Group Photos - why you should have them and how to plan them into your day.
Let’s talk about group photos! It’s part of the day that no-one really wants to happen but it’s also arguably one of the most important parts of a wedding day and I’m going to talk about why you should make time for group photos at your wedding. Formality sucks - I’ll be the first to say that! And standing around smiling at the camera isn’t all that fun - but giving up half an hour of your wedding for these photos is so worth it in the long run. In this blog I’ll also talk about why it’s important to plan your group photos in advance, how many group photos is realistic to fit into a typical wedding day timeline and what group photos you should consider having for your wedding. So grab a cuppa (or whatever) and settle in for some group photo wisdom…
So, why have them?
Here’s a few good reasons why you should have group photos at your wedding.
When will you see these people again?
Getting everyone together in one place isn’t all that easy (it certainly isn’t in my family anyway). There are family members who I love so much but regrettably we only seem to see each other at weddings and funerals. Rallying everyone up for a group photo at a funeral may not go down so well, so weddings are often the only opportunity to capture you all being together. It’s quite morbid to mention this on a wedding photography website but none of us are promised forever and that combination of people who are at your wedding, may never all be together again. When a loved one passes away it’s natural to go searching through photos, finding all the photos you have with that person and sometimes it can be disappointing when you realise that you never had a good photo with them. I’ve had people messaging me after their wedding day, asking if I can photoshop them into a photo with their loved one who’s just passed away (and photoshop jobs like that aren’t always doable). They regretted not having that photo taken, at the time they just wanted to party and enjoy their wedding day (which is fair enough) but it’s only after the wedding when they realised the importance of having that photo with their parents. And this is why a single group photo can often become the most treasured photo from your entire wedding day - and it won’t just be treasured by you, the photo will hold value for every single person in that photo and often future generations too.
2. Your group photos will be treasured by your family, for generations to come.
Following on from the above point the group photos aren’t just for you… they’re for 20 years into the future when some people will have passed away and new generations are growing up; wanting to know what their family looked like back in the day. A group photo is a historical record of your family.
3. Group photos are the ones that get printed and framed!
We all say “the natural photos are the best ones” but when it boils down to it, most of the photos we put on our walls at home are photos of people looking into the camera. Take a look at the photos on your wall right now and next time you’re in someone’s house have a look at the type of photos they’ve framed for their walls. 98% of my print sales are group photos or photos where the people are looking into the camera. We all love those candid shots but they rarely make it into a frame. Maybe you want to go against the grain and not have any posed photos in your house - that’s fine. But I can guarantee that there will be people in your family who will want these group photos on their walls at home.
How to take a good group photo…
Here’s a few tips for you to keep in mind…
Prioritise the people over anything else!
The biggest mistake people make with group photos is prioritising the background over the people. Group photos should always be about the people in them so it’s so important that your loved ones look good and feel comfortable. Don’t make your guests stand out in the rain or cold just because you really want the photos outdoors. Don’t make them stand in super bright sunlight where they’re struggling to open their eyes, just because you want a certain view in the background. Don’t have them out in the blistering wind, with their hair and clothes flying all over the place. Keep in mind that having photos in the shade is always more flattering for a person’s face than direct sunlight. Don’t get me wrong sometimes there’s no other choice, sometimes you have to deal with a bit of wind or sunshine but if it’s getting too much, find a plan B!
2. Plan a group photo list with your photographer beforehand!
If you’re improvising a group photo list on the spot on your wedding day then something or someone important is probably going to be missed out. And if your guests notice you are improvising they’re likely to try and help you out by offering suggestions, which can then lead to having more group photos than you really want or need. Having a pre-planned list in place shows your guests that you’ve thought about this! A good photographer will also ensure that your group photos are ordered in a way that will flow nicely, so that your guests aren’t standing around for ages or constantly moving in and out of the shot like their doing the hokey-cokey. Your photographer should also prioritise those with mobility issues, ensuring that everything is accessible for them and they’re not on their feet or out in the elements for too long.
3. Don’t try and cram too many photos into a short time.
Bear in mind that there’s usually only a half an hour window with which to do all of your group photos. This window of time is usually after the ceremony and before the meal. Sure we may find a bit of extra time after the meal but by then the daylight may have gone, the kids may have food down their clothes and let’s face it - you’re probably fed up of formality by that point and you just want to enjoy your day. So let’s assume we just have that half an hour window… we should be able to comfortably fit 10 group photos in this time-frame or 15 at a bit of a push. I know what you’re thinking - it doesn’t take half an hour to take ten photos but it can do. You have to factor in the time it takes to round people up (some will have wandered off to the toilet or the bar). Then there’s getting everyone to stand together, making small adjustments to where people have positioned themselves so that everyone is seen clearly in the photo. Then I obviously won’t just take the one photo of each group, I need to take quite a few to ensure I’m getting a photo without blinks. And I’ll get a variety of compositions, some landscape, some portrait, some full length and some portrait style. If a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing right! To read more about wedding timings and how long you should plan for different parts of your day check out my Planning to Perfection - A Guideline on Wedding Timings blog.
