The Best Way to Take Family Wedding Portraits if Your Parents are Divorced and Remarried

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Weddings bring out all sorts of emotions, and can get hard to navigate when family politics are involved. Divorced parents can complicate things even more, no matter how friendly your parents may be to one another. If one (or both) of your parents are divorced, the big thing that comes to mind is organizing family pictures at the wedding. How should you arrange separated, divorced, and remarried families for the portraits? Our experts have a few tips.

Whether your parents are still best friends or are barely civil to one another, you'll want to arrange for pictures with your individual families first and foremost, so put those at the top of the list. The two of you as a couple should take pictures with each parent, including their new significant other if they are in a relationship or are remarried. Inviting step-siblings to the wedding? Include them here, too.

If your parents are more friendly with one another, model your family pictures after shots including the bride and groom's parents: Have Mom and her new spouse on one side of the two of you, with Dad and his new spouse on the other side. You and your hubby might want to swap places halfway through so everyone has pictures standing next to their newly-married kid!

Planning on doing photos with your siblings included in the mix? If both of your parents will be in the picture and their step-kids will be, too, follow the above format, mixing your siblings in along with your Mom and Dad, then arranging step-siblings on the outer edges, on the same side as their respective parents.

If you want a big group photo with your family, his family, and all of your parents and siblings, you might need to do so on a set of steps if your growing family is big enough. Put siblings and biological parents in the front (along with their spouses), then arrange step-siblings just behind and above them.

For situations that are a little less friendly, you may want to skip the combined family pictures and instead focus solely on taking photos with each individual family, then combinations of sets of parents (the two of you with your mom and her husband with your groom's parents, then with your dad and his wife with your groom's parents, etc.).

See more: Should You Take Family Photos Before the Wedding Ceremony?

Source: The Best Way to Take Family Wedding Portraits if Your Parents are Divorced and Remarried