The fix is having a few ideas of your own ready to go. The poses that actually make people laugh aren’t the soft-focus forehead-touch ones. They’re the jump shots, the prop gags, the groomsmen doing something deeply undignified in matching suits.
We pulled our favorites from real L&L weddings: airborne bridal parties, fake mustaches, a lightsaber, one genuinely confused stranger in a wedding dress. Click any of them to see the full day. And if you want more where these came from, browse our Real Weddings directory.
Our Favorite Funny Wedding Poses
First up: funny poses spotted on real L&L weddings, the ones that needed zero coaching to land. Click any link to see the full day. Scroll further for shoppable props and extras to help you recreate them.
Groom Launched Skyward in a Superman Pose
The groomsmen counted to three and launched. He committed all the way: one fist forward, chin up, full Man of Steel in a blazer.
It helps that Tara and Matt got married in Bora Bora, so a grown man briefly achieving flight has palm trees and tropical sky to land against.
See Tara and Matt’s Bora Bora Wedding →
Wedding Party Caught in a Toy-Gun Standoff
Everyone’s drawn. The groomsmen have the couple caught in the crossfire on a lakeside dock, the bride aims a blue water pistol right back, and nobody’s lowering a squirt gun.
Erica and Mike got married at a medical oddities museum and called the whole day equal parts laughter, art, and weirdness, so a toy-gun shootout in formalwear is right on theme.
See Erica and Mike’s Retro Punk Museum Wedding →
Catching Air in the Classic Jump Shot
The jump shot is the wedding-portrait classic for a reason: it takes about six tries, a lot of shouting, and exactly one frame where everybody peaks together. Worth it every time, whether it’s the whole party or just the two of you.
Everyone up at the same instant, arms flung out, not one straggler left on the sand. Pieter and Ingrid nailed theirs on the beach at Strandkombuis in South Africa, and our editors still call it one of the best jumping party shots they’ve seen.
See Pieter and Ingrid’s South African Beach Wedding →
Four groomsmen airborne at once, arms and legs going every direction, against a yellow wall so saturated it looks fake. Lauren and David’s Charleston day at the William Aiken House handed them the backdrop; they handled the airtime.
See Lauren and David’s Charleston Wedding →
Just the two of them this time, both feet off the ground and both grinning like they planned to crash into each other somewhere in the middle. Maren and Jeremy married at Snoqualmie Ridge Golf Club, and that rusty orange wall does more for the shot than it has any right to.
See Maren and Jeremy’s Snoqualmie Ridge Wedding →
The bridesmaids take the jump and add a kick, heels flicked up mid-air to show off the shoes you don’t usually see at full height. Lyndenn and Josh ran aqua and red through everything, hang time included.
See Lyndenn and Josh’s Wedding →
Groomsmen Flaunting Their Funny Socks
Somewhere along the way, loud dress socks became the groomsman’s favorite way to smuggle some personality past a buttoned-up dress code. A few crews made sure the socks got a portrait of their own.
One leg out, all in a row, and there go the socks: loud striped ones nobody clocked until the suits parted. Everywhere else, Kim and Ethan’s fall wedding at the Piedmont Club stuck to deep blue and gold; the ankles were where the groomsmen got to misbehave.
See Kim and Ethan’s Virginia Country Club Wedding →
Shoes angled toward the middle, shot straight down from above, and a heap of feet turns into the most-pinned photo of the night. Denise and Chris had a rustic barn wedding in Oxford, and the socks carry the whole frame.
See Denise and Chris’s Barn Wedding →
The groom stands tall while his two guys hit a full hand-on-hip catalog pose, pant legs hitched to put the socks on display. Nobody requested the smolder at Nicole and Andrew’s Lord of the Rings greenhouse wedding. They got it anyway.
See Nicole and Andrew’s Lord of the Rings Wedding →
Whole Wedding Party Leaning In to Peek at the Kiss
The couple kisses dead center while the whole party funnels in toward them. The bridesmaids tip way over from the left, the groomsmen angle in from the right, coral and black tuxes both closing on one kiss.
And they pulled it off on a Grand Floridian yacht, so the whole balancing act is happening on a moving boat.
See Jane and Dan’s Grand Floridian Yacht Wedding →
Hamming It Up Behind Fake Mustaches and Disguise Props
Hand a wedding party a bin of fake mustaches and novelty glasses and the formal portraits are officially over. Two weddings leaned all the way in.
Rob and Amy went rock and roll, which apparently meant hats, a striped photo wall, and a mustache on a stick for every groomsman, then the same props for the bridesmaids and flower girls. The bride’s the only one who passed, a privilege she’d earned.
See Rob and Amy’s Rock and Roll Wedding →
The newlyweds went first: a chalkboard reading “Husband + Wife” and matching fake mustaches, because nothing says till death like coordinated facial hair. Then the guests raided the bin for heart glasses, a fake beard, round shades, and a doll-sized top hat at Cindy and Mario’s Texas ranch booth.
See Cindy and Mario’s Texas Ranch Wedding →
Groom’s Bug-Eyed Gawk at the Bouquet
The groom gawks down at the bouquet like it personally surprised him, mouth flung wide, while the bride loses it next to him with her eyes shut. The patchwork plank wall behind them does more than most studio backdrops manage.
