The Family Portrait Checklist.

Ahh, everyones least favorite part of the day: The family pictures. If I had a nickel for every eye roll and sigh at the thought of doing these, I’d retire tomorrow. But I’m going to remind you of something somewhat unpleasant, but important to remember.

Life can change in a heartbeat.

There’s been plenty of people who got that terrible phone call and instantly their most cherished possession became the picture with that family member that just passed on. Life’s crazy and this part of the day is incredibly important. I’d argue they may be the most important photos taken all day. Okay, no more bumming you out, I promise.

What may seem like the hardest, most boring part of the day, is actually one of the easiest, and most straightforward. I like to refer myself as a “Ninja” when it comes to family formals. I can get through them quickly, efficiently and effectively. So how do we make that happen? Here’s how.

1. Be Bridezilla. Let everyone who will be in the family formals know well ahead of time, and remind them in the weeks & days leading up to the wedding to stay behind for family formals. If we’re doing them before the ceremony at for example, 3:30PM. Tell them to be ready at 3:00PM so everyone is there on time. There are only hang-ups when your brother heads for the bar, or Dad is checking on the Limo, or your Mom was pulled into conversation with the aunties. Searching for family members is a time-waster and keeps you guys from the fun parts of the day.

2. Try to group any extended families into one shot like we have shown above. When we chop up individual combinations that include your third cousin from Seattle, things tend to drag on a bit. That being said, I’ve done quite a few weddings with 4 or 5 30 person extended family shots. It’s no big deal, but revert back to point #1 try to make sure they know ahead of time if you can.

3. To take #2 one step further, consider keeping the formals to immediate family only. Large group shots are awesome, but they do take some time to set up, and if you're not super close with your extended family, it may not be necessary. We can have the MC call up extended family to the dance floor after dinner before the dancing starts and keep it a bit more casual.

4. I’ve shot hundreds of weddings with no shot list. I have a pretty good standard array of combinations in my head that I work off of that keeps the process moving along. That being said, I have also worked with many “Type-A’s” for whom the idea of “winging it” doesn’t really sound like a plan at all. In that event, check out this checklist I made to help you with a list.

5. Recruit a bridesmaid or a sister to help me with the combinations if there are a lot of them. I don’t know who your brother-in-law or cousin Becky is, and if they’re missing, I won’t know unless someone is there to help me with that.

6. Budget around 30 minutes for these. They might go faster than that, but they rarely go longer. When they do go longer, it’s because people are missing and we’re standing around waiting for people to show up.

7. Don’t get stressed when the plan goes out the window. I got you. If your grandma leaves the church early, we’ll catch her at the reception. Don’t let things outside of your control dampen the mood.