How to Create a Wedding Photography Shot List Your Photographer Can Actually Use (Free Download)

If you search for a wedding photography shot list, you’ll probably find a huge checklist: rings, first kiss, bouquet, cake cutting, first dance. But your photographer already knows to photograph those things.

A useful shot list tells your photographer what they couldn’t know without you.

Instead of writing, “Photo with my grandmother,” tell me, “My grandmother raised me, and a portrait alone with her is really important to me.” Now I understand why that photograph matters. I’ll also know to watch for the little moments between you throughout the day.

The same goes for family relationships. Weddings bring together complicated families, and your photographer won’t automatically know who is especially important to you or who shouldn’t be placed together. Tell us if your parents are divorced, if your stepfather raised you, if your sister is your best friend, or if a family friend is basically another parent.

Your shot list should also include meaningful details. If the earrings you’re wearing belonged to your grandmother, tell me. If your dad’s photograph is tucked into your bouquet, tell me. If you’re carrying an heirloom that has been passed through your family, that belongs on the list.

What Should Be on Your Shot List?

Keep it simple. Include important people and relationships, family portrait combinations, heirlooms and sentimental details, cultural or religious traditions, surprises you have planned, and anything you would be heartbroken not to have photographed.

For family portraits, give your photographer the actual combinations you want. For example: couple with both parents, couple with siblings, bride with grandmother, groom with grandparents. Having this planned ahead of time keeps family photos organized and prevents them from taking over your wedding day.

One thing you don’t need is a list of 75 Pinterest poses you want recreated. Inspiration is helpful, but your wedding isn’t someone else’s wedding. The location, light, people, weather, and emotions will all be different. Give your photographer room to create something that belongs to you.

After photographing weddings for years, I’m already watching for the first kiss, the rings, the nervous hands, the tears during the ceremony, your parents’ reactions, your friends on the dance floor, and all the little moments happening while you’re busy getting married.

Download My Wedding Photography Shot-List Template

Not sure where to start? I created a simple Wedding Photography Shot-List Template you can fill out before your wedding. It focuses on the information your photographer actually needs: your must-have family combinations, important people, sentimental details, traditions, surprises, and anything you absolutely don’t want missed.

[Download the Free Wedding Photography Shot-List Template]

Don’t worry about telling your photographer to photograph the obvious. Tell us who matters. Tell us what has a story. Tell us what we couldn’t possibly know. That’s a wedding photography shot list your photographer can actually use.