Photographing your family and friends at your wedding
Why the family and friends wedding groups can take a long time
I just love these family and friends photos from Cath and Neil’s wedding at Parley Manor in Dorset a few years ago.
They show the fun you can have while photographing a wedding, the joy and laughter! And the unexpectedness…
And they also illustrate why it can sometimes take a long time to get those wedding group photographs in the bag!
Another reason they can take so long is because your photographer hasn’t consulted with you, and found out exactly what you want.
And of course there’s always the time when you’ve assembled the group only to discover granny has gone to the loo, and that’s at the other end of the venue!
The family and friends groups – are they important?
If you come to me saying you want no groups, and absolutely everything photographed candidly with no orchestration, I’m probably not the right photographer for you. Though the groups can sometimes seem to be rather tiresome, they do ensure that you will have a photograph of everyone you want photographed at your wedding, a record of all the important people in your life together to celebrate with you. And that’s something special indeed.
“What family and friends groups do you suggest?”
Yes, I have a list, and it’s a list that works, based on 25 years experience and hundreds of weddings!
The groups I suggest are these;
The bride and groom with the wedding party – that’s the bridesmaids, flower girls, page boys, best man and ushers
The bride and groom with both sets of parents – to which step-parents can be added, or we can break this down in several quick groups if preferred
The bride and groom with their immediate family – that’s both sets of mums and dads, along with brothers and sisters with or without their partners and children
The bride and groom with all their families – everybody that’s related to you, so including grandparents, aunties, uncles, etc
The bride and groom with their grandparents – grandparents often have a very special place within the family
The bride and groom with everybody – yes, absolutely everybody though I do add the proviso “if the venue is suitable”. If there is no where high up to look down on the group so we can see everyone’s face, then I suggest we skip this one.
This list, with a few little variants, I can photograph in about 25-30 minutes, so no hours upon hours of standing around, and that gives more time for the couple photos, and of course the candids while you are chatting with all your guests. Though of course you will grab me during the day for a photograph with…. which is just perfect.
My aim is get everyone in a photo with the minimal amount of moving around, and in a reasonable time. Then the guests can relax, loosen their ties, and go to the bar while we head off to do your couple photos.
And this is the sort of thing we will arrange before your wedding so that we get exactly the wedding photos you want!
Where can I find out more about your wedding photography?
Well, right here on this website; have a look at my page, Wedding Photography in New Forest, Hampshire and Dorset , where you can see your investment as well.
If you want to see more posts about weddings, then browse this collection of articles.
