I wrote a blog post this spring about family formals dos and don’ts, but I wanted to write another one of just a few family formal tips that I managed to forget. Family formals can be stressful for everyone, but there are ways that they don’t have to be! When you communicate with your photographer, your planner, and your family, family formal photos on your wedding day can go as smooth as possible!

It’s About You

One of the biggest tips I have for my brides is to remember that your wedding day is a day to celebrate your union with the love of your life. So many times I have brides that want to take a large amount of time and take family formals with everyone who is going to the wedding. I always warn them to shy away from this because of that first statement. When you print of your wedding photos, it is important to have the images of your immediate family. Those are images that are symbolic of your fiancee joining into your family, but images of every aunt and uncle tend to not have the importance as the latter. Wedding days are crazy, and more often than not, the timeline gets put behind. When that happens, photos get shortened, and you can only fit so many formal photos into that time. I have found that it’s best to take the images of your immediate family, and if there is time, that is when we decide to do the rest. You don’t want your bride and groom formal session suffering because you spent all the time with your family formals. It’s about you and your groom!

Remember The Time

One of the MOST important things to remember is to make sure your family knows what time they need to be at the portrait location, and to be ready at that time! It’s no fun when you are waiting on a brother, or mom when everyone else is there, and if you do have to wait, the images will suffer. When it does happen, I make sure to get the images out of the way that we can do without that said missing person, but when it is mom or dad, or a sibling, it really does make it that much harder. And if we run out of time before they get there, we don’t want to push the timeline off for the rest of the day. All in all, make sure everyone knows what time they should be there. If you DO have a member of your family that is notoriously late to thing, it doesn’t hurt to let them know they need to be there earlier. Just in case.

Also, family formals don’t need to take a lot of time. I usually keep them about 15 minutes for each side of the family because no one wants to just sit and take photos for an hour. Keep this in mind when thinking of how many different groups that you want. I recommend to my brides to think of 10 different groupings for family photos, and add names to that list so we can just go down the list, calling off names, and getting the shot. I have found this is the easiest and most efficient ways of doing family formals!

Breathe

Family formals are stressful. A lot of the times people won’t listen and it’s hard to keep track of everyone. Make sure to breathe, and don’t have 20 people shouting and yelling at each other for what they need to be doing. As a photographer, I have found that it’s easiest when my assistant or I am the one to tell people where to stand and who needs to be where. It is far less traumatic for everyone. This way there isn’t a conflict between anyone that has a different idea of where they need to be. Just take a deep breathe, and nobody needs to get fired up with anybody else. 🙂

Family formals is a perfect time to laugh and enjoy each other during your wedding day! If you have made it that far, there’s no need to start an argument because of something that happens during photo! Enjoy the moments! Cherish the memories and party!!!!! You’re married! 😀