The Ultimate Guide to Wedding Party Photos!

You chose your wedding party members for a reason — they’re your ride or dies, your siblings, your day ones! Of course, they’re with you to support you as you get married. But you also get to dress up with them and get some super fun wedding party photos on your wedding day! Today, we’re going to go through some super fun wedding party photo ideas, and also how to get the best wedding photos you possibly can! Trust me, some of these points might just surprise you a bit!

Let’s get started! Don’t forget to Pin anything you think will help you as you approach your wedding day!

Poses for Bridesmaids

Let’s start with the ladies — aka your bridal party! 

First, let’s get the classic  — all lined up in a row and looking at the camera. The key items for the best bridal party photos are:

1. Line up “butt to boobs”, meaning that if you feel too close to the person next to you, you’re probably doing it right! I’m not usually someone who advocates for being uncomfortable, but we want you to look like buddies, not an awkward family photo, ya know?
2. Hold those bouquets so the top of the flowers are at your belly button. Again, this feels a bit awkward, but I promise it looks 10000% better than what technically feels natural. 
3. Shift your weight to your back foot, allowing your front knee to bend slightly or relax. Even with long dresses, this will create some great dimension!

Now that we have the classic, try some of these fun bridal party pose ideas!

1. Look at your neighbor and tell them how beautiful they look!
2. Go shoulder-to-shoulder and walk toward me, looking at your buddies and laughing together!
3. Show off the backs of your dresses! Wrap your arms around those next to you (those at the ends can drop your bouquets to your side). We might even have the bride or person of honor peek back at me!

Poses for Groomsmen

Here are some awesome tips for wedding photography ideas, specifically for dude wedding parties!

Again, we’ll start with the classic! Line up, groom or person of honor in the center with their shoulders square to me. Each groomsman can angle their body toward the center, lining up their shoulders.

Here are some more key tips and photo ideas!

1. Hands can be placed left-over-right in front of the body, or in pockets. Whatever the choice, make sure everyone is uniform!
2. I also recommend “butt to boobs” here, but, like, the dude version, whatever that is 😀
3. Guys can also shift their weight to one leg or the other for a more natural, relaxed look. After all, we’re here to have fun!

After formal photography is out of the way, you can get weird! Here are some of my faves!

1. Flying V (ya know, like geese)
2. Walk toward me, being the fly dude you are. Some suggestions are to adjust your jacket, run your hands through your hair, or check your watch. Maybe even some finger guns are in order!
3. GENTLY tackle the groom! The key here is to get some motion, but not take the poor dude out, especially since the ceremony hasn’t even happened yet. We still need to get him married!

Poses for Mixed Wedding Parties

Welcome to 2023, when no one cares about having strictly gendered wedding parties — a friend is a friend! And why should your brother stand on your partner’s side when he’s YOUR brother, ya feel?

The same classic advice from above stands for wedding group photos  — if you have a bouquet, top at your belly button, and if you have pockets, hands in your pockets or in a left-over-right configuration.
Other than that, some of the same ideas work from above! Check out these fun pose ideas for some awesome wedding party pictures!

Poses for the Full Wedding Party

Now for wedding party pictures! Grab your closest peeps and let’s get some pictures for the whole wedding party going!

Ok, you get the idea for the formal photo now, ya? If you have a large wedding party, it’s even more important to get really tight so we can see everyone in the frame!

I love getting a walking photo of the full wedding party! Another cute idea is for the couple to kiss or dip in the center of their wedding party while the party cheers LOUDLY! Believe me, the photo knows how loud you were 😀

Poses for Individuals!

Ok, so you got your group photos, but what about one with you and each person from your own side for your special day?

Again, we’ll do a formal here, and then I always give my couples the option to do a silly/cute/funny photo as well! This is a great time to share a moment with each of your special wedding party members! Check out some inspo in my Winter Wedding at Cosmo Conservatory.

For the pictures of wedding parties formals, remember the tips from above! 

1. Bouquets in the center and nice and low. 
2. Hands in pockets!
3. Get nice and cozy by putting your arm around the other’s waist or back. Make sure to hide any fingers so the photo doesn’t have creepy, rando fingers on the groom’s shoulder, ya know?
4. Shift your weight to your back leg. 

After you get your nice formal, it’s time to get silly! Pull out all the inside jokes, fun memories, or goofy faces and let’s make some new memories with your group wedding pictures!

Little Wedding Party Members

Let’s not forget about the littles that might be in your wedding (humans or other…)! These could be flower girls or ring bearers for example. They are certainly important too! 

Take some time to highlight the younger members of your wedding party by squatting to their level and giving them a nice hug or high-five. Maybe they want to hold the bouquet to feel a bit special — go for it! You (and they) will appreciate these memories for a VERY long time!

Final Tips!

Alright, so we talked about the awesome poses to get, but first, we have to get your wedding party prepared! Here are my best tips to make sure that your group wedding party photos go smoothly:

1. Make sure your hair and makeup artists know how many people they are working with and when they need to be done BEFORE your wedding day. Adding people at the last minute will most certainly cause us to get behind.
2. Consider having a first look so that your formal photos can be done before your guests arrive. That way, you don’t have to try and wrangle people when they’re tryna run off to cocktail hour and chat with people!
3. Make sure your wedding party is ready with enough time to grab and dry off bouquets, pin on boutonnieres, and get out to the location. 
4. Let your wedding party members know what kind of terrain you’ll be on. If you’ll primarily be in the grass, recommend that they wear block heels, wedges, or flats so they don’t sink into the ground!

The more you do to prepare your crew, the more smoothly your day will go! If your friends typically run behind (we all have at least one), consider a coordinator to Type A attendant to keep everything moving!

Now You Know the Best Wedding Party Poses!

Yay!!! But know, you don’t have to actually KNOW these if you have a great wedding photographer on your side! I hope you enjoyed these wedding party photos for some inspiration and ideas!

If you want someone with you who will guide you through your day, poses and all, and you like the images you see in this post, I’d love to hear from you! 

Contact me here!