Group photos at weddings (the fun and quick way)

Shooting group photos at weddings is probably the oldest tradition that links photography with weddings. And as much as I dislike doing them, I do realise they have a purpose, and a certain degree of importance to the documenting of your day. I totally get it… at your wedding are the most important people in your lives, taking part in possibly the most important day of your life (so far), so making sure you get a photo of you and them together in the same shot is a huge deal.

The biggest mistake most couples make when it comes to having their group photos taken on their wedding day is the amount of time you put aside for it. Or possibly the huge amount of time your photographer has put aside for it. Believe me, there are some photographers out there that bloody love doing endless group photos… I’m not one of them. I’d rather be spending my time getting fun, emotional, creative, and natural photos of you and your guests enjoying the day without the faff of a boring two hour staged photoshoot. Your day will go by in the blink of an eye, don’t waste it doing something you really don’t want to.

Admit it, we’ve all been to a friends wedding where the group photos seemed to take forever to get done… people started arguing because they were taking so long… or Uncle Dave was missing from the shot (almost certainly at the bar!)… well, this is exactly the reason why I give all my couples two simple instructions to make the group photos part of their day go as smoothly as possible.

1. Keep your group photos list to around 6-8 groups MAX!

2. We shoot them 10-15 minutes before you sit down for food/speeches… and the whole process doesn’t take longer than 10 minutes!

Right, now let me ease you in gently. I’ll keep it simple, and with a bit of luck you’ll like the images I’ve captured, and agree that this is exactly how you want your group photos to look like.. If you want any posed/staged photos at all that is!

In an ideal world, all group photos would look something like this…

and these…

…Chilled-out, totally relaxed, sometimes even completely candid and caught in the moment images! That first image may look like some epic staged affair, but in actual fact took about six minutes to setup and shoot. Then everyone was called in for their meal!

(BELOW) Still don’t believe me that group shots can be quick to shoot and totally natural? Here’s a selection of fun alternative shots taken around the time of me shooting the formal versions.

Photo 1 - Taken just after the formal group photo…

Photo 2 - Taken just before the formal group photo….

Photo 3 - THE formal group photo… (as formal as it gets with me!)

(BELOW) The boys!

The best advice I can give you for getting really relaxed shots of lads, is to have a drink! Have a few beers… chill out with each other, and then I’ll approach you and take a fun group photo. And you never know, I may even catch a fleeting BROMANCE moment too.

(BELOW) A perfect example of a candid group photo. The bride and her bridesmaids all gathered, waiting to go through to the ceremony room.

(BELOW) The girls! Here’s a small collection of extremely simple setups. As you’ll see, whether you’ve got 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or more bridesmaids… I like to keep the frame filled, but a nice simple and clean shot. Minimal distractions and always a cool backdrop.

(BELOW) Here’s a collection of group photos that really benefit from vibrant colours. I always edit my images in a subtle manner. I’m not a fan over over-saturated filters/presets at all. I want my photos to look natural, and truly representative of the day you got married!

(BELOW) For this large family group photo I shot in France last year I continued shooting after I’d taken the simple group photo. I personally prefer the second shot! It has a lot more energy and humour to it than the first. But what I like isn’t always what everyone else likes, so I will always deliver both options to the couple.

(BELOW) Mix it up! Blending the boys and girls together for a fun and (moderately) formal shot.

(BELOW) Find the perfect location… and stick to that perfect location.

(BELOW) Go with the flow. I shoot SO many frames when I’m doing the groups. Probably because I’m rattling through them as quick as possible so you can get back to the party, but also because I always capture the unexpected, and random events that happen in the moments in between!

(BELOW) In my experience the wider picture is ALWAYS more interesting…

(BELOW) This kid was slowly sliding out of the shot… I think he heard an ice cream van go by!

(BELOW) Suggesting something a little different - Its not unusual for me to say to a bunch of flower girls “JUMP!”… this instantly makes them do something fun, but also creates a cool portrait.

Asking a groom and his groomsman to climb onto the roof of the fire engine that brought the bride to the wedding…

Or even asking the bridesmaids and the bride to have a little dance to loosen up!

So that’s it… my very brief guide to getting your group photos done in the easiest and most stress-free way possible. Just have fun, keep smiling, and PLEASE just stick to the 10 minute rule! Trust me, you’ll thank me in the end.

Thanks for taking the time to look at this post I’ve put together. If you like the look of these images I’ve shot, and think I’d be a perfect fit for your wedding day, please get in contact with me and lets chat!

If you’ve already booked me, GREAT! Please take these tips on board and I promise to give you a collection of amazing images from your wedding day that you’ll love looking at for the rest of your lives.

2019 - End of year slideshow

I’ve edited and delivered over 35,000 images this year, so narrowing that number down to just 55 of my favourite frames for this slideshow was extremely hard.

2019 started off with my first wedding of the year on Valentines Day with a lovely London elopement. Made even more special by the fact that the couple only booked me a couple of weeks before the wedding day.

With weddings all over the UK, France, and Spain, I’ve really enjoyed visiting lots of new venues I hope to shoot at again soon. One thing I’ve really noticed this year from my enquiries is that it seems a new wedding venue opens up every week in the UK!

On a personal note its been a very joyful year with us welcoming our beautiful second son Jonah into the world in April. His arrival prompted me to choose to take on less weddings this year than ever before and it has not only allowed me to give my couples the best service they deserve, its also allowed me to spend lots more time with my family.

Unlike previous years I’ve gone for a bit more of a slow song for this slideshow. At just 2 minutes long I promise not to take up too much of your day. Even though its a shorter slideshow than I’d normally make, its still full of fun, emotion, relaxed portraits and most off all (and my favourite)… documentary style wedding photography!

