Relaxed Wedding Group Photos

As a rough guide, we aim to have your wedding group photos finished in just 20 minutes! Any longer than this and the dreaded fake smiles appear and guests can become restless. 

The key to making this enjoyable is to stick to a maximum of 10 group photos. Each group photo should have no more than 12 people. The temptation nearer to the day is to just add a few more groups to your list, but that’s when things really add up time wise! 

Once we have captured your closest family and friends, feel free to grab your uni friends or other guests that want photos and we’ll take a few fun extra photos as they happen naturally. Ideally it’s great to do these outdoors when the light is still good.

However we’re not suggesting going around the entire room and having tons of group photos that take up loads of your time. It shouldn’t feel like a ‘duty’ but rather something that happens naturally in the moment. It really does make a difference to the authenticity and enjoyment of the moment.     

First of all we get the ‘formal’ photos done and then we encourage you to play around! It’s a great chance to connect with your friends and express your personality. What I love about this shot is how they were clearly being ironic and how much they enjoyed the moment just having a laugh.       

Again, turning away from the ‘formal’ photos, we encourage you to get in close and make a connection with your friends and family. Too often in wedding group photos we feel we can’t connect with each other, maybe it’s the British in us? so it’s something we always ask you to try. It immediately loosens everyone up and the photos are far more emotive!       

Adding movement to wedding group photos really takes the pressure off of everyone! In this photo we simply asked everyone to throw their bouquets in to the air. Therefore everyone relaxed as it allows your all to stop thinking about how you will look in the photo and instead be in the moment! 

Make your wedding group photos unique by using something from the day to add interest to the photo. This giant swing was hand made for the couple and allowed us to capture guests informally enjoying themselves at the party and adds a natural dynamic to the composition. During the day we always hunt out groups informally and capture them naturally.

Ok! so we never ask you to do this! but on this occasion as everyone was so spirited and full of beans, it just happened spontaneously, which is why this shot works so well! the key is that the guys just did it, it wasn’t something the bride asked for. As soon as it’s an ask, the photo becomes staged and just doesn’t work and looks cheesy!   

I love this shot that Wayne took as it involves the groom’s sweet doggy and ring bearer! If you are having any animals feature at your wedding definitely involve them!

Many couples ask for a large wedding group photo, but you need all the right ingredients for it to work and be fun! With planning we work out the best time to slot this in to your day without it being a huge operation. Moving 80+ people around takes time. Seriously, it’s always underestimated! For instance, It’s really not worth dragging everyone outside once everyone has gone inside, it just doesn’t feel right and becomes a chore! This photo was taken on arrival at the reception so the flow of the day isn’t broken up. Timings, weather and outdoor lighting are key.

Adding some spontaneous posing to wedding group photos allows each person to show how they are feeling and express their personality. 

As well as looking straight in to the camera, we encourage interaction with your friends and family. These photos once again allow each person to show their personality and be playful in the moment. 

The best wedding group photos are when things happen naturally. If you are relaxed and open to your friends making fun suggestions then your photos will be really memorable!  

During our planning with you, we always make a list of the critical people who are important to you. This wedding couple told us the children were really important to them, so we suggested doing one big wedding group photo of all the children at the wedding. Again we captured them being ‘sensible’ first, but the best photo above is simply letting the kids being themselves!