How to ensure family group photos don't ruin your wedding day

Believe it or not, the Family Group photo session that normally beings after the ceremony has the potential to be one of the riskiest periods of your wedding day timeline. And by risky I don’t mean someone injuring themselves, but for the potential for a poorly planned and managed ‘Family Group Photo’ session eroding the rest of your wedding day timeline.

The first tip is ask your wedding photographer to give you 15 minutes after the ceremony (if time permits) to get hugs and congratulations from guests before starting family photos. These photos can be some of the best candid shots of the day, and it’s a real shame when photographers start the family group photo sessions before guests have had a chance to congratulate you!

One of the challenges for your photographer is finding a suitable location for these photos. Often the couple will have preferences such as capturing these outside, rather than inside. Or they may want to feature architecture such as the entranceway to the church or main building.

To this extent, the photographer may be at least partially swayed or influenced by the client to appease them, but at the same time they have an overriding commitment to deliver the best possible photos for that client.

My advice as a wedding photographer would be to give authority to your photographer to ultimately choose where the family photos are taken. They should have the experience and knowledge to choose the most appropriate location for these photos. Sure, make suggestions during your pre-wedding consultation, but I recommend leaving it up to the photographer on the day to make the right call.

I have found over the years that it is impossible to choose the exact location for family group photos prior to the wedding day. It is certainly possible to have two or three spots in mind, but the final decision cannot really be made until the very last moment.

This is because of the weather in particular. It is not possible to know whether the sun will be behind the clouds at the precise moment that family group photos start. If the weather is indeed overcast, then the photos can in most cases be captured anywhere outside. That means that the most symmetrical, beautiful backgrounds can be used, rather than compromises being made due to the harsh sun.

One thing that simply can’t be done is to place guests facing the sun. Having guests blinking and squinting through group photos would be a disaster (and the quality of the light from the direct sun is not ideal).

Guests can however (in full sun conditions) be placed with their backs to the sun during late afternoon in most cases. As the sun drops further towards the horizon, it loses strength and the overall ambient light balances more, providing more flexibility.

So while guests can normally be placed with their backs to the sun towards the late afternoon, the safest location is one which is in shade. But not just any old shade (for example behind the church or building). The best shade is known as ‘edge shade’ where direct sunlight is falling just beyond the shaded area.

Another good scenario is where the sun is hitting a building or wall not far from the group photos and is bouncing back light. Preferably though, not from a mirror like surface, but a solid neutral light colour such as white, or a light coloured wall.

The other thing that I have learnt the hard way is to avoid locations for family photos that have the potential for background foot traffic. I once shot a wedding at the Princess Theatre in Woolloongabba and the couple had specifically requested family photos in front of the spectacular staircase near the entrance.

While this was a perfectly reasonable request, what actually transpired was a disaster of sorts. The problem was that no one (including myself) had factored in that the entrance to the bathroom was on Level 1, and the only way to access this was up the stairs! With over 130 guests, without fail every 20 seconds or so someone would open the door in the background to gain access to the stairs.

While the temporary solution was to have someone ask people to wait beyond this door, that only worked for so long.

Unlike couples or bridal portraits where there is more flexibility to walk somewhere ideal close by, family group photos for practical reasons can only really be captured within a short walking distance from the ceremony.

And to avoid one of the most common wedding day disasters, it is absolutely critical that you nominate someone from your wedding to usher guests in who knows everyone. You can then prepare a prioritised list of family group photos that the usher can tick off one by one. Your photographer won’t be able to round up people as they will be focused on getting people into position.

The last thing you want to be doing on your wedding day is running around like a headless chook trying to find Uncle Bob who out the back having a cigarette.

The other advantage to a printed list is that everyone can actually see there is a list and a plan. They will be less inclined to ask for a group photo with the bride and groom, which often happens and derails the timeline. You can then blame the photographer when someone requests a photo who is not on the list ;)

When family group photos don’t finish on time, this eats directly into the remaining minutes of available daylight which the photographer has planned for your portraits.

So in summary, trust your photographer to choose the best location for family group photos. And most of all, ensure you have arranged someone to help your photographer locate and assemble guests from a prioritised list of famil group photos.

Those two essential tips for family group photos will ensure they (mostly!) go without a hitch and you can enjoy the rest of the day.