What to wear for family photos?! You want to be you, you want to coordinate (without being cheesy) and you want to feel confident. Here is my take on the subject!…
grey turtleneck // stud earrings // leather pants
What to wear for family photos
Consider your backdrop
When deciding what to wear for family photos, newborn photos and / or Christmas card photos I recommend choosing your location for the photo first and then building around that. If you want to take photos in your home, choose a coordinating color scheme around your decor and own outfit. Think classic – an outfit you feel confident and timeless in.
Since we have a lot of white, grey and navy in our home, I wore a grey sweater to tie in that color. Next I chose baby Lake’s look – a muted pink outfit for a soft pop of color. For Luke I picked out a classic black sweater in the same cable knit as mine to pair with navy pants. All of our outfits work with the backdrop without being too matchy. We feel comfortable at home and very us! 🙂
If your backdrop is a little bit fancier and you are a dress girl – wear a pretty winter white dress that you feel great in! If you live in jeans, wear jeans and a pretty sweater or blouse. You want to look and feel like yourself!
Pick solid neutral colors
The best way to work together is to let everyone choose an outfit they feel good in based off of a few neutral colors that work with the backdrop. Solids look best in photos. I recommend staying away from bold jewelry or prints. (Especially stripes!) Make it all about your beautiful happy faces!
Coordinating color ideas that I love are whites, blacks or greys with denim. Casual is my favorite. For our big family Christmas card we have 16 people so we always pick a simple color pallet to choose from. This year we all wore white and / or blue at the beach and it worked great!
Check here for fall outfit ideas.
Choose a time around family schedules
Next I recommend choosing a time during the window you know the kids and husband will be in a good mood and wide awake. I usually try to schedule our shoots during lunch time right after Lake’s feeding and I am prepared that both her and Luke will last for a max of 30 minutes so we move fast! 🙂
Look for natural lighting
Something else to consider when choosing a time – natural lighting. Since we take our photos at home it can’t be dark out- we need the sun shining. For pretty photography, the lights inside are off and we rely on natural light coming in from the windows or outside in indirect sunlight. If you are wanting to take photos outside at a park, try for after sunrise or before sunset. (You want to be in the shade so that the sun isn’t shining in your face.) Talk with your photographer about a time you both think is best for your location and that also works with your family’s schedule.
Have a shot list ready
To make sure you capture everything, have a little list ready for your photographer of the shots you want and start with the pictures that are most important to you.
Relax and have fun
Lastly, have fun taking the photos! Try not to worry about them being perfect. Toward the end of this shoot, Lake had a huge melt down and all we could do is laugh about it. Make it a fun happy experience because after all these photos are capturing real life memories!
Ralph Lauren sweater (similar sweater for less) // Polo Ralph Lauren leather pants // Saint Laurent boots (similar)
Luke: Ralph Lauren sweater // Lululemon pants
Lake: Ralph Lauren hat // Jojo Mommy sweater set
