Make Group Shots Quick and Easy with These Tips

Group shots are a staple at weddings, but they can take up a lot of time and energy. If your wedding day schedule is already full to the brim, you don’t want to be stuck posing for group shots for an hour or more on your special day.

Here are some tips for getting through your group shots quickly and easily.

Keep the list to a minimum.

The most important thing you can do to keep the time spent on group shots to a minimum is to choose who will be in those photos wisely. Don’t include everyone, focus on the most important people. This might just be immediate family.

I recommend keeping your list to a minimum of 6-8 groups. See my recommended list below.

This takes around 20-30 mins depending on how many people are needed for the photo.  

1. Couple and immediate family 1

2. Couple & parents 1

3. Couple & immediate family 2

4. Couple & parents 2

5. Wedding party (bridesmaids, groomsmen)

6. Friends

Make a list of group shots with names before the wedding

This prep saves a lot of time, and makes it easy for your photographer (and helper) to call out their names and get people organised.

If you’ve booked me to shoot your wedding, I will always ask for a list of group shots at the final consultation stage.

Make Sure Everyone Knows What To Do

Assign someone as a photographer wrangler – their job is simply to round everyone up and ask them to gather where your photographer is doing the group photographs.

This will help streamline things significantly and ensure that no one gets left out when it comes time for the picture taking. Someone who knows your family and is a confident character is perfect for this role.

What if you want a lot more than 8 group shots?

If you’d like some casual posed photos of friends etc that don’t fall into the family formals, let me know and I can make sure I get some lovely relaxed photos of you with your guests. These can happen at any time and I would suggest doing them after dinner so that you break up the photo-taking, otherwise you’ll get serious jaw ache and dry mouths.

Having a winter wedding?

If you’re having a winter wedding, it’s a good idea to either have an earlier ceremony, or get some group shots done before the ceremony. I quite often do the bridesmaid and groomsmen shots before the Ceremony if your wedding is between November – February, just so we can get some lovely natural light images, and it also takes the pressure off trying to get lots of group shots photographed after the ceremony, as it gets dark earlier. Of course, the other alternative is to have night time photos or finding an indoor location – but this can take a bit longer as your photographer will have to set up flash.

Overall, group shots can take up precious time on your wedding day, but by following these few simple tips you should be able to keep them short and sweet without sacrificing quality! Choose who will appear in each photo wisely, assign someone as a photographer wrangler if possible, brief everyone beforehand, and don’t forget about candid shots! With these tips in mind, you’ll have stunning results without having a long line-up that takes ages.