Staged wedding photos are something of a necessary evil.
My partner and I both hate having our picture taken. We’re not photogenic and we never know how to pose for photos.
Case in point…
But – all the same – we knew we wanted to have a photoshoot with our wedding party, for three very good reasons:
1. Because we knew both our families would expect one; it’s a wedding tradition that’s not going away any time soon, and it’s better to spend twenty minutes taking pictures with your family than to have everyone invited coerce your very expensive wedding photographer away from what you want them doing to take photos of them in awkward, stilted poses.
2. Because it seemed like a waste not to have staged photos taken with all our nearest and dearest while everyone looked incredible, all dressed up in their gladrags. I will never again look better than I did after a team of highly trained professionals did my hair and make-up; I’m using those pictures for every photo ID I’ll need for the next ten years.
3. Because we wanted to guarantee our wedding photos would be pictures of us with the most important people in our lives – not dozens of pictures of my Uncle Jeremy steadily working his way through the canapés. (He did disturbingly well.)
But, even for the least photogenic people, staged photos don’t have to be awkward. They don’t have to be everyone standing deathly still, grimacing at the camera, like they’re in a police line-up.
You can have fun with them.
And you can bring props!
Giant Scrabble tile props for wedding photos
Giant Scrabble tiles are an easy way to make everyone feel a bit less awkward about getting their picture taken. Holding one up gives your wedding party a job to focus on, beyond don’t screw up my expensive wedding photos with your weird face. And you can have a lot of fun working out different messages to spell out. ‘Thank you for coming’ would look incredible on the front of your thank you cards. ‘Just married’ would make an incredible keepsake, framed on your wall.
My partner and I are Harry Potter nerds, and we loved the idea of taking a photo in front of a sign that said ‘mischief managed’ – a repeated line in the books – after we were married. It’s one of my favourite photos from our wedding.
It’s probably too subtle to notice but I’ve mildly modified it for privacy. Kooky Weddings
And it’s easy to do, to boot.
Free download
Download the free .PSD file and open it in Photoshop or other image editing software, like Photopea, to see the different layers and choose which tiles you want to print. (Not sure how to use Photoshop? There are step-by-step instructions here.)
Print the tiles on A4 card, so they’re sturdy enough to be held up. (Paper will be too flimsy, especially if you’re taking pictures outdoors.) Then cut them into squares, so they look like oversized Scrabble tiles, and work out what you’re going to say.
Spell out your names, say ‘it got real!’, or keep it simple with a ‘whoop whoop’. Whatever you do, it’s going to look awesome.
