Free wedding tool · 1 minute
Free Wedding Photo Shot List
Build a photographer shot list for your ceremony, family groups, and reception, then print it for the day.
Shots on your list
50
Including 10 family groups, which will take your photographer about 30 minutes. Check that against the gap between your ceremony and reception.
Total shots
50
Family groups
10
Family photo time
30 min
Sections
6
Getting ready
Quiet, unrepeatable, and the first thing to get cut when you run late.
- The dress or suit hanging before it goes on
- Rings, shoes, and jewellery together
- Invitation suite laid out flat
- Hair and makeup in progress
- Reading a letter from your partner
- The moment a parent sees you ready
- Wedding party toasting in the getting-ready room
- Walking out of the door
Ceremony
Your photographer knows these. Flag anything unusual about your service.
- Empty venue before guests arrive
- Guests arriving and being seated
- Both of you waiting before the entrance
- The processional
- Your face as your partner walks in
- Vows being read
- Ring exchange, close on hands
- The kiss, wide enough to show the room
- The recessional
- Signing the register or licence
Family groups
The only shots nobody but you can list. Allow about three minutes each.
- Both of you with each set of parents
- Both of you with all parents together
- Both of you with grandparents
- Each of you with your own immediate family
- Both of you with siblings
- Full extended family, one big group
- Both of you with the wedding party
- Each of you with your own side of the wedding party
- Anyone who travelled a long way
- Anyone who may not be at the next wedding
Just the two of you
The shots you will actually hang on a wall.
- Full-length portrait in the best light on site
- Close, candid, laughing at something
- Walking away, holding hands
- Wide shot showing the venue or landscape
- Golden-hour portraits
- A night shot with lights behind you
Reception
Where guests take their own photos too — worth collecting theirs as well.
- Room set up before guests come in
- Table settings, stationery, and favours
- Cake before it is cut
- Your entrance
- Every speech, plus reaction shots of you listening
- First dance, wide and close
- Parent dances
- Cake cutting
- Full dance floor late on
- The send-off
Details
Small things you paid for and will otherwise never see photographed.
- Bouquet and buttonholes
- Signage and seating chart
- Menus and place cards
- Centrepieces from above
- The bar and signature drinks
- Shoes, cufflinks, and anything borrowed
Why it helps
- A complete starting list you can cut down instead of writing from scratch
- Family group shots named so nobody gets missed
- Print a clean copy for your photographer and your coordinator
The other half of the day
Your photographer covers this list. Your guests see everything else.
OnceRoll gives every guest a shared camera, so the moments nobody was hired to shoot still end up in one place.
Keep planning
Tools that go with this one
Related reading
More on planning this part
How to Collect Wedding Photos From Guests Without Chasing Everyone
The best guest-photo system is the one people will use in the moment. Here is how to choose it, set it up, and avoid the mistakes that make couples miss half the night.
Wedding Photo Scavenger Hunt Ideas That Do Not Feel Like Homework
A good photo scavenger hunt gives guests permission to notice the room. These prompts keep the activity light while helping you collect better wedding candids.
Frequently asked questions
Wedding Photo Shot List questions
Do photographers want a shot list?
Most want the family group combinations, because those are the ones only you know. They rarely want a list dictating every candid.
How long do family photos take?
Plan around three minutes per group. The list counts your groups so you can check the time against your day timeline.
What gets forgotten most often?
Photos with grandparents, the two of you with each set of parents, and anything involving guests who leave early. All three are on the list by default.