It's very important to let everyone who will be in the post-ceremony formal pictures know to be ready immediately after the ceremony. By this time, you'll be ready to get right down to the partying aspects of the evening, so the faster the pictures get done, the quicker you can get to the reception! You want to avoid having Uncle Johnny waylaid by your chatty Aunt Beatrice, while all the little nieces and nephews queue up for the restroom! Try that delegation thing again (diplomacy, like communication, is another essential skill for planning a wedding – but I'm sure you realized this while organizing the seating charts)! Appointing someone in your family or bridal party to help gather everyone, and keep a list of those to be included in the pictures can be invaluable! Incidentally, this "contact person"– you can make them a clever nametag if it'll help convince them to take the job – can help the photographer during the reception by pointing out important guests who weren't in the formals, but who you'd like photographed. Just for your reference, the three standard group shots are as follows: Immediate families (including spouses and children) of the bride and groom; parents with the bride and groom; and the bridal party.