[candidshotluvr]

I have been asked to shoot of family of 11 and I am having a really hard time understanding focus for large groups let alone more than one person. I have read about distance and that it is more about that than aperture being set at a number the same as the amount of people. When I have used that technique before, my shots are really bad, grainy, just crap. I have seen group photos of about 10 people taken at 5.6 and every single face and detail is sharp. I need to understand how to get it right. I want every detail to be sharp. Seen it done, know it's possible. Can someone please help me understand what I need to do to get that result?