Many thanks to all of you that booked me to shoot your wedding this year… I hope you love the moments I captured for many years to come.

I’m really excited about my 2020 weddings, and have still got dates available if you’ve not yet booked a photographer… just get in touch!

Have a great Christmas everyone, and a very happy new year.

Ed.

2018 end of year review

Fun plays a huge part in my photography. Well, thats what a lot of my couples tell me anyway! And I like to think a lot of this end of year slideshow portrays how I capture all the happiness I see at weddings.

Putting together a slideshow at the end of the year is never easy. Mainly as I have SO many fun and creative shots I want to feature. Anna and I delivered over 40,000 images to couples this year, so choosing just three minutes worth of photos to show was really tough! What you’re about to watch is only a tiny selection of images that make me smile when I look at them… Just as much now as when I saw them happen in front of me.

To every couple that asked me to shoot their wedding this year, THANK YOU!

Thank you for booking me, trusting me, and just allowing me to rock up on your special day and just do my thing. Even after 20+ years of doing this I still continue to find shooting weddings a hugely interesting and fun experience. And when I get to spend so much time with couples that genuinely get excited about seeing what I see, it really does mean the world to me.

(And if you like this slideshow… you can check out a couple more of my previous years slideshows too… 2017 and 2016)

Trinity Buoy Wharf wedding photography London - Roisin and Sam

“Thank you so much for sending us the images of our wedding, we were so excited to see them and went through all of them straight away (and again that evening and the next!)

You captured our wedding in the most perfect way and we honestly could not have hoped for better. It's been amazing to see all the moments throughout the day, especially the ones which we'd missed ourselves!   

Working with you has been an absolute pleasure and we're so pleased we had you as part of our day, you made us feel completely at ease, and from speaking to our guests, they felt the same too!”

Were you a guest at this wedding? Below is just a selection of my favourite shots from the day, but why don't you take a look at their online gallery and download some photos... for free!

Simply click HERE -  Then get the password from Roisin + Sam, and download as many HI-RES images as you want!

York Minster elopement wedding photography - Sherry and Will

Were you a guest at this wedding? Below is just a selection of my favourite shots from the day, but why don't you take a look at their online gallery and download some photos... for free!

Simply click HERE -  Then get the password from Sherry + Will, and download as many HI-RES images as you want!

London wedding photographer - Christina and Dan

“Thank you so much for taking such wonderful photos of us and our friends and family. We are blown away by how good they are. Even though we knew you were good - they are just perfect, and we are so happy. We fell very lucky to have had you to capture the day.

It was great also to see photos of the bits we weren’t there for, or had forgotten.” - Christina and Dan

Were you a guest at this wedding? Below is just a selection of my favourite shots from the day, but why don't you take a look at their online gallery and download some photos... for free!

Simply click HERE -  Then get the password from Christina + Dan, and download as many HI-RES images as you want!

Hackney London wedding photography - Heather and Alessandro

London weddings can be chaotic, fast-paced, trendy, colourful, action-packed affairs! And this one certainly ticked all those boxes.

Heather + Alessandro were such fun to spend the day with... and all their guests were fantastic too. I shoot 99% of a wedding in a documentary style (with just a tiny bit of direction chucked in when it comes to the portraits) which means wandering around making sure I'm in the right place at the right time, to capture all the emotions on offer. Shooting up close and personal like this can sometimes make people feel pretty camera-aware, but not this wedding... everyone soon got used to me hanging around, and welcomed me into the party pretty much from the minute I stepped into bridal prep.

I got to ride through the streets of London in a cool Red Mustang... witness one of the best confetti cannon explosions ever (not going to lie, I crapped myself when they went off!)... and then finished the day off with one hell of a party at such a cool bar venue.

Hev + Alex, thanks for having me along to snap your special day... and thanks for trusting me to just get on with doing my thing, and capturing such fun shots for you.

Ed, Honestly I am trying to put into words how much we love the photos and how grateful we are, but I am finding myself stuck - which for someone who garbles 120 words a minute usually, is not something I say often. 

The whole process has been a dream, honestly. It's really odd how circumstance meant we were just unable to meet pre-wedding, but yet you just felt like part of the family on the day. Everyone that attended has commented how laid back and relaxed you made them feel, and that definitely shines through on the shots.

I myself am a millennial stuck in a cycle of constantly trying to obtain 'perfection' when it comes to photos of myself, due to the way that my generation are forced to act when it comes to things such as social media - and I was so nervous to see the photos without my usual hodge podge of VSCO and Instagram filters. It's so insane how uneasy losing control over the camera when it came to portraits of myself made me feel. But you have honestly flipped that upside down; I can't even fathom the fact that some of the shots you've taken are actually Ale and myself - they look like they've been pulled straight out of a NYLON shoot.

My dad commented that the whole photo set looks like a collection of stills from Reservoir Dogs, and my mum chimed in saying she got a real Wes Anderson feel from a lot of them. This alone sums up all we could have possibly dreamed for.

I cannot wait to show these photos to our grandkids when our tattoos are faded and wrinkled and we're trying to prove how cool we once were, seriously they are beautiful.

You've outdone yourself, 110%. Thank you 50,000,000 times.

Hev & Ale x

If you scroll through this wedding and think "WOW! Yeah... these are the kind of fun and relaxed photos I want at my wedding!" Then please do get in touch.

Were you a guest at this wedding? Below is just a selection of my favourite shots from the day, but why don't you take a look at their online gallery and download some photos... for free!

Simply click HERE -  Then get the password from Heather + Alessandro, and download as many HI-RES images as you want!

 

Rainy London pre-wedding shoot - Kat and Marc

London pre-wedding shoot with Jeni + Ned