before or afterwards!
- missing people generally – if someone has gone AWOL, they will need to miss their photo or we rearrange that group shot – this may be seriously inconvenient, especially if we’ve already gathered a larger group. They may have to settle for a more intimate shot later in the day.
- Not going with the list order – the list is designed to keep things efficient and quick. Skipping or postponing certain groups may be nigh on impossible.
- Guests / family members requesting formal shots on the fly – Again, messing with the list is a no go. This should be at the photographer’s discretion though. If it’s a simple swap out of people already present, it might be ok.
- Sunglasses / prescription sunglasses – you don’t actually need to be able to see during formal photos, as long as the camera can see you, that’s all that matters! It doesn’t look good, so I usually ask people to remove their sunglasses unless there’s a medical need – it’s only for a few seconds.
If you have any questions about formal group photos – just get in touch!