Wedding Photography Shot List: The 27 Photos to Ask For (and the 5 to Skip)

Good photographers do not want a 90-item shot list — they want to know the twelve things that matter to you and the six family groupings you need. Give them that and they will shoot the rest better than any list could describe. Here is a shot list that fits on one page, grouped by part of the day, plus the handful of requests that make photographers quietly sigh.

Getting-ready photos (6)

1. The dress / suit hanging, in good window light.
2. Rings, invitation suite and small details together on a flat surface.
3. The bride's parent or wedding party helping with the last button or tie.
4. Reading the letter or opening the gift from the other partner, if you exchange one.
5. The wedding party together, relaxed, before anyone is nervous.
6. Leaving for the ceremony — the door, the car, the walk.

Ceremony photos (6)

7. The venue empty, set up, before guests.
8. The partner waiting at the front — their face as the doors open.
9. The walk in, from the front, with the parent.
10. Both of you at the altar, from behind, with the guests in frame.
11. The kiss. Ask for it to be held for three seconds.
12. The recessional — confetti, cheering, the first look at each other as married.

Family and group photos (5)

Print the groupings with names, in order of who leaves first (grandparents before anyone).

13. Couple with each set of parents.
14. Couple with both families together.
15. Couple with grandparents.
16. Couple with siblings.
17. Full wedding party — one formal, one where everyone is told to laugh.

Couple portraits (5)

18. Walking, not posing, a few steps ahead of the photographer.
19. One wide shot showing the whole venue or landscape.
20. One close portrait of each of you alone.
21. Golden hour, ten minutes, if the sunset time allows.
22. One photo you chose from someone else's wedding that you loved — show it, don't describe it.

Reception photos (5)

23. The room set up and empty: tables, flowers, place cards.
24. First dance from a low angle with the guests around.
25. Speeches — the speaker and the couple's reaction, both.
26. Cake cutting.
27. The dance floor from above or the edge, wide, with the lights.

The five wedding photos to skip

• Every table, table by table. It takes 40 minutes, nobody frames them, and it pulls the photographer off the candid shots that are the actual reason you hired them.
• The ring inside the flower / the shoes on the ledge. Photographers already have their own detail shots; the Pinterest version rarely matches your venue.
• Jumping group photos. One person's eyes are always shut.
• Reshoot of the kiss. If the officiant blocked it, that is what the recessional is for.
• “Get a photo of everyone.” A single group shot of 140 people needs a balcony, a ladder or a drone, and a plan made in advance — decide that with the photographer, not on the day.

How to hand it over

Send the list two weeks ahead, along with the timeline and the family groupings with names. On the day, give the family-photo list to a relative who knows everyone and is happy to shout. The photographer's job is the camera, not finding your great-aunt.