Wedding Photo Shot List: The 40 Photos You Will Actually Want

Most shot lists online run to 150 items and get ignored by the photographer by 11 am. Photographers do not need to be told to photograph the kiss. What they do need is the short list of people, objects and moments that matter to you specifically. This is a trimmed list of forty, sorted by the part of the day, with a note on what to hand to the photographer and what to keep for yourselves.

Before the ceremony (12)

1. The dress hanging in good light
2. Rings, invitation and one detail that is yours (a grandmother’s brooch, the vows)
3. Shoes and the bouquet together
4. Hair and makeup, final touches only
5. Mother or friend fastening the dress
6. The groom’s watch, cufflinks, tie being fixed
7. Groom with his people, one relaxed frame
8. The bride’s first look at herself in the mirror
9. Reading a letter from the other person
10. First look between the couple (if you do one)
11. A quiet portrait of each of you alone
12. Walking to the ceremony, from behind

Ceremony (8)

13. The venue, empty, before guests arrive
14. Guests arriving, wide
15. Groom’s face as the bride enters
16. The walk down the aisle
17. Hands during the vows
18. The ring exchange, close
19. The kiss, and the two seconds after it
20. Walking back up the aisle, guests cheering

Portraits (8)

21. Full-length couple, formal, looking at camera (the parents’ frame)
22. Couple walking, talking, not looking at camera
23. Close portrait, foreheads together
24. A wide, cinematic frame with the venue or landscape
25. Each of you with your own parents
26. Both families together
27. Wedding party, one formal, one silly
28. Grandparents, if present, first and seated

Reception (12)

29. The room set up, before anyone sits
30. Table details, one close frame
31. Entrance to the reception
32. First dance, wide and close
33. Parent dances
34. Speeches: the speaker and the couple’s reaction
35. Cake cutting
36. Guests laughing at tables, candid
37. The dance floor from above or from the edge
38. A night portrait of the couple outside, city or stars behind
39. The send-off
40. The last frame: whatever is happening at the very end

What to give the photographer

Only the names. Which grandparents, which friends flew in from abroad, which sibling does not like being photographed. Everything else on this list is standard for any experienced wedding photographer; the names are not.

The pre-wedding frames worth having in advance

Three photos are needed before the wedding rather than after: the invitation photo, the save-the-date photo and the welcome-sign or slideshow photo. These are the frames couples get from a pre-wedding session or, increasingly, from AI wedding photos made from selfies, which cover the studio, destination and formal looks that the wedding day itself rarely has time for.