PEI wedding photographer, PEI videographer, photo booth rental, PEI wedding venues, PEI weddings, Wedding dresses PEI
PEI wedding photographer, PEI videographer, photo booth rental, PEI wedding venues, PEI weddings, Wedding dresses PEI
Ten Tips For Family Portraits on Your PEI Wedding Day
The family formal pictures can easily become one of the most stressful parts of your wedding day if you do not plan and communicate with the necessary people ahead of time. Luckily for you, I am a wedding photographer here on Prince Edward Island and I have listed out 10 tips to help you coordinate your family photos successfully!
#1 The List
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Make a detailed list of everyone who will be participating in the family formal photos. It is usually easiest, to begin with, the parents, then break it off from there. When making your list, note it down according to the order people will go in. Parents, siblings, big grouping, etc… This helps keep people organized and limits confusion amongst your family members.
#2 Keep It Minimal
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​Ideally, you probably would like to get a picture of every single person who attends your PEI wedding. However, family formal photos may not be the time to do this. When you are on a specific timeline, it is best to keep it to the most important images. Your time will free up later in the evening and you could get those additional photos with no worries! When you plan for your list to be minimal, it is okay if a couple of extra images get added on the day of your wedding because it is not already overwhelming. Plus no one really enjoys standing in one spot smiling for over an hour, allow yourself to also have some fun!
#3 The Details
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​When making your list, put the full name of the person down, not just the relationship. While you may know who “Uncle” is, it is going to be hard for someone else (for example, your wedding photographer) to find him if they do not know his real name.
#4 Ask for Help
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It can be helpful for not only yourself but the wedding photographer if you ask an informed person to help during family formals on the wedding day. This could be a sibling or cousin who may read off your list as photos are getting taken. Not only will this person know everyone's names, but it takes the stress off you and helps prepare the rest of the family. A second photographer may be present to also assist, but nothing is more helpful than a person who already knows everyone's names.
#5 Ceremony Location
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My BIGGEST tip is to keep the family formals at the ceremony location, thankfully there are SO many beautiful wedding venues on PEI! Once the ceremony wraps up and people have congratulated you, move right into the family pictures. These can take place under a nice tree, by a field, etc… If you ask all your family to meet you at a different location for the photos, things will most likely run behind schedule. An uncle will go to Tim Hortons, your Aunt will run by the drug store, another person will get lost and the last person won’t find parking. If you keep your photos at the ceremony location, you take out all of those variables. I seriously cannot stress this one enough!
#6 Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
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Tell everyone who is involved in the family portraits before the wedding day. This way people will be prepared to stick around and not wander off after the wedding ceremony. A little request from a wedding photographer, if you could please tell everyone there may be an expectation that sunglasses not be worn during the photos that would be amazing!! It is no secret photography isn’t exactly cheap and we want to provide the best possible images back to you. However, it can be very awkward going back and forth pleading with family members to take the sunnies off. Talking to everyone beforehand and setting expectations can help keep everything running smoothly.
#7 Use your Officiant
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Before the ceremony begins, ask your officiant to remind everyone that family portraits will be taking place directly after the wedding ceremony. This is super easy and everyone always appreciates a friendly reminder. This can also be a great time to ask everyone to put away their cell phones if you wish for an unplugged wedding ceremony!
#8 Allow Time
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Budget the appropriate amount of time for the number of family groupings you have planned out. The list can be very helpful here! I suggest giving at least 3 to 4 minutes per pairing. It is always better to give yourself more time than to be running behind on your wedding day!
#9 Get Close
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As wedding photographers, we get it. You probably haven’t gotten snuggly with your aunt and uncle in a very long time. However, it is pleasing to the eye when there are no large spaces between family members. You may hear us say “get snug”, or “get close”, this is just to translate a loving relationship in the images.
#10 Plan with your Photographer
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Your PEI wedding photographer should be an asset not only on your wedding day but leading up to it! Be sure to hire a photographer who has the experience and tackles these scenarios regularly. Not only are we a wealth of information, but we can help make you a timeline that will help keep you stress-free on your wedding day. Most people tend to only plan a wedding once, we do it every week! Be sure to capitalize on that knowledge.
