Planning / 3 min readThe Union in Frame journal
Family group photographs: a list that takes twenty minutes, not an hour
Words by Union in Frame
Family group photographs run long when the list is vague. Six to ten named groups, one helper who knows both families and a sensible order will have everyone back with a drink in about twenty minutes, with the photographs you wanted.
Decide how many groups you really need
Six to ten groups is usually plenty. Allow two or three minutes to gather, arrange and photograph each one, so a list of twenty can swallow most of your drinks reception. Start with the people you would be sad not to see together: parents, siblings, grandparents and the wedding party.
Write a name against every person rather than “all the cousins”. A named list can be read aloud and ticked off; a vague one cannot. Check the names against your RSVPs before you send it.
Choose a helper who knows both families
Your photographer will not recognise your aunt, and neither will the venue coordinator. Ask one person who knows both sides, often a sibling or close friend, to gather each group while the previous one is being photographed. If nobody knows both families, ask one person from each. Give them a printed list and permission to be firm.
Ask everyone on the list to stay close once the ceremony ends. A message the week before is enough. People who know they are needed do not wander off.
Run from the largest group to the smallest
Begin with the biggest group, usually everyone from both families, then one whole side, then the other, getting smaller a step at a time. As each group finishes, the people no longer needed go back to their drinks and nobody is called twice. Older relatives can sit down sooner.
Let your photographer choose the spot. Open shade and a plain background are usually kinder to faces than the prettiest view in full sun, and the same order works under cover if it rains.
Handle the harder names with care
Step-families, estranged relatives and people who have died need a plan, not a decision made in front of your guests. Decide together which combinations you want and which you would rather avoid, then tell your photographer and helper. A note such as “Mum and her partner, not with Dad” saves an awkward moment.
If someone close to you has died, you might hold their photograph in one group, or carry something of theirs. None of this is required. Choose what feels right and leave the rest.
Fit the groups into a UK wedding day
In the UK, family groups usually happen straight after the ceremony, during the drinks reception, while everyone is together. At a licensed venue you can begin once guests have a drink in hand. If you are marrying in a church or register office and travelling on, ask whether a few groups should happen before you leave.
Tell the venue the plan so drinks and canapés carry on around you. Twenty minutes at the start leaves the rest of the reception for your guests.
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