5 Tips for Family Portaits | Wedding Wednesday

Today, I am blogging about a part of your wedding day I feel like most photographers never blog about-family portraits. Family portraits are a part of your wedding day and you should plan and be prepared for those photographs also.

Here are my top 5 tips to be prepared for family portraits:

Tell all your family members that are needed for your family portraits to stay after the ceremony. This is number one for a reason. It is really difficult to locate relatives after the ceremony or if they leave. Just give your family members a gentle reminder that they need to stay after the ceremony for family portraits.
Make a short list (no more than 10 groupings) of those family members that are needed for your family portraits. I always send my brides information about the best way to list these groupings, here is an example: B & G with Bride’s parents- Denise and Doug Cox
Add names to your list. After you make a short list of family members, make sure to go back and double check names. There are usually families with the same last name during family portrait time, so to guarantee we have the right family members, list their names out.
Share your list with someone else other than the photographer. We don’t know your awesome family members, so having an additional copy with the wedding planner or an family member can be very helpful.
Be patient. Your Aunts, Uncles and Grandmother will not move as fast as you want, but don’t worry about it! Your wedding timeline has a timeslot just for your family portraits.

Bonus tip: Decide beforehand if you would like family portraits inside your wedding venue (like the church) or outside. Depending on the location, make sure your family knows where to meet for family portraits.

Daniel and I have our own system for family portraits, so every family portrait session runs as smoothly as possible. We always reorganize the lists give to us, so grandparents are finished first and then big family groups so they can go straight to the reception after they are finished.

We also have a system at every wedding, which allows us to work as a team. Daniel always calls out family members’ names and I also pose and shoot the different groupings, which allows us to move as efficiently as possible.

This is what happens when you invite all the sibilings up for a picture! Bahah! Sorry Ashley and Phil, but I couldn’t help myself from sharing this picture!

est. 2013

5 Tips for Family Portaits | Wedding Wednesday

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Diana Gordon Photography