Taking wedding family photos happens at every wedding I photograph. My clients want these photos to get done quickly and effectively, without sacrificing the quality of their wedding photos.

Having more than 10 year of experience as a Boson wedding photographer, I don’t need more than 20 minutes to take all the family photos.

I request my wedding clients to create a list of family photos that they desire.This stems from photos of the siblings together to the bride and groom with their grandparents.

I help them by providing an example of a standing wedding family photo list. I advise them to only put photos on their list that they find value in having. This ensures that you are not wasting the little time you have to spend with each of your guests during cocktail hour.

When clients submit their list of wedding photos they assign a family member from both the bride's side and the groom's side to help rally all the family members. These family members are responsible for making sure that those who are in the photo do not leave the wedding ceremony.

The more information you give to the family members in the photos, and the more you remind them about the photo the faster everyone gets to go enjoy cocktail hour, which makes everyone happy.

Here is one example of a family photo list. You’ll notice that the large photo is done first and then those extended family members can leave for cocktail hour.

Groom’s Family - Largest family photo including parents, siblings, grandparents, uncles, cousins, and aunt.

Groom's Family - parents, siblings, and grandparent.

Groom’s Family - parents and siblings.

Groom’s Family - parents.

Groom’s Family - Mom with groom.

Groom’s Family - Dad with groom.

Groom’s Family - Groom with Siblings.

These photos will take no more than 10 or so minutes if we take the steps listed above. After these photos are completed we take the same list of photos for the bride's side. After the family photos, we take a few wedding party photos and a couple of relaxed portraits of the couple.

During this time, my second photographer is photographing candids of your guests during cocktail hour and taking detailed photos of all your wedding decor in the wedding reception venue.

Overall, family formals can seem very daunting at first and it can be hard to decide what combinations of people you want for photos, but after you put it on paper, and think about what photos you would value the most, it will make it simple for when the big day comes.