Family Portraits
Setting up and Figuring out your Shot List
As part of your Timeline Consultation (with Traditional Wedding Packages only, unless a Timeline Consultation is added to Short Wedding Coverage), you'll have a link to your own Google Drive Folder. A Family Shot List spreadsheet will be in this folder, along with a couple of other documents.
Across the top of the document will be directions on how to fill it out, including how we'd prefer you format the groups (this way, we'll know their names and their association with you). If you know how to use Google Sheets and can match the colored background to the appropriate group in the "color key," -- awesome! If not, you can include in the notes section whose family it is.
Each line represents one photo. If there are any special needs we need to be aware of (physical limitations of family members, autism, or anything else that might help us know a specific photo might need extra time), please include that in the "Notes/Questions" section next to the photo group in question.
Don't worry about the order; that's why we're having you do this in advance! We'll sit down and reorganize the list so it flows in a way that works best with our experience in how this part of the day goes. We'll then have you review our changes to confirm that everything looks good.
As you make your list, please remember that each photo takes approximately 2-5 minutes to complete.
If you plan on requesting other group photos for other parts of the day, please keep them in a separate section of the sheets document with a title. Unless otherwise specified, we will assume the list provided will be for the Family Portrait portion of the day (either right before or right after the ceremony, depending on your First Look choice).
We'll ask you to complete this by your Timeline Consultation Meeting so we can accurately estimate how long to put aside for the family portraits. Feel free to add any additional notes that we may need to know (e.g. "my family is always late for everything, but his family is punctual" or "they'll be on time but will talk the whole time"). Essential is information like if any family member included in portraits does not speak English and who we can rely on for translations.
Have a large extended family you'd like to include in portraits but are worried about what it might do to your timeline? Take a page from one of our couples who had a large extended family flying in from overseas, and have us cover a portion of your rehearsal dinner. You'll then have plenty of time for lovely portraits with aunts, uncles, and cousins while keeping the family portrait portion of your wedding day streamlined with just your immediate family.