Family Picture Outfit Ideas
Fall is family picture time and I don’t blame everyone for wanting to get their family pictures done with the beautiful changing leaves. Fall is my favorite time of the year which is another reason I love to get our pictures done in the fall. Knowing what to wear for family pictures and how to dress your family can be so overwhelming. I swear I use to buy outfits that we only wore to family pictures and then never again which was just annoying. Instead I have learned to shop our closets and then buy missing pieces rather than going out and buying everything new because I was overwhelmed.
I am excited to share with you a few tips & tricks to dressing your family for pictures and some of our recent family pictures that I love how our outfits turned out.
5 Tips for Family Photo Outfit Ideas
1 – What feel do you want your pictures to have in your house?
I think that the first thing you need to ask yourself is what feel do the photos need to have or do you want them to have. Do you want more formal photos like above? Do you want fun and playful images? Do you want posed or lifestyle? Once you have decided these things it will be so much easier to choose your outfits. We were asked to do the above shoot for a photographer needing some shots for a portfolio and she asked us to dress up so that was something that was easily decided for us. The bottom photos in the poppy fields were photos I booked and paid for and I knew I wanted them casual, fun, and playful so we wore clothes that fit that feel.
2 – Let your faces be what people notice, not bright colored outfits
I know this one might get me in trouble and it is totally personal preference, but in my photos I want my kids and our family to be the focus, not a hot pink dress or turquoise button downs. Dressing in neutral colors let’s the space your taking pictures in fit the feel of whatever you are wearing and it also let’s your family be the focal point of the photos rather than what you are wearing.
3 – Dress your kids according to their personalities
This one is hard for me and I have to let myself be with it a lot, especially with King. I want him dressed a certain way in photos however that generally doesn’t suit his little personality and then I look back at those pictures and remember that number 1 it didn’t suit him and number 2 that it was a massive fight. Let your littles pick at least one thing in their outfit. King picked his shoes in the pictures above and I bribed him into wearing that little suit which is why in some pictures the vest is on and others it isn’t. It wasn’t worth the fight to have him in it for every picture. Little Lettie, her personality isn’t suited by fluffy dresses so we went super simple with her dress and bow. This might seem like common sense to some, but to me I had to take a step back and think of my kids personalities and what suited them.
4 – Mix textures
I think that this one makes the biggest difference in pictures as silly as it seems. Mixing textures in what you are wearing creates different dimension in your photos. I’m wearing a lace dress, Lettie is in a denim dress, King is in a linen suit, and Zach has a wool feeling tie on. We all have different textures, patterns, etc. Mixing textures with neutrals makes it a lot easier than with bright colors.
5 – Don’t take pictures too seriously
I know this has nothing to do with what you are wearing, but it does have to do with the way your face comes across in pictures and everyone in your family looks too. King was so mad to be taking pictures this day and luckily for me Zach is super easy going and I am the uptight one. Zach started playing with King, giving wet willies, playing tag, swinging him, etc. Those pictures ended up being my absolute favorite pictures. Don’t be stiff, allow your littles to play, and just have fun as much as that is easier said than done.
Family pictures to me are a lot of stress, they are hard, overwhelming, and trying to wrangle kids plus everything having a smile on their face for them is something that I dread doing. However, when I get the images back I am so happy, overjoyed, and know that it is something that I am going to look at now and love and look back to over the years and absolutely cherish!
I hope these tips & tricks help you to be able to be a little bit less stressed out and to know what to do when it comes to your family pictures. Plus keeping a few treats in your pockets for your littles and even bribing them with a toy/treat if they are good is a little secret of mine too.
susie liberatore says
These are amazing photos, thanks for the great tips. We are due for some new pics soon.