Family formals are the posed group photographs a couple takes with their families on the wedding day — usually fifteen or so combinations, taken straight after the ceremony, and they take about thirty minutes to work through.
Every wedding photographer will ask you for that list. Some of us call it the family formals. Others call it a wedding shot list, which is just a running order of who stands with who. Almost nobody tells you how to write one, so most couples send a spreadsheet of names with no order, and their photographer ends up squinting at a phone in a field, calling out names they can't quite read. I've been that photographer.
This builds the list for you. Two first names, your guest list pasted in, and a tap to say who's who. Three minutes, and you have something he can actually run the day from. It's free, there's no account, and there never will be a bill.
When it looks right, send it to your photographer. A wedding family photo list that stays on your phone does not get used. His does.
Three steps: your two first names, your guest list pasted in, and a tap each to say who's who. The order builds itself.
Tell us who's getting married. First names only. Every group in your list gets named after you both, so your photographer isn't reading "Partner 1" out loud to forty people.
Paste your guest list. One name per line — parents, siblings, grandparents, the wedding party. Anyone you'd want in a formal photo.
Tap who's who. Two taps a name: whose side, and how they're related. That's the whole job.
A list that stays on your phone does nothing. Sent, it becomes a live wedding shot list he ticks off as he shoots.
The list only works if he has it. A list you keep is a list that does nothing.
Send it from here and he gets a live wedding photographer shot list on his phone, in shooting order, with your names on the groups. Not a PDF. Not a screenshot in a WhatsApp thread that scrolls away by the ceremony. A list he ticks off as he shoots. He can share the same list with a bridesmaid or a second shooter by QR code, so somebody is always gathering the next group while the current one is being photographed. It keeps working on bad venue signal.
Fifteen groups, largest first so people can leave. About thirty minutes. Trim it to ten and you're done in twenty.
This is the list the generator builds, before it adds your own names to it. Fifteen shots, in the order a photographer would actually work through them — largest groups first, so people leave and never have to be fetched back.
All fifteen take about thirty minutes if everyone is where they should be. Cut it to the first ten and you are done in twenty.
Put your own names in and every "Partner 1" above becomes a real person, so your photographer is calling out names rather than reading roles aloud to forty people.
The same fifteen photos take thirty minutes in the right order and three-quarters of an hour in the wrong one.
Most shot lists are just a pile of groups. The order is what saves you time. Ours works largest-to-smallest, so people leave the frame and never have to be fetched back. Grandparents go early, because standing about is hardest on them and they've usually had the longest day.
Done properly, the full fifteen take about thirty minutes — and a trimmed list of ten is done in twenty. Done as a pile of names in no particular order, the same photos take three-quarters of an hour and eat your drinks reception.
If two parents are on the same side, we ask you once, privately, and split their photos with a buffer shot between.
This is the part couples dread, and the part most tools ignore. If we spot two parents on the same side, we ask one question: are they still together? If the answer is no, their photos are split into separate groups, and a buffer shot goes between them so there's no awkward swap in front of everyone.
You can tell us if either has a new partner who should be included, and whether you'd like a photo with just that parent first. Your photographer never has to work it out on the day, and nobody gets asked a question they didn't want asked in front of the family.
Immediate family and the wedding party. Every extra group costs two to three minutes standing in a field.
Immediate family and the wedding party: parents, siblings, grandparents, bridesmaids, groomsmen. Extended family is where lists go wrong — every additional group costs two to three minutes, so ten extra groups is half an hour standing in a field. Aunties, uncles and cousins are better caught properly during the reception.
Three weeks after the wedding the gallery arrives, and the photo of you with all four grandparents was never taken, because nobody thought to ask for it. That is the photo this exists to protect.
A wedding shot list is the document you give your photographer that tells them which photographs you actually want on the day. It usually covers two things: the posed family groups (family formals) and any particular moments you care about. The family formals section, who stands with who and in what order, is the part that is fiddly to plan, which is why this generator exists.
Start with the family formals. List every group portrait you want, ordered from the largest group to the smallest. Then add any specific moments you care about, such as the first dance, the cake cut, the ring exchange. The generator above handles the family formals on its own. Enter your family members and it builds an ordered list you can send straight to your photographer.
The essentials are: just the couple, the couple with each set of parents, the couple with both sets of parents together, the couple with siblings on each side, the couple with full family on each side, all grandparents, and the full wedding party. Put grandparents and older relatives early. They tire quickly. The generator includes all of these and lets you add your own groups on top.
Each group takes about two to three minutes to wrangle. Keep the list under fifteen groups, in a sensible order, and the formals finish in under thirty minutes. A trimmed list of ten is done in twenty. A pile of names with no order takes three-quarters of an hour.
Stick to immediate family (parents, siblings, grandparents) and the wedding party. Extended family and large friend groups are better caught during the reception, or as one quick custom shot at the end if you really want them.
When two parents show up on the same side, we ask one question: are they still together? If not, their shots are split into separate groups, with a buffer shot between them so neither has to share a frame or wait awkwardly. You can say if either has a new partner to include, and whether you'd like a shot with just that parent first. Your photographer never needs to ask that in front of the family.
Yes, especially for family formals. Without a list, photographers have to guess who belongs in each shot, which means confusion, delays, and missed groups. A clear list means they can move, stay organised, and keep your guests from standing about. The best photographers will ask you for one. This is how you make it and send it.
Yes — build your list with the generator above and you can download it as a PDF, with your actual family's names in shooting order rather than blank rows to fill in. Your photographer still gets the better version: a live list on their phone that ticks off as they shoot, so nothing gets missed when the day moves around.
A shot list template is a blank starting point, a spreadsheet or PDF you fill in yourself. A generator builds the list from your actual family members and sorts the order and the groupings. Templates still leave the work with you. Use the generator above and the family formals list is ready in under five minutes.
Built by Nicholas Teal, a working wedding photographer. Every rule in this generator came from a real wedding day — usually from getting it wrong first.