As your big day approaches you’ll be thinking of so many things at once, so much that you might feel a bit bogged down at times with a growing ‘to do’ list. But don’t panic, I see it as my mission to make the process of planning how your photography fits around your ideas as easy as possible. It really is a blank page that we’re working on and I am happy to capture moments as they unfold as well as work to a list of group shops to make sure you capture those moments of all of your friends and family together in one place. If you do want group shots and most couples do, how do you go about planning them?
So, here are a few of my top tips on how to plan those group shots:
- If I can, I like to pair up with someone from your wedding party that know most of your guests (hello ushers!) that can help get the groups of people together and it is far more relaxed as they know who they are looking for and it helps to move through the shots quickly.
- I always suggest starting with the largest group first, that way if you only want one large shot of everyone guests don’t worry that they need to be listening out for the photo call and can relax and enjoy the day.
- I suggest estimating 3 minutes per group shot on average. The bigger ones take a little longer but the smaller ones are a lot quicker. Having a number to work to can help you factor in how long to allow for photos or perhaps look at how many you can fit in a time slot.
- Think about the location of the images, I am sooooo suggestible in terms of where you want your group shots and will share ideas with you too!
- If you have a lot of elderly guests it may not be comfortable for them to trek for a while or stand for too long but could be something we do for your shots together.
- I work to your list, so will need to have it to work to on the day. You’ll find that google will yield lots of lists about recommended group shots, but I’d encourage you to think of your friends and family and how you’d want to have folk photographed together, follow your heart on this.
- Stay true to your vision. It is easy to find that your list gets longer and longer if lots of people contribute so think about it together with your invite list to hand and group up the shots you really want.
- If you want to have fun shots rather than formal ones, I’m all up for that. Lauren, Henry & their friends show us how its done above!!
I’d love to take any questions you might have so do leave me them in a comment or email me: douglas_rebecca@hotmail.co.uk.
