Must-have moments list template for wedding photographers

A short list couples fill in with the moments and people that matter most, why to keep it to 10, and how to use the answers on the day and in the cull.

A must-have list is not a shot list. A shot list is the 80 things you photograph at every wedding without being asked. A must-have list is the 10 things about this wedding that you could not know: the grandmother who flew in from Manila, the dog, the late father’s photo tucked into the bouquet. Couples will not read a shot list. They will fill in 10 lines.

Send this on its own 4 to 6 weeks out, or as section 6 of the client questionnaire.

The list

Must-have moments for [Couple] Please send this back by [date].

Up to 10 photos or moments that matter most to you. Be specific. “My grandmother seeing me dressed” is better than “candids”. If nothing comes to mind for a line, leave it blank. Ten is the maximum, not the target.

People who must appear in at least one good photo (beyond the wedding party and your parents). Name, relationship, and how I will recognize them.

[Name], [relationship], [how I will recognize them]
[Name], [relationship], [how I will recognize them]
[Name], [relationship], [how I will recognize them]
[Name], [relationship], [how I will recognize them]
[Name], [relationship], [how I will recognize them]

One detail you spent real time on:

One thing you saw at another wedding and want:

One thing you saw at another wedding and do not want:

One thing you would rather not have photographed:

Why 10, and why specific

Ask for 30 and you get a shot list copied from a blog: rings on the invitation, the shoes, the dress in a window. You would have taken those anyway. Ask for 10 and the couple has to choose, and what they choose is the information you needed. Nobody spends 1 of 10 lines on the shoes.

Specific answers are usable on the day. “Candids of our friends” is what you were already doing. “A photo of the 6 of us who lived in the house on Pine Street” is a photo you can set up in 2 minutes at cocktail hour, if you know to.

The people section catches the person who is not in the party and not a parent but matters most: a godparent, the aunt who raised one of them, a friend who is unwell and may leave early. “How I will recognize them” is the line that makes it work. “Uncle Ray, tall, gray beard, bolo tie” means you find him. “My uncle” does not.

The last 4 lines are there because each one produces a different kind of answer. The detail line surfaces the thing they made by hand. The two “another wedding” lines tell you their taste in 2 sentences. The last line is the one they would never volunteer and are glad to be asked.

How to use it

Two weeks before: read the list the day it arrives. Anything that needs setup goes on the timeline. A photo with a specific group needs a time and a place. A moment (“Dad seeing her for the first time”) needs you standing in the right spot, which means knowing where Dad will be. Add the setup items to your shot list under the section where they happen, and send the people section to the second shooter with their brief.

The night before: read it again. Ten lines takes 1 minute, and this is the read that puts the names in your head.

On the day: keep it where you can see it. Check it at cocktail hour and again before the exit. The 2 items most often missed are the person who leaves early and the group photo nobody called.

In the cull: open the list beside the catalog and find each item. Every one of the 10 either gets a photo in the gallery or gets a sentence in the delivery email explaining why not. “Your grandmother left before family photos and I did not get her with the two of you, but she is in the ceremony set and the toasts” is a sentence the couple will accept. Silence is not. The culling workflow has a place for this pass.

What couples write

The same answers come up wedding after wedding, and none of them are on a standard shot list: a grandparent seeing the couple dressed; a late parent’s photo on a bouquet charm or an empty chair; a dog; the handwritten vows; a group of college friends; a parent’s face at the first look; the couple alone in the reception room before guests enter; someone’s reaction to a specific toast.

Read the list you get back with those in mind, and sort each line into one of 3 kinds. Some need a time and a place (the group of friends). Some need you in a particular spot (the parent’s face). Some need you to know a name (the grandparent). Each kind goes somewhere different: the timeline, the shot list, or the people roster.

The unlesses

If the couple returns nothing, do not chase the form. Ask 3 questions by phone: who matters most that is not in the party, is anyone being remembered, and is there anything you have been picturing. Write the answers on the list yourself.
If the couple returns 40 lines, call them and ask which 10 they would keep. The other 30 are your shot list.
If the planner sent a “photo wish list”, it is usually a shot list. Send the couple this form anyway. It asks a different question.

The family groupings are a separate document with their own rules; see the family photo list template.