as a wedding photographer, it is inevitable that you will be asked to shoot a family members wedding. usually it’s a close cousin or a cousin’s friend that is literally considered family. what do you do if it’s a closer family member? how can you really be there on their wedding day? keep reading to find out!!!

i was so excited and honored when my cousin, Andrew, asked me to photograph his wedding! i’ve watched andrew grow up into a wonderful young man and to be able to capture he and his bride, alaina, saying their vows before their friends and family was such a special treat for me! this was the first family members wedding i shot. so it was a little easy to juggle, since it was a cousin. cousins are not normally in all of the formal portraits and let’s face it, it really isn’t super important that they’re in any pictures! on the rare occasion i have a bride that is REALLY close to one of their cousins…but they’re usually a bridesmaid or a groomsman.

fast forward to august. my little brother’s wedding. we all {my ENTIRE family}, flew out to seattle washington for their big day! it was great. we spent 4 days preparing for the wedding in seattle…like, literally rushing last minute to plan things 🙂 and we were able to be a big part of their day. i was a little stressed though. i was not only acting as big sister for the wedding, but the only photographer. that’s a lot of pressure! i photograph weddings alone all the time…no biggie. i work great alone. but for your sibling…it’s a whole new ball game! to top it off…he married a photographer!!! i wanted to deliver the best images i possibly could for them. all in all, i was able to do it. things were crazy. but we all survived!

to make it a little less stressful, i made sure to do the following:

1} ask for help when i needed it

my older brother didn’t mind stepping in and corralling people when i needed them for photos. in fact, everyone stepped in to help when i asked for it 🙂

2} tripod and trigger!

these are the two MAIN things you need if you’re shooting a close family members wedding. you can use a self timer, but a trigger makes it SO much easier!!! and let’s face it…everyone needs a good, sturdy tripod 🙂

3} don’t get lost in the job

it is so easy to make a wedding ‘business’ instead of personal. it is especially easy if it is for a family member because you don’t want to get ‘too involved’ emotionally. but let’s face it, you want to be able to capture those memories as well as live those memories. i have wonderful memories getting to shoot my little brother’s wedding. i was the ONLY one there when they read their vows to each other because they chose to do that immediately following their first look. i was able to spend the morning with the bride while she got ready! i was able to ride with the bride and her bridesmaids for 2 hours up the mountain on our way to the ceremony, as well as 2 hours back with the bride and groom {my brother} after they said their i do’s. i was emotionally involved for every moment of their day, but i was also able to step back and be their photographer. it was a joy and an honor that i hope every photographer gets to experience at some point in their career.