Before we get into the full shot list, here are a few helpful tips when preparing your list for your photographer.

1. Assign a Family Helper

Choose one person from each side of the family who knows everyone. This person helps gather relatives quickly so your photographer can focus on capturing beautiful images instead of searching for guests.

2. Keep the List Efficient

While it’s tempting to include dozens of combinations, try to focus on immediate family and the most meaningful groupings. To keep with a simple timeline, I recommend 20 or less groupings. More than that, and you may need to adjust your timeline to accommodate. Plan for about 1- 2 minutes for each grouping for gathering and posing and capturing the photos.

3. Share the List Before the Wedding

Send your final shot list to your photographer at least two weeks before the wedding so it can be incorporated into your timeline.

4. Start Planning Early

This is probably my biggest tip! Start planning this list early once you've sent out Save The Dates. As you get closer to the wedding day, the more details that will take up your bandwith and you won't want to think about groupings.

5. Have Portraits throughout the day

If you do first looks, you can get a few portraits done, plus your entire wedding party photos done before the ceremony. You can also do all of your family photos or split your family photo combinations to have some done before ceremony which will save time after if you are looking to enjoy some of your cocktail hour. Example: If you're doing a first look with your dad before ceremony, you may not need an individual portrait with him post ceremony if you're wanting to max your timeline.

6. Include Names with relations

When making your shot list, include the first names of your family members and who they are in relation to you. This makes it so much easier for us to quickly move through the photos and be as time efficient as possible. We can just go down the list and call people by name to get them organized into their groupings.