What to Wear for Family Pictures

Something we hear all the time is “what do we wear for our session?”. We’re here to bring you the details and a few elements to consider when you’re planning your family photo session! Whether you’re doing a mini session that’s seasonal, or you want timeless images that will live on your walls for years to come! The key elements to consider are: Coordination, Color Story, Timelessness, and Seasonality.

Coordination

Coordinating style and color is an important styling aspect when considering how to dress your family. Remember, coordinating doesn’t necessarily mean matching! It works really well when you can find a great pattern for one or two individuals to wear and find coordinating clothing pulling different colors out of that pattern.

Color Story

Another element that can elevate the look of your photos is a thematic color story. Whether you want to mix and match, or just weave the same colors through coordinating your attire, this tool can help pull together the portrait and take it from accidental to intentional. Have a member of the family who is finicky or has a limited wardrobe? Start with them first and pull the rest of the family’s outfits to coordinate with theirs.

Timeless

When you look at family portraits you definitely want a timeless aspect to them. Isn’t it painful looking back at photos from when YOU were young and thinking “oh my god that was so 80s / 90s / etc!”. You want your photos to fit perfectly in your home no matter how your style evolves or how your home grows. You can easily achieve this by just being yourselves, and keeping things simple when it comes to your attire, while still considering the patterns that will photograph well and wearing something you’re comfortable in.

Seasonality

This definitely comes into play if your taking family photos for a specific event or holiday! Whether you’ve booked one of our seasonal mini sessions or are doing a one-off family session, considering seasonality can make your shoot look cohesive. Holiday card photos can be a fun opportunity to coordinate your outfits and bring in some seasonal accessories like hats, scarves, or vests! If you’re doing photos for a first birthday it can be really fun to all dress in white and let the balloons and cake do the colorful talking :)

No matter what you decide to do, we’re here every step of the way to help guide the styling process of your shoot! We can always hop on a call prior to your session and help answer any questions on which outfits and patterns will photograph the best based on location, theme, seasonality, and more! We’ve got your back :)