Stressing over TOG photos....

This is something I have been thinking about. We have decided to draw the line asap. We want photos oh wedding party and immediate family (all party anyway) then one massive group photo! Other than that all other photos will come as and when we are mingling! I can't bare the thought of people standing around watching all the pa-lava unfold!

When thinking about my group photos, I had a rule - 'Is someone going to want to frame that for their wall or mantelpiece?'. If the answer was no, it didn't get done.

I think Kharvs pretty spot on there.

Try to consider what kind of day you want. If you want to keep it relaxed or you prefer natural style photos, keep formals to a minimum- if only for the fact that if your TOG is taking group shots, they wont be capturing the laughs and fun that's happening elsewhere. And those are generally the photos you'll really cherish.

Splitting your formals up and doing them at different times of the day can also help. For example getting shots with parents, siblings or bridesmaids before your ceremony (if they're around) a few family ones, or a full group shot during the day and then some informal ones after your meal with friends, or that specific aunt or uncle you had in mind.

Yeah, pretty much on the money there.

Formals and posed shots are the biggest time vampire of a wedding day.

Best way I've ever seen formals work is that you arrange an absolute must list of 6 groups (then as many 3's and 4's as you like).

It's managing people that is the problem. I can't tell you the amount of times I have 39 out of 40 people in front of me only to be held up whilst a baby is being changed, someone is on the loo, taking medication etc.

^Which is understandable^ But it eats into your day and takes you away from the social aspect.

One of the coolest things to do is make sure all the guests know they can ask the tog for photos. That way they have every opportunity to nail the tog on the day...and can't complain afterwards if they don't get their shot.

We aren't having any group shots other than with the wedding party and parents. That's it.

This is what I send my couples as an example list:

----------

B+G entire party
B+G whole family

B+G bridesmaids, flower girl
B+G groomsmen, ring bearer

Bride + Mum / Dad

Groom + Mum / Dad

B+G grandparents

Tip:

Most weddings only allow 90 minutes between the reception start time and the wedding breakfast. Time is precious in this period.

Formals can be tough to organise. Assigning a groomsman or bridesmaid who knows people to help me can be a huge benefit to the flow of these.

I strongly recommend keeping this list as small as possible because a list of eight groups can take twenty minutes, or it can take an hour to do. It really relies on the guests themselves and how big the wedding party is.

(You can have what you like though, the above is just an advisory)!

I am always receptive to requests on the day. Please let your guests know they can ask me for any photo they like.

The photo session really doesn't need to be stress full. Keeping it simple is definitely the way forward. One way did it a lot in Cyprus was to go straight from the Ceremony to the group shot then have Canapés and drinks. That way you’re less likely to lose people for cigarette breaks, going to the loo etc Half an hour max Is a good target. Then let the family go to get drinks while they are occupied you can get your couple shots without everyone watching and trying to get their own pictures. That means you get the best out of the couple shots and sneak a bit of time for yourselves.

At the end of the day it's your wedding, have the pictures you want!

Good luck happy planning

this too, i'll remember this!

Chris is absolutely right, this can be a huge help but quick tip for you all: please make sure it's someone you totally trust to do the job! (Who is the bossiest of your best friends?). So often the person or people who have been assigned to this seem to have disappeared just when they're needed or get sidetracked chatting to friends when they set out looking for gran, and it can actually end up making things even slower.

In reply to the OP though, all the advice above is absolutely sound!

Again, completely agree with this. If you do want a lot of formals it's essential to have a nice flow, and for it to be organised with the help of somebody who knows who all the guests required are. Think carefully about who you choose though, we ask for a group shot helper for each side of the family for every wedding, but 9 times out of 10 we'd just end up sorting it all ourselves as it was quicker, they'd get distracted, not be keen to help and be more interested in the canapes and bubbly ?

Just to add also, by "a lot of formals", for us that's anything over 8 group shots. It's amazing how long they can take and cut into the time between your ceremony & meal. Also, if you do decide to have some after the meal, make sure those in the group shots know that they'll be needed so they don't go to check into rooms, freshen up etc

We're only having 20 daytime guests so we won't have too much bother and will have enough time to have photos taken with whoever really, our togs said though that if we wanted big group shots we could start off with big group photos and then take people out rather than adding loads on and sure one of the togs on here suggested that too at one point. Sounds a lot easier to me If we were having a bigger number of guests we'd have the same idea as Kharv and just prioritise people who will really want them and most important really.

We really wanted to minimise formal shots, so we had: -

B&G with both sets of parents

Bride with bridesmaids

B&G with parents, bridesmaids and ushers

B&G with all bride's relatives (~25)

B&G with all groom's relatives (9)

Big group shot of everyone.

I had a few done later with some aunts/uncles/cousins etc, but not as part of the formal photos.

If you want to get everyone moved on from the church to the reception venue, I would just do a few shots there, probably with your parents and possibly bridesmaids/ushers. The rest of the family photos can wait till the reception.

Forget the ushers to help gather your guests for photos, we always ask the couple to assign two bridesmaids to gather everyone, we have learnt over the years that the bridesmaids are the best, they just get on with it and it makes the formals a breeze to get done.

Yup... Kharv is spot on imo.

What time window do you have? I would draw up your list in order of priority, so that worst comes to worst if you run out of time it's not such a biggie. I'd go b+g plus both families, then start splitting it down. Do the biggest to smallest, so that even if some of the smaller ones don't get done you're more likely to have everyone in a shot somewhere.

A lot of people have spent a lot of time thinking and responding already so I think this is all you need to know.

What is amazing is that people will "disappear" during the formals to go and check in (if the events held at a hotel) so you may wish to ask the hotel staff to limit this in the photography window. The amount of times a group shot has been set up to find uncle Joe has gone to his room is incredible. Get the Ushers to ensure that people are available or it may well impact on the flow of your day.

I always reckon I am pretty good at getting through the formals quickly and effectively.(A mod on a plan from an ex BIPP president)although the most amazing wedding I did with a lot of formals was an Indian wedding that was incredibly organised. Each wedding invitation had a series of numbers on which reflected the group shots that the couple wanted. The MC would call a number and all with that number on their invite card would come to the photography area. And as important, if they weren't required for the next photo, they cleared away and didn't hang around to chat, which slows up the next photo if they hadn't. Quickfire and effective and all the guests listened out for their number and no-one had to be found or was missing......

Whoever you get to help, Bridesmaids, Ushers etc, that person needs to know the families by sight, so get help from someone like this. At least one person for each side of the family....

hth

Peter

In addition to B&G we did with parents, then immediate family (parents plus siblings) then extended family (as before plus anyone else related) and we did this separately for each side.