Being as prepared as possible for your wedding day is going to be the difference between enjoying it stress free, and feeling overwhelmed. My job as one of your hired wedding professionals is to ensure you have the most magical, stress free day. Learning more about who your loved ones are and intricate family dynamics will help me capture important moments and family formals with simplicity and ease.

One thing I should mention before sharing the sample list with you is that I fully and completely understand that every family is beautiful and different and that not every family looks like this.

Having said that, this is exactly why I encourage and insist on having a formal family photo list for your day. It ensures that I am able to be sensitive to all of your family dynamics and that your VIPs feel comfortable and included when it comes to this portion of the day. 

To be used as a reference for each of the newlyweds:
Eg. Bride with her Mom, then Groom with his Mom respectively
Bride/Groom with Mom
Bride/Groom with Dad
Bride/Groom with Parents
Bride and Groom with each set of parents
Bride and Groom with both sets of parents
Bride/Groom each set of Siblings (with and without partners)
Bride/Groom Each Sibling
Bride and Groom with each original nuclear family (with and without partners)
Bride/Groom with Grandparents
Bride and Groom with Grandparents
Bride/Groom with Godparents
Bride and Groom with Godparents

If either of you has a blended family your list may look something like this:
Bride/Groom with Mom
Bride/Groom with Mom and Step Dad
Bride/Groom with Dad
Bride/Groom with Dad and Step Mom
Bride/Groom with Mom and Dad
etc.
*consider all of the possible combos you’d want in this case.

Now, as I said, this is just a sample and certainly doesn’t include every single possibility. If you have children of your own, or nieces and nephews for example, be sure to include them in your list. If there are combos from the sample list that you’d like to forego, no problem. And, as mentioned, if there are combos you’d like to add, feel free.

When it comes to helping us stay organized on the day of, an inclusive list for each of your families with the photos you want to be captured (including names and relations of each family member) is very handy.

For Example:
Bride Side List:
Bride & Mom (Deborah)
etc.

Lastly, just so you know how we’ll approach family photos, it is likely that we’ll start with the biggest combos first and work our way down to the smaller combos. If children/senior individuals are involved, we’ll make sure to photograph them first too.

I hope this helps!