Making a list of family formals for your wedding day can be tricky, stressful, and just overwhelming. I really hope you’ll use this blog post as a guide to making the most out of your family formals while also making this part of your day flow seamlessly.

As a wedding photographer it’s important for me to keep my brides on schedule, and happy. This part of the day can get really chaotic if there isn’t anything for me to work off of. In the wedding timeline questionnaire I send out, I always ask for 20 or less groupings, names, and relations.

Why 20 or less?

For my style of work I can get family formals done within 15-20 min. with 20 or less groupings. Anymore than that, & it actually puts all the other scheduled events behind including the sunset husband & wife portraits. (Those are my clients favorite images. The ones they hang on the wall or over the mantel, so we can’t miss those.)

By including the list of names & the relation, it improves my relationship with the family so they trust me more. People love being called by their name, not just mom, dad, cousin, grandpa, grandma, etc.

So what if you have multiple families? (Special situations like divorces & remarriages)

Make sure you include them on the list, & communicate that with your photographer. It’s important for us to know what’s going on.

Always list parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, & uncles first. Then you can sprinkle in a few cousins that you’ve grown up with, or even a family friend that you’re super close with. As long as that list stays within 20 groupings or less.

If you have more cousins & friends you really want to have photos with, then add those to the list of photos you want at the reception. After cake cutting, dances, sunset photos, and toasts, it’s pretty much just dancing for the rest of the evening until your send off. That is the perfect time to have extra photos you want taken.

If your wedding photographer doesn’t give you anything to make this list with, here is a simple guide you can go by to organize this part of the day with.

How to Make A List of Family Formals

(Again this is just a guide to help you brainstorm not an exact roadmap)

1. Bride & Groom with Bride’s Mom, Dad, Siblings, & Grandparents
2. Bride & Groom with Bride’s Grandparents *(*Note: You always want to get grandparents first after the family grouping because they may not can stand for long periods of time.)
3. Bride & Groom with Bride’s Mom, Dad, & Siblings
4. Bride & Groom with Bride’s Mom & Dad
5. Bride & Groom with Bride’s Siblings
6. Bride & Groom with Groom’s Mom, Dad, Siblings, & Grandparents
7. Bride & Groom with Groom’s Grandparents
8. Bride & Groom with Groom’s Mom, Dad, & Siblings
9. Bride & Groom with Groom’s Mom & Dad
10. Bride & Groom with Groom’s Siblings
11. Bride & Groom with Bride’s Aunts & Uncles
12. Bride & Groom with Bride’s Aunts
13. Bride & Groom with Bride’s Uncles
14. Bride & Groom with Groom’s Aunts & Uncles
15. Bride & Groom with Groom’s Aunts
16. Bride & Groom with Groom’s Uncles
17. Bride & Groom with Brides Cousins
18. Bride & Groom with Groom’s Cousins
19. Bride & Groom with Extended Family
20. Bride & Groom with Friends

 

I hope you found this post helpful & insightful!

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