"Photos your photographer won't take at your wedding....unless
you ask for them!"
It has been my experience, with 40 years as a wedding
photographer, that the most forgotten people when it comes to
photos at a wedding are often the individual parents of the
bride and/or groom.
Most photographers will be sure to include the parents in
photos with the bride and groom, but most will never think to
inquire about doing groups of the individual dads of the bride
or groom with all his brothers and sisters who are present at
the wedding. And of course, the same is true with the individual
moms of the bridal couple, too.
While you're getting these photos taken, be sure to include any
parents and grand-parents of those brothers and sisters that are
there, too, to capture their entire core family group in photos.
A wedding is almost the perfect place to take these kind of
photos with the individual parents and their siblings. Everyone
in the families has gathered for the big event, many times from
far flung regions of the country.
Their child's wedding may well be the first time the brothers
and sisters have gotten together in years. It may be many years
in the future before they are ever together again. If the
opportunity to take these group photos is passed over because
nobody thought much about the importance of this fleeting
opportunity, then those photos may end up never being captured.
These photos often turn out to be the most important and most
appreciated of all the photos I take regularily at the wedding.
I'd be willing to bet that less than 10 percent of wedding
photographers plying their trade today know to get these photos
for you. You will have to specifically ask for them to be taken,
or they just won't be done!
Other important people that most photographers will probably
overlook photographing for you at the wedding, unless you give
them your written photo request list, are the bride and/or
groom's god parents, groups of the bride and/or groom's
co-workers, high school friends, youth camp friends, fellow
fraternity and sorority members, fellow sports team members for
high school or college.
The one thing no wedding photographer can do is look at a room
full of total strangers and figure out how they interlock with
each other just by looking! I gave up trying to do that after
photographing my very first wedding 40 years ago! Now I send
each bride an email before the wedding requesting exactly this
sort of information, so that I don't end up missing anyone of
importance to the bridal couple on their special day.
You will want to see to it that your wedding photographer is
thoroughly armed with this often overlook information, so that
they will get these photos for you. Remember, your wedding
photographer can't read your mind when it comes to who among
those present on your wedding are important to you and need to
be photographed with you.
You might also help make getting these photos easier for your
photographer by making sure that the people who are going to be
included in these special group photos are told to be available
for the photos being taken when the other groups are
done...either before or immediately after the wedding ceremony.
You will not want to be trying to pull these groups together at
the reception, because getting them all together at the same
time at the reception is often one of the most difficult things
you'll do on your wedding day. It is better to avoid doing these
photos at the reception altogether, if possible and get them
done early in the day.
Also, be sure that all the people to be included in your photos
know to stay in the room the photos are being taken until all
the groups are done. If someone slips off because they think
they are through being photographed and it turns out that they
are needed for an impromptu additional last minute group
request, everything grinds to a halt photo-wised, until someone
tracks them down and brings the back.
If you aren't careful, this could be repeated over and over
again as various people slip outside for a smoke or to use the
restroom after their group as been taken. When this happens, it
can extend the time needed for the photos by as much as an extra
half hour...and that time is probably cutting into your
reception time, too.
A lot of churches today have church services scheduled pretty
soon after the wedding concludes, so many times the photographer
ends up being rushed timewise on getting the group photos for
you. I've had priests tell me immediately after the receiving
line concludes, "You have only 20 minutes to get all your groups
done. We've got a church service starting soon."
In my email to be bride before the wedding date, I always try
to avoid having this happen by asking if there is a church
service planned for after the wedding...and, if so, how soon
will it begin after the wedding . I point out that everyone will
need to RUSH back in immediately if we are crowded for time by
the church. Don't let others complicate it for your photographer
by them slipping out of the room before all the group photos are
taken.
Copyright, Bill Collins, 2004