We are storytellers, telling the story of your wedding day with photography. Throughout the day we shoot predominantly in a natural, candid & informal style, catching genuine moments as they happen.
A big part of your story is about the people you share your day with. Most couples think long & hard about who to invite to their wedding, spending hours drawing up guest lists, writing & sending invitations & designing the perfect seating plan. Surrounding yourselves with your friends & family, you naturally want those closest to you photographed to record the moment.
We love capturing your guests in an informal manor, enjoying themselves, talking, laughing & dancing together. Working unobtrusively in a documentary style we can capture some really special moments.
The tears of your Dad as he walks his daughter down the aisle, the laughter as the best man embarrasses the groom during his speech, the smiles of the proud grandmother, the hug as relatives who haven’t seen each other for years greet each other, the cheers of your friends during your first dance.
We appreciate though that sometimes there is a time & place for some slightly more ‘composed’ photos to make sure that all of those important people are captured. Nowadays many families are spread far & wide & a family wedding can be one of the few times that everyone is gathered together. Slightly more formal group photos can be a fantastic way of documenting this.
Many of Sara’s family travelled from the States for her wedding. Whilst we shot candid photos of them, it was also important to her to have a more formal photos of them all together.
Top Tips for Group Photos
Here are our top tips to make your groups photos stress-free & easy!
1. Plan
Think carefully about who you want in your group photos. Do you really need a separate photos with each Aunt or could you group them all together with your Uncles & cousins in one shot? Remember the more photos on your list, the longer it will take & the less time you will have to party… We recommend no more than ten different groups & if you’re struggling to narrow your list down we suggest prioritising them & focusing on the most important people. Grandparents are usually top of that list!
You can always have a reserve list in case we are done in super quick time! These could be people like, university friends & if we don’t capture them during the formal group photos we can always come back later in the evening for a more spontaneous, informal shot.
We do ask for a written list of group photos before the wedding. This ensures that we have enough time to take the photos you want & can also help us to familiarise ourselves with the groups.
2. Make sure you allow enough time!
We recommend allowing five minutes per group of six or more people. It always takes a few minutes to gather everyone together plus you can guarantee that someone will go to the bar, bathroom or needs to reapply their lipstick – always just as they are needed for a photo! For less than six people, allow three minutes.
Think about posting up a list of group photos & the order they will be taken in so that your guests know when they will be needed. This could be printed in the order of service or placed alongside the seating plan at the reception.
3. Make your Usher’s work for their title…!
Have a responsible person who knows both sides of the family & is not scared to be firm (but friendly) with people help organise the group photos. An usher or bridesmaid is usually a good choice. Remember, we don’t know your family or friends and so if someone is gathering people a few minutes before they are needed for the photos it really does speed the process and that makes it a lot more enjoyable for everyone.
They can be prepping people for photos number two as we are shooting photo number one, this means you get more time with your guests rather than standing around waiting for us to find Granddad who’s popped off for a sneaky whiskey…
4. Trust us!
Sometimes the spot that you picked out for your group photos isn’t the right place on the day. We’ve said it many, many times before but the key element to photography is light & we will want to choose a spot with the best light; we don’t want you & your guests squinting because the sun is in your eyes, likewise we don’t want unflattering harsh shadows over your faces. But don’t worry, we won’t have you standing in front of the car park just because we like the light!
5. All eyes on us
We are more than happy for your guests to take photos of the groups on their cameras or phones, all we ask is that we have a few moments to take our photo first, without any distraction, so that all eyes are on us. We will then step to one side & let great aunt Ivy can shoot away! There is nothing more frustrating than a perfectly composed group photo with everyone’s eyes looking in different directions at different cameras…
6. It’s not all stiff & formal
Group shots can be fun too!
Here are some suggested groupings & timings to get you thinking…
- Bride & Groom with Brides parents – 3 minutes
- Bride & Groom with Brides parents & siblings, partners, children & Grandparents – 5 minutes
- Bride & Groom with Brides Grandparents – 3 minutes
- Bride & Groom with the Brides side of the family (parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins…) – 5 minutes
- Bride & Groom with Grooms parents – 3 minutes
- Bride & Groom with Grooms parents & siblings, partners, children & Grandparents – 5 minutes
- Bride & Groom with Grooms Grandparents – 3 minutes
- Bride & Groom with the Groom’s side of the family – 5 minutes
- Bride & Groom with all guests (allow 15 minutes, we suggest doing immediately after the ceremony whilst all guest are in one place without the bar as a distraction…)
- Bride with Bridesmaids – 3 minutes
- Groom with Groomsmen – 3 minutes
- Bride & Groom with the whole bridal party – 5 minutes
All of the above would take approximately an hour to do! So we often suggest photos with friends are done in a more informal setting during the reception. We would ask one person to round the group up & give us a shout when everyone is ready.
We want this part of your day to be as easy & stress free for you as possible so that you can get back to spending time with you guests & we can get back to capturing those natural candid shots you want that are full of fun, laughter & emotion!