Controlling Group Photography

In all my experience as a wedding photographer I'd have to say the most difficult part of any wedding day is the group shots. Not in terms of photography but in terms of logistics. Getting together various family members in a highly social event can pose a number of challenges. One of which is the dreaded "Never Ending Group Shot". This can happen when certain family members want to have their photo taken with other family members and insist they get a shot alone with the bride and the groom. Then others see this and want the same. Soon you have an infinite number of combinations of people all looking for their shot with the bride and groom. Some of the responsibility falls to the photographer to take control if the situation gets crazy, but the photographer is there for mainly the bride (sorry groom, you're important too but bride's wishes trump all ;)

I once shot a wedding where the bride had alloted a half hour for a few family shots and it ended up a 2.5 hour marathon because the family wanted far more combinations of family shots than the bride had originally intended. The toughest part was she was being too nice and continued to say "OK we can do that shot too..." I took her aside at one point and said "If you don't want to do these just say so, people will respect that." But, since many of the relatives had travelled to this wedding she felt obligated to appease their wishes. I felt bad for her as both her and her new husband's cheek muscles started to give out and smiling became quite painful. After an hour and a half of shooting the bride and groom didn't even bother smiling (can't say I blame them). But the family pushed on.

Now that was an extreme example but the best way to avoid the madness is do the following:
- have a shot list in order from the greatest number of people to the least, also include any elderly folks you can at the start so they can go and sit down sooner than later - have a bridesmaid, groomsman, or family member assigned to round up the necessary folks and is familiar with most of them.
- give priority to whichever shots are most important to you, if an uncle is off having a smoke break and the shot can't be done, move on to the next and bump that one to last.
- have a set time limit to the family shots and have an activity scheduled afterwards that family would not want to intrude upon. Personally, I encourage couple to have 20-30 minutes alone to decompress and absorb the weight of the occasion. It's not for everyone, but those who take some time for themselves find the day is less of a blur.
- announce that the photographer is happy to take more family shots later (informal), I certainly don't mind snapping photos once the party starts if Aunt Pat just adores the bride and want a quick shots with her. Family is very important and that shot could be the source of fond memories years down the road.
- break the list into family and bridesmaid/groomsmen shots. Generally the latter can be a bit less formal and can be done away from the family shot locations. Which also helps speed up the family shots.
- if you have to shoot for more than a half hour or 45 minutes, take a break. Your cheeks will start to twitch and the shots after that point will have a faded, fatigued smile.
- above all look around once and awhile and remember these people are here to share the joy of this big day and *smile*