Every time you schedule your family's photos, you face the same conundrum: What should we wear?? So I've mapped out three different starting points for deciding what you and each of your family members should wear. Coordinating outfits can be a lot of fun! And just remember, you can always ask your photographer for personalized guidance if you're feeling lost.
Mom's shirt includes pink, yellow and blue, which ties together everyone's outfits.
Big sister's plaid contains both the green and the white of her brother and mom's shirts
Green ties together the daughter, mom and dad; Grey ties together the dad and son; Black links the mom and son
A) Start with a pattern
Find a patterned dress or shirt that you love (either for yourself, or your kid) and use that as your starting point. Most designers are using colors that work together in their patterns (duh), so they’ve already done the work for you! Use those colors in the rest of your families outfits, and you’ll all look beautifully cohesive. Remember to balance everything with something neutral too, and don’t be afraid to use more than one pattern.
Pastel lavender and pink, balanced out with bold blues
Bold and vibrant: turquoise, burgandy and yellow
Earthy tones: olive, light brown, cream, with muted rose and purple
B) Start with a color family
And here by “family” I mean what category of colors do you like? Are you feeling pastels? Bold and vibrant colors? Earthy tones? Pick one of those color families, and then search for clothes within those constraints. The complimentary styling service that you get access to when booking with me just updated their layout and now makes this extra easy!
Flowy dresses and earthy colors for a gentle, carefree vibe
Bright, loud colors give off an energetic vibe
Nice-casual: neutrals with a bit of color thrown in
C) Start with a vibe
For this one, you’re going to think about what vibe you want your photos to give off. Are we carefree, soft, whimsical, and you want to frolic in a meadow of flowers? Well then you might want to look for long flowy dresses or skirts, natural fibers, small floral patterns, and plenty of neutrals and muted or pastel tones.
Are you a loud, energetic family who loves to tickle and wrestle and laugh and run? Maybe a bold and vibrant color pallete is what you’re looking for!
Are you a calm, quieter family, not frolicking through fields and also not tackling each other. Enjoying being together and happy to keep things simple? Then you might want to look for nice-casual outfits (what you would wear for a lunch date with friends from out of town, maybe). Perhaps plenty of neutrals (cream, brown) with a pop of color mixed in.
*Please note, none of the families depicted here can actually be reduced to these categories! And neither can yours. This is just one angle to start thinking about how you want to present yourself.*
Did this help?
So there you have it! Three different approaches for beginning the task of planning your outfits for family photos. You can start with a pattern, start with a color family, or start by thinking about what vibe you want your photos to give off. Of course this list isn't exhaustive, so if you want more tips on how to plan your outfits, check out my other post What to Wear for Your Family Photo Session. And feel free to reach out if you'd like help in planning your next session!
