Do you really want hundreds of photographs of various combinations of people all standing uncomfortably and smiling through clenched teeth?  Or would you prefer candid shots of you, your wedding party, and your guests?

To allow more time for capturing candid shots, you need to limit the number of posed group shots. This is particularly true immediately after the wedding ceremony, as the time you spend extracting yourself from the well-wishing and photo-hungry crowd will eat into the time many of you have allocated for your bridal and wedding party portraits.  Make sure you have a plan for how you will extract yourself quickly so that you can keep to your schedule.  You may want to discuss how best to skip the receiving line with your officiant.

There will, of course, be some group shots that you do want – and these should be identified on the shot list that you give to your wedding photographer.  Even if your ceremony and reception are held in the same place, consider taking these important group shots in a location that is away from the guests, and having only those involved in the photos present.   This will make everyone in the photo much more comfortable (they won’t feel as though they are on stage performing for a crowd), and will eliminate distractions so you can be guaranteed that everyone is looking in the right direction at the right time (nothing worse than having 10 people looking in the right direction and one not).

By doing this, you will cut down on the time required to take the group photographs that you really want and allow more time for the photographer to capture everyone else in candid moments.