Hunter and Kirsten’s backyard vintage wedding clearly didn’t take the portraits too seriously.
See Hunter and Kirsten’s Backyard Wedding →
Groom Bolting From His Own Groomsmen
The groom takes off down a tree-lined dirt lane at a dead sprint with the whole groomsman pack giving chase. Runaway groom or lost bet, nobody’s slowing down for the photographer.
It’s from the same backyard vintage day, where Hunter and Kirsten plainly let the guys improvise.
See Hunter and Kirsten’s Backyard Wedding →
Groom’s Cool Lean Wrecked by Peeking Bridal Party
He leans on the tree like the cover of an album nobody requested, going for pure unbothered cool. The groomsmen quietly wreck it by peeking out around both sides of the trunk like the world’s slowest ambush.
Brenna and Austen’s country club day was cracking jokes from the first button.
See Brenna and Austen’s Kansas Country Club Wedding →
Groom Studying a Getting-Dressed Flip Chart
Mid getting-ready, somebody drew the groom a “Game Plan” on a flip chart: stick figure, shirt, pants, arrows and all, in case he forgot the running order. He stands beside it in a tank top studying it like game film.
Same wedding, hours earlier. Brenna and Austen’s crew was clearly heckling him before he’d even buttoned a shirt.
See Brenna and Austen’s Kansas Country Club Wedding →
Groom Spotting His Bride Through a Lens
He lifts a lens to one eye to “spot” her; on goes her bashful hand-to-chest, like she’s just been caught grazing in the wild. With a zebra-print backdrop and carved giraffes flanking them on both sides, nobody was doing this halfway.
Laura and Parker took the safari theme all the way at the UC Berkeley Botanical Gardens, portraits included.
See Laura and Parker’s Safari-Themed Wedding →
Bride Cracking Up Next to a Stranger in a Gown
On a Dublin street, the bride crossed paths with a guy in a full wedding gown, veil and pint included, and completely lost it. A second bride crashing your photos is not something you can plan for.
Clare and Duncan’s colourful Dublin City Hall wedding was already loud and a little chaotic. The city just tossed in a bonus character for free.
See Clare and Duncan’s Dublin City Hall Wedding →
Full Hero Pose With a Toy Lightsaber
Green blade overhead, deep blue sky behind, bride kneeling at his side mid-swoon. He’s grinning ear to ear, fully sold on the hero shot, and the total commitment is what makes it.
Kyle and Justin built a Star Wars wedding at Interlachen Country Club, and the photographer made sure the lightsaber portraits actually happened.
See Kyle and Justin’s Star Wars Wedding →
Groom Playing Paparazzi to His Bride
She blows a kiss; he leans in behind a vintage camera like she’s the only thing worth shooting all day. Out in a golden field, in full wedding kit, it reads as half fashion shoot, half private joke.
Alyona and Max kept things vintage in Moscow, and that old camera isn’t just along for the frame.
See Alyona and Max’s Vintage Moscow Wedding →
Bride Hitched onto the Groom’s Back
Nothing deflates portrait-mode formality faster than climbing onto your new spouse’s back. Two couples, same gloriously undignified move.
Chloe and Ben kept theirs barefoot and in black and white on a Miami Beach rooftop. He hauls her up under the bistro lights, lace sleeves around his neck, and a silly piggyback ends up reading like the last shot of a very good film.
See Chloe and Ben’s Miami Beach Elopement →
Emma and Clint took theirs to a South Carolina field at dusk, her dress spilling over his arms and the bride caught mid-laugh. That kind of laugh is hard to fake on command, which is exactly why it’s the keeper.
See Emma and Clint’s South Carolina Wedding →
FAQs
How do you take funny wedding photos without them looking forced?
Pick the pose before the camera comes out, not during. The shots that land here, the jumps, the standoffs, the sock kicks, all have a clear action everyone can commit to, so nobody’s standing around trying to “act” funny. Give people something to do and the real laugh shows up on its own.
What are the easiest funny poses for the whole wedding party?
The jump shot is the classic for a reason: count to three, everyone goes up, and you’ll get one keeper out of about five tries. After that, the lean-in formation and the synchronized sock kick need almost no instruction, and they photograph well even with a big group.
When in the day should you shoot the funny poses?
Right after the formal family photos, while everyone’s already lined up and slightly bored. They’re ready to be let loose, and the contrast from the serious shots pulls the best reactions. Save anything that messes up hair or dresses, like a jump or a piggyback, for after the ceremony.
Do funny poses work for just the couple, or do you need a big group?
Both. A toss or a sock-kick line needs the crew, but plenty here are just the two of you: the leap toward each other, the paparazzi bit, a piggyback ride. When it’s only you two, lean on a prop or one clear action so the photo still has a punchline.
What props make wedding poses funnier?
Anything that hands people a character to play. Fake mustaches on sticks, heart-shaped glasses, a chalkboard sign, even toy water guns all show up in these weddings. The trick is one prop with a clear joke, not a whole bin of random stuff fighting for attention.
