Wedding photos with a very large family
With forty cousins, the instinct is to add more photos. The trick is to take fewer, bigger, better-organised ones.
5 min read · Updated 7 October 2026
Large families are where family photos most often go wrong: too many groupings, too many people to find, and not enough room to fit everyone in the frame.
Take fewer photos
Aim for one extended group and three or four smaller groups per side. Every extra grouping with a large family costs three or four minutes, because of the movement.
Pick the location early
- Wide steps are ideal: people stack naturally and every face is visible.
- Your photographer may want a raised spot: a balcony, a wall, a stepladder.
- Check where you’d go if it rains. Big indoor spaces are rarer than you’d think.
One wrangler per side
Pick someone loud and well-liked from each family. Give them the list in order. Their only job is to have the next group ready before the current one is finished.
Tell people in advance
Send a message the week before: “We’re doing family photos straight after the ceremony, please don’t disappear!” It saves more time than anything on the day.
Paste your family list in and we’ll work out the order with the fewest people moving.
Make my family photo listQuestions people ask
How do you photograph a large family at a wedding?
Use fewer, larger groupings, a location with steps or a raised position for the photographer, and a wrangler on each side to gather people.
How long do family photos take with a big family?
Plan for 30 to 40 minutes with a large family, even with a short list, because gathering people takes longer.