We did a wedding once, back in the early days when we'd only shot less than a dozen weddings. It was very much our kind of wedding; laid back and relaxed with a town hall ceremony and then the reception in a local pub. In fact it was so relaxed to the point where the bride and groom decided they didn't even really want and family group photos. 'No problem' we said, 'if you don't want them, we're not going to force you into having them.' Except we wish we'd impressed upon them how important group photos really are.
The reason being, the mother of the bride called us a week later asking us why we didn't do one of her and her daughter. Well, who were we to tell her bride she was wrong in making the decision for no group photos? But we immediately saw why the mother of the bride felt it was lacking. That was back then. We now tell our couples that if you don't want group photos, your parents undoubtedly will. So if you don't want to do it for yourself, do it for them. It can even just be one single photo of you with both sets of parents and boom, we're done, ticked that box and we can get back to the party. It's just 90 seconds out of the day and it's likely to be the one photo your parents hang on the wall. We know this because group photos with parents are the most popular photo that gets ordered time and time again from every wedding and it's always the parents who order it.
We do our group photos fast. We have a set list of 6-7 combinations of people (depending on divorces/family politics and who can't stand next to who!) that cover all the main bases. You can pick and choose and we generally get these done in less than 15 minutes. We keep them as informal as possible so you can get back to the party and enjoy yourself, because thats what we'd really like to be taking photos of!
But by all means, grab us as the day goes on if you don't want formality. Grab your friends for a quick impromptu huddle. We won't be turning it into a fashion shoot, we just want to capture the people who matter to you in a way that's meaningful. And you never know when you yourself might look back and wish you'd had a photo with someone before it was too late.
The reason being, the mother of the bride called us a week later asking us why we didn't do one of her and her daughter. Well, who were we to tell her bride she was wrong in making the decision for no group photos? But we immediately saw why the mother of the bride felt it was lacking. That was back then. We now tell our couples that if you don't want group photos, your parents undoubtedly will. So if you don't want to do it for yourself, do it for them. It can even just be one single photo of you with both sets of parents and boom, we're done, ticked that box and we can get back to the party. It's just 90 seconds out of the day and it's likely to be the one photo your parents hang on the wall. We know this because group photos with parents are the most popular photo that gets ordered time and time again from every wedding and it's always the parents who order it.
We do our group photos fast. We have a set list of 6-7 combinations of people (depending on divorces/family politics and who can't stand next to who!) that cover all the main bases. You can pick and choose and we generally get these done in less than 15 minutes. We keep them as informal as possible so you can get back to the party and enjoy yourself, because thats what we'd really like to be taking photos of!
But by all means, grab us as the day goes on if you don't want formality. Grab your friends for a quick impromptu huddle. We won't be turning it into a fashion shoot, we just want to capture the people who matter to you in a way that's meaningful. And you never know when you yourself might look back and wish you'd had a photo with someone before it was too late.
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