Family Formals & breaking the stigma!

PHEW. I feel like this is going to be a good one for a few reasons! Mainly, its breaking a tradition in the wedding world…..EEEK! I want all soon to be brides out there to know that IT’S OK to break tradition sometimes, especially with this :)

There has always been a stigma around where you do the “family formal” photos on your wedding day! Most brides and parents prefer to have them taken at the ceremony site. Now, as that is always an option and, in some cases, works out perfectly fine and we can make it happen as long as there is the space and good light. On the flip side of that I feel like in certain circumstances its 100% ok to do them somewhere else! This is more so referring to any indoor wedding!

Truthfully, unless you have AMAZINGLY big windows in the church you’re tying the knot in, the carpet that isn’t red or green ( WHYYYY do churches do this? lol ), you dont have funky colored walls, there will turn out pretty ok. But why settle for “ok” when you could walk away with images that look like you did a separate family session? What most families don’t understand is that the lighting in these indoor venues and churches aren’t great, and its very dim. You would have much more flattering photos if we found a spot outside, weather permitting of course. I do realize that sometimes there is no covered area if its raining, or too hot, or too cold. But, if we can make it happen, I would always recommend keeping your portraits as natural as possible outside instead of inside!

Here are a few reasons why I think that outdoor family formal shots are the best idea:

You don’t have to wait to start them and we get the most out of your timeline! When you do them inside, you have to wait at least 20 minutes for everyone to recess and leave, then gather all the family to go back in. When we have an outside spot, we can gather everyone there as they recess out of the ceremony and start immediately! (Of course after the first few minutes of the bride and groom doing the “ WE”REE MARRIEDDDD” dance)
I feel like this is a given, but BETTER LIGHTING!!!!!! As a natural light photographer, any kind of fluorescent or fake lighting makes me cringe. It can be VERY yellow sometimes and not good for your skin tone! By shooting family photos outside, even if the sun isn’t out on a cloudy day, it would be 1,000% better light than indoor lighting! You will see this in some examples below!
The Background. Most couples pick their venue because of the location, or style of the building! Some get married in large cathedral churches, libraires, or grand sanctuaries. While there is nothing wrong with that, when it comes to family formals you won’t see any of it. The only thing you will see are the people in the photo. I don’t shoot family formals with a massive wide angle lense that gets in all the grand details, because I would be so far back that you wouldn’t even be able to see who all was in the photo. Family formals are close and cropped in tight so you can tell who is who! So even if you love the venue for the design, that can be captured beautifully during the ceremony, or maybe just a few of the bride and groom after family photos are done!

Enjoy some of these examples below! This was Katie and Eriks church wedding (my very first paid wedding WAY back when, (insert crying happy face here, I truly love them so much and they are a HUGE part of my wedding photography journey story!)

The ceremony was inside:

With family formals outside!

Also a great example of loving aspects of the venue but not being able to really see it during family photos! They loved this cross outside, and wanted to do family in front of it. While the cross was decorated beautifully, I was cropped in tight and you couldn’t see that’s what it was. So after family we did some of just the bride & groom with it and they turned out beautiful! We still use the parts of the venue you love, just not usually for family photos :)