Why You Need A Family Formals Shot List for Your Wedding

Family Formals List

BRIDE + GROOM + Family 

-Brides Parents (Names) + Grooms Parents (Names) 

-Brides Parents Only (Names) 

-Brides Parents + Siblings (Names) 

-Brides Grandparents Only (Names) 

-Brides Whole Family

-Grooms Whole Family

-Grooms Grandparents Only (Names) 

-Grooms Parents Only (Names) 

-Grooms Parents + Siblings (Names)

BRIDE + Family 

-Brides Parents (Names)

-Brides Siblings (Names)

-Brides Siblings, Parents, + Grandparents (Names) 

GROOM + Family 

-Groom Parents (Names)

-Grooms Siblings (Names) 

-Grooms Siblings, Parents, + Grandparents (Names) 

Let’s dive into why you need this list:

1.  Makes sure we don’t miss any combinations 

Wedding days are chaotic, and sometimes in the hustle and bustle of things, people can be missing when we need them most.  For example, if dad is running around corraling missing family members for family formals without a list, any family combinations that needed dad in them could get pushed to the end and then forgotten if we don’t have a written list.  On the other hand though, if we have a list, then if dad goes to corral some people, then we know we can’t wrap up family pics until we’ve gotten all the combinations with dad taken.

2. Classic posed smiling photos are missed if all you have are candid photos

Do not get us wrong, we are alllllll about the candid photos.  However, no photo gallery is complete without some classic, smiling, looking-at-the-camera photos!  They tend to be the photos that mom and dad love the most and the photos that they want printed and hung on the walls.

3.  It gives you peace of mind like you’re not missing or forgetting something.

Imagine it’s your wedding day.  You’re married, finally!  You’re surrounded by all your immediate family members. It’s loud, it’s crazy, it’s happy.  And now, we have to get the family all paying attention and listening quickly so we can take all of the family portraits that you want to be documented on your wedding day.  It’s going to be so stressful, loud, and chaotic to try calling out names and thinking of every combination you want with your family in the moment.

Now picture this. It’s still loud, it’s still crazy, it’s still happy, but now we have a list of family combinations in the order we need to take the photos.  My assistant calls out the names of each person included in each photo, which gives me time to pose for everyone.  We get to cross off each combination as we take the photo, so it’s organized, and methodical, and we make sure we get every single photo you want.

4.  Ensures we’re time efficient and things go smoothly.

Tagging on to the last point.  If we have a list of combinations needed, then we can just work our way through the list of photos.  I can call out names as needed, and we ensure that we take all the photos needed in the time we have allotted.

I’ve already shared our standard family photo list that gets sent to every one of our clients to fill out before their wedding day.  Of course, every family dynamic is different, so I always encourage couples to customize the list as needed.  Keep in mind though that the more combinations are added to the list, the more time it’s going to take, so that needs to be accounted for in the amount of time allotted for family photos.