A wedding photography shot list
with every family group named.

A short one. Family formals: twelve named groups in shooting order, such as 'Couple with Sam's grandparents, Rose and Albert'. The must-have list, one line per moment: 'Grandmother's pearls on the dresser', 'Priya's reading', 'The car at the gate'. The day timeline in blocks, each with who covers it, and the second shooter's half of the day. Generic moments like the rings or the first kiss stay off, because you shoot them anyway.

Start big: both families together while everyone is at the front. Then one side's immediate family with its grandparents and children, followed by the couple with that side's grandparents, who can then sit down; repeat for the other side, so children and elders are free early. Next the couple with both sets of parents, then one side at a time, getting smaller: parents and siblings, parents, the partner with their own parents. Nobody released is fetched back.

Plan on two to three minutes per group, including the shuffle, so twelve groups need thirty to forty minutes. Ten to fifteen groups is a common shape; past that, formals start eating into the couple's portraits and the drinks. Save time by using one spot in open shade, keeping the couple in place while families change around them, and having the family wrangler gather the next group before you need it.

No. A long list of generic poses slows you down and tells the couple you need reminding to photograph the kiss. Keep the list to the family formals by name and the moments nobody could guess: heirlooms, readings, cultural rituals, surprises and the people who matter. If the couple sends a board of saved pins, ask which three frames from your own portfolio they love most, and plan the look from those.

A common split: the second shooter takes the other partner getting ready, the venue before guests arrive, reactions from the side aisle, the room before guests sit, and cocktail hour. Put it in writing with the arrival time, dress code, lenses and flash rules, share the day timeline, sync both camera clocks before the ceremony, and agree that nothing is posted without your say.

The names for every family group, the finished day timeline, the planner's and venue's contacts, the venue's photography rules and a family wrangler for each side, by the date in your contract. Two to four weeks out is a common deadline, and a common point for the balance to fall due. Ask the couple to tell everyone in the family formals where to be after the ceremony; it saves more minutes than any posing trick.

Two slots is a common shape: twenty to thirty minutes after the family formals and the wedding party, then ten to fifteen minutes in the hour before sunset, taken from the reception between courses or speeches. Look up the sunset time for the date and check the venue's horizon, since hills and trees end the light early. A first look before the ceremony moves most portraits earlier and frees cocktail hour.

Keep the family formals and the must-have list in a Doc on the board, with a tick box per line, and export that Doc to PDF for printing. Then have the AI draft a call sheet PDF with the day timeline, addresses and phone numbers for you and your second shooter, leaving a visible blank wherever a detail is missing. If the planner works in spreadsheets, the AI can export the day timeline table as an Excel file.

It can draft one for you to correct. Paste the couple's questionnaire answers and the planner's schedule into Storyflow, and its AI drafts the day timeline block by block, the family formals one group per line and a first must-have list on the board, without inventing a name or a time you did not give it. You decide the order, the must-haves and which shooter takes each moment, and any AI edit can be undone in one click.

Into your studio software. Storyflow plans the list and the day; it does not send contracts, questionnaires or invoices, take payments or deliver galleries. HoneyBook, Dubsado and Studio Ninja handle contracts, questionnaires and invoices, Pixieset delivers galleries and has its own contracts and invoices, and HoneyBook delivers galleries too. Paste the questionnaire answers onto the wedding's board, or invite the couple to type the names in themselves.

Not during early access. Storyflow is paid-only during early access, with plans from $7.99 a month billed annually ($9.99 monthly). A free plan launches before the end of 2026, and anyone a paid member invites to a board joins free. The couple and your second shooter pay nothing to work on the list.