4. Put thought into the group photos you choose to have.
Sure, a big group photo of all of your wedding guests together would be cool. But if you have more than 30 people at your wedding, that photo is going to need to be really wide to fit everyone in the frame. It will be difficult to see everyone clearly, some people will be obstructed by others - even if your photographer can take the photo from a higher vantage point, the best you can hope for is a load of very small floating heads. A big group photo like that will take time to get everyone rounded up and it’s a photo that probably will only hold value for you - what I mean by this is that your guests aren’t likely to want that photo printed for their own walls at home as it has people in the photo that they don’t really know. Similarly if you were to have a photo of both of your families together, both of your parents together, both of your siblings, grandparents, friends etc - these are photos that will probably only hold value for just you. Your family probably wouldn’t print that photo because it also has your partner’s family in it and the two families don’t always know each other that well. So although it is smart to bunch those group photos together to save time, your group photos will hold value for more people if you have a photo with just your side and then just your partner’s side. You may be thinking “it’s my wedding so why should I care about having photos that are valuable to others?” And I would just remind you of the reasons I wrote above, about why you should have group photos done - these are legacy photos that will be passed down to future generations. These are photos to be treasured by many, not just by the two of you.
One way you can keep the group photo list down is to not have too many similar photos. For example:
Instead of having…
You and your parents
You and your mum
You and your dad
You, your partner and your parents
You, your partner and your mum
You, your partner and your dad
Just have…
You, your partner and your parents
Keep it simple.
Instead of having…
You, your partner, your parents and your siblings
The same above but with your siblings partners
The same above but with grandparents
The same above but with aunties, uncles and cousins
The same above but with your cousin’s partners
Just have…
You, your partner, parents, and your siblings (your immediate family)
You, your partner and all your family, including all partners (your extended family)
Don’t waste your group photos by just having small variations of the same photo with the same people.
Group photo lists from REAL WEDDINGS…
Sarah & Oliver
If you don’t have a blended family (no step parents, no mum’s side, no dad’s side) then this group photo layout is probably perfect for you. Sarah and Oliver both had a group photo with their extended family and then their immediate family.
Everyone has their own individual definition of what counts as extended family and what counts as immediate. Extended family is usually cousins, aunties, uncles and grandparents. Immediate family is usually parents and siblings. But this really does change from family to family - there’s no right or wrong definition. But having a group photo with your extended and your immediate is a really great combination. Sarah & Oliver also had photos with their parents and then some photos with their wedding party. I think it’s really nice that Sarah had a photo alone with just her bridesmaids, and Oliver had a photo alone with just his groomsmen. But then they all came together for a collective wedding party photo too.
Sarah and Oliver had 66 people in total at their wedding but only 21 people featured in these group photos. It was important to the couple that we didn’t overcomplicate this part of the day. They were aware of the window of time they had for these photos and didn’t want to cram too much in. As a result of this, it was genuinely one of the most relaxed, perfectly timed group photo lists that I’ve worked through. We even had some time to get creative with their wedding party photos. The couple did have a group photo with all guests later on in the evening but it wasn’t something they wanted to fuss with straight after the ceremony, when time is short and there’s already so much going on.
Sarah & David
Sarah and David both have children from previous relationships, so this group photo list is a great example for blended families. Sarah had a photo with just her children, David had a photo with just his, but they also had one with all children together. Then just like Sarah & Oliver’s list above, this couple had separate photos with their side of the wedding party and then a joint one of the whole wedding party together. There was also a photo with siblings, which is a really lovely addition to a group photo list. It’s a perfect group photo list because they were able to get all the key shots in only 10 photos.
Shaunna & Cody
This couple have eight parents between them as both sets of their parents have re-married. All parents get along and so a photo with all the parents together was a nice addition to this group photo list. But alongside this, the Bride and Groom did have separate photos with each of their parents and separate photos with each side of their families. Shaunna and Cody could have bunched both sides of their family into one photo, which would have saved time and meant they could have had included some different groupings into their list (like a photo with their siblings for example). But… these separate family shots with just dad’s side and then just mum’s side are really important! I talked earlier about choosing group photos that will hold value for every person in the photo (scroll up to read if you missed it) and this group photo list has so many valuable group shots in it. Separating mum’s side and dad’s side for these photos means that every person in that photo will want it printed for their wall at home - every person in the photo will have an emotional connection to the photo because that’s their family together in the photo, and not a mix two families who hardly know each other.
