Old School wedding photography

I must be mad posting these group photos - don't get me wrong - it was a beautiful wedding with two lovely families and a great couple to work with; but they're hardly cutting edge, arty wedding photos are they? I have never seen a group photo on a competitors website but it's weird, every couple that book us are really keen to have informal photographs that record the fun of their wedding - but they take those as a given - it's the formal photographs that we get asked about.
Do we do them? How long do they take? Do we allow guests to take a shot with their cameras? We do - but we advise you to keep the list fairly short. As the newly-weds are in (nearly) every shot - it's important to have the next group lined up ready for the next photo to capture natural and not fixed smiles. And how long do they take? it depends on the length of your list but being organised and quick workers, thirty minutes is usually more than enough time.

Anyway, I actually like the formal shots - it's not a very fashionable position in this age of "Reportage" style work but I have photography books with "formal" shots of family groups taken throughout the last two centuries throughout the world - they provide a great social history. Just as long as they are done quickly!