It’s unequivocally the best, and by that I mean easiest for everybody involved. Time to take family photos during your wedding day is an hour to an hour and a half before the ceremony. Make a list. Make sure you know exactly what photos you’re taking. If you have only one or two photos that involve a huge number of people, and those people are only needed for one or two shots, tops. You can take those ones after the ceremony. But all the little ones with your parents and your spouse’s parents and siblings, and all the ones where there’s going to be a lot of little groups. The best time to do it is before the ceremony. You can have those people come early, have them come to the ceremony location, and however long your photos are going to take, ask your photographer. And their photographer can tell you how long it’s going to take based on how big your list is and how reliable those people showing up on time you believe them to be. But aim to be finished with your photos a half hour before your ceremony. And that’s the easiest, easiest time. I recognize that in order to do this, you’re going to have to do a first look where the bride and groom see each other before the ceremony so that they can stand next to each other and all these family pictures. If you’re willing to do that, put your family photos before the ceremony. You will be so glad you did. Because after the ceremony, all you have to do is photos of the two of you. And depending on what the rest of your schedule is, you can be kind of opportunistic about that and get creative. Interesting stuff in the evening when the light’s prettier. The big family photos are just about organizing people. They’re barely about photography at all, except the photographer just needs to make sure the lights even and they’re framed right and everyone’s looking at the camera. So it is way more important that the people in the photos are in a good mental state before the ceremony. They’ve just put their makeup on and they’re looking fresh and they know it and they don’t need a lot of touch ups and they also haven’t had a drink yet. They’re very easy to organize. Stress free. Do it before the ceremony. It’s what I’m going to do for my.

It’s the best time for family portraits is definitely after the ceremony. I’m Megan Hansen, and I am the owner and lead photographer for Onyx and Opal Creative Co. Let me tell you something. You will be surprised at how hard it is to herd grown adults, okay? So after the ceremony, you know, everybody is already in the same place. You don’t have to go hunting. They’re all right there. But listen, the key to making this successful is making sure that you tell everybody who’s supposed to be in these pictures ahead of time not to leave after the ceremony. And let’s be honest, you’re probably going to have to tell them that about five times and maybe even have your efficient say it again at the end of the ceremony, make sure they know to stay put. There is nothing worse. Well, there probably are a lot of things worse, but it’s pretty frustrating on a wedding day when you all of a sudden have just wasted 30 minutes of your day because Uncle Joe or Grandma Nancy has gone missing and nobody can find them, right? So, right after the ceremony. And make sure you’re guests know if they are supposed to be in your family portraits.

Do your family portraits as soon as possible. My name is Kelsey. I’m the owner and lead photographer of Capture by Kelsey, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Okay, my ideal timeline for when to do family portraits on your wedding day is before the ceremony. That’s, of course, dependent on whether or not you and your groom are seeing each other before the ceremony. I personally love when my couples do first looks because then they can get all of their formal portraits done before the ceremony, which means you actually get to go enjoy cocktail hour with your guests. That being said, I also totally respect my couples who choose to have the first moment that they see each other be in the aisle. So if that’s the case, do your family portraits immediately after the ceremony. Like, do your ceremony exit, go tuck away and sign your certificate while all of the other guests move on to cocktail hour. And just make sure that your immediate family members know to stay behind to get their family portraits done. If your family makes their way to cocktail hour, it is going to be like herding cats to get them back to take those family portraits. So recap option number one, my favorite do a first look and get your family portraits done about an hour before the ceremony so that you have about a half an hour before the ceremony to just relax before things get started, and then you get to go to cocktail hour. Option number two get your family portraits done as soon as you’re done signing that certificate after the ceremony before you lose them to cocktail hour and snacks.