Family photo list template for wedding photographers

Family photos are the twenty-five minutes of a wedding day that go wrong most often, and the fix is boring: a list with real names on it, in a sensible order, read aloud by someone who knows the family. This is the list.

Copy it, replace “Partner 1’s parents” with actual names, cut what does not apply, and send it back to the couple to confirm. Then give it to your wrangler.

The list

Partner 1’s side

1. Couple + Partner 1’s parents
2. Couple + Partner 1’s parents + siblings
3. Couple + Partner 1’s parents + siblings + siblings’ partners and children
4. Couple + Partner 1’s grandparents
5. Couple + Partner 1’s full extended family
6. Partner 1 + parents
7. Partner 1 + each parent alone
8. Partner 1 + siblings

Partner 2’s side

9. Couple + Partner 2’s parents
10. Couple + Partner 2’s parents + siblings
11. Couple + Partner 2’s parents + siblings + siblings’ partners and children
12. Couple + Partner 2’s grandparents
13. Couple + Partner 2’s full extended family
14. Partner 2 + parents
15. Partner 2 + each parent alone
16. Partner 2 + siblings

Both sides

17. Couple + both sets of parents
18. Couple + both sets of parents + all grandparents
19. Couple + all siblings from both sides
20. Couple + everyone

Why this order

Start with the biggest group on one side, then peel people off. Extended family and grandparents go first because they are the people who most want to sit down, and because releasing forty people early makes the remaining twenty easier to manage. Immediate-family and parent-only shots come last on each side, when it is quiet.

Some photographers shoot both-sides shots first. That works too, as long as the order is decided before the day, not during it.

The rules

• Real names on every line. “Bride’s mom” means nothing to your second shooter. “Linda” does.
• One wrangler per side. A sibling or cousin who knows everyone by sight, holding the list, calling the next group while you shoot the current one.
• Twenty groupings is 25 minutes. Roughly one minute each plus the shuffle. Forty groupings is 50 minutes, and the couple should know that before they ask for forty.
• Do it straight after the ceremony, at the altar or a spot you chose beforehand, before anyone finds the bar.
• Ask about divorces and step-parents before the day. Some groups need two versions. Some people should not be in the same frame. The couple knows; ask them once, in writing.
• Grandparents and anyone with a mobility issue go first, whichever side they are on.

Questions for the couple

1. Are any parents divorced or remarried, and should step-parents be in the parent shots, separate shots, or both?
2. Who are the grandparents, and will they be at the ceremony?
3. Is there anyone who must not be photographed together?
4. Are there children under five in the family groups? Put those groups first.
5. Who is your wrangler on each side? Give me their phone numbers.
6. Is there anyone who is not family but must be in the family photos? Godparents, a best friend, a nanny.