Large wedding parties

I met this week with the mother of the bride regarding a July wedding

I've been hired to shoot. Turns out that, in the bridal party, there

are 13 bridesmaids, 13 groomsmen, and three sets of children! There

are no pets involved. The bride and groom are both really sweet young

folks and just wanted to include as many friends as possible. What is

the largest wedding party you've ever dealt with and do you have any

tips (besides some cowboys on horseback to do the herding...)?

Shoot the formals in medium format.

The key thing is to know what shots you have to do, be in contol, be orgainzed and don't make people wait while you set up your gear. Work out with the bride what groupings she wants, keep the list short and stick to the list. When you are working with the people keep everyone's attention on you and minimize distractions. Make sure you have everyone present for each group before you start setting them up. Try to get someone to be in charge of this. Try to get away from the other guests, particularly the ones shooting over your shoulder. You don't want a 20 minute shoot stretch out into an hour marathon.

Yeah, typical answer, medium format would work if you have it. And it won't do you a darn bit of good unless you have a way to light that group. Digital with a 6+ mp sensor will work, too. Use a good wide prime lens if you have it.

 

In this scenario, I get the best results using a lighting kit. You will undoubtedly need to stack these folks on stairs or a stage if you are shooting indoors, and you'll need plenty of light from at least one strobe high up on a stand to hit the groups to the rear. For something this large, I'd shoot using two AB800s with large umbrellas and on camera fill. Works very well.

 

Also remember to give yourself room in the frame for cropping to 8X10 size prints.

 

Finally, study large group photos to memorize unique posing ideas. There are quite a few ways to cram a lot of people into small working spaces if you can't get them outside.

Bride with girls beforehand, Groom with guys beforehand (before

ceremony). After ceremony just the group of all of them

together... period.

MF is one thing to consider, another would be to rent the 1ds2.

 

Leave some crop room, as suggested.

 

Learn to build a pyramid, its been done for quite some time :-)

Largest was 39 total. Luckily, I had a nice flight of stairs to work with but on the altar, just had the usual 3-4 steps. The typical inverted triangle should still work with your group, splitting the groomsmen on either side of the couple with the bridesmaids and kids in front. You might also plan out an arrangement that is more rectangular in shape and deeper (more rows) than the typical one above if you have enough steps, but this will make it harder to avoid shadows cast from one person to another if using the typical key/fill off-camera/on-camera lighting arrangement.

 

In my experience, when you're working with a lot of people, your chances of shooting guys/girls before the ceremony are lower because there's bound to be people/kids missing. Most of the time these shots plus the entire wedding party shot are done right after the ceremony. I normally photograph the wedding party group first anyway because of the kids in the party. They get bored easily and half the time, if you don't get this shot right away, the parents leave with their kids. I find that you just have to use your "loud voice" when organizing large groups, because half the time any intermediary assigned to be the "contact person" is even less successful in getting groups together. The exception is if that person is truly organized (generally rare) and has a microphone.

Can't remember the last time I had that many --in a party. Stack 7 ladies a side -- and a the gentlemen {)between each ladies shoulders(} ~~ in a second row .

I have shot several bridal parties with 30 or more people in them.There isnt a big secret to formals with a large amount of people.You might want to use a wide set of stairs and do 2 rows.

David is right about a 1ds. Full frame/high rez will work better here cause wide angle lense performance.

 

You may find that a 1.6 crop does not give you enough real estate, or your forced into 17mm w/ gobs of barrel distortion and weak optical performance.

 

Bring the big lights if you have them.

 

Shooting outdoors will give you more options. If possible, use a wide staircase at the entrance to the church to stack and pack three rows. Bring a ladder to shoot higher.

 

After the bride is given up by her father have the entire wedding party less the BM&MOH take a seat. This will make the cermony shots easier. If you don't do this 26 people hudled on the topdeck will block your FOV to the B&G.

 

I shot a wedding last year where the groom and his men were huge...three of them were 7ft+ Even the bride and her maids were taller than me @5'10"

 

Large groups can be tough - Good luck

Groups of this size can be a real challange. If using two lights and with this size you should .... as mentioned above be careful not to have the lights to far apart which will cause undesirable shadows.

 

To help get the group together.... one thing I do is instruct everyone when doing the before shots...that when everyone comes back in for the formals to stand where they were at the end of the ceremony. then all I usually have to do is a little rearranging.

 

Had one a few weeks ago that had 18 kids UNDER the age of 12 in the wedding party.... now that was fun :) I would have liked to have moved the little guy in the back over to the side but they were fading FAST and got what I could. It was wild to say the least.

 

Rick<div></div>

I'd say planning is the biggest element. Communicate to the bride and groom that they

need to inform the people they want to be included in pictures to get in place right after

the ceremony. With that many people, you're bound to have someone run off unless they

KNOW they have to stick around (it's better not to assume they know.)

Scheduling is important. The order of putting the groups together will help. If people wait too long boredom sets in. Start with the guys as this gives the ladies xtra time to get ready. Get a volunteer who can help you as a "point person" from the wedding; the attendant, maid of honor, someone who knows most of the people to help you get the respective groups together.

 

The largest wedding group photo I've done is with 26 people. I used my Mamiya Pro TL with a 45mm lens. Fuji NPH. That was before digital. I'd use both mediums today as the digital can sub as a Polaroid to get your group set up properly.

Excellent advice, all! Thank you very much. I probably should have given you more technical information up front, but you answered the questions anyway. I am no longer waffling about taking the lights - they will definitely be used (especially since the sanctuary has no windows or natural light). I have a 1200WS Novatron pack and will probably use two close-spaced heads as suggested. I have a 6 x 6 which hasn't been used in over a year (it's in excellent working order, though). This will be a good reason to get that out. The rest of the stuff (preparation, processional, recessional, reception, etc.) will be shot with a Canon 20D and "L" series lenses. Your set-up advice really helped me pull things together and the people-oriented advice will be the basis for a work plan and checklist. Thanks again.

 

Rob