What to Wear for your Family Photography Session │ Fairfield County, CT Photographer
It’s the first item on your mind when you book a photography session, right?
What should my family wear for Picture Day?
Should we all match?
What about patterns?
Where should I shop?
Choosing family outfits for pictures can be stressful and overwhelming
I know it can be stressful to try and find something for everyone in your group to wear so that it looks nice in pictures! I’ve been there myself, wandering the mall and feeling overwhelmed at all the colors and options available.
After years of experience photographing families, I have seen what works well - and what doesn’t.
I also have a tool available for every client who books a session with me that makes shopping for your family’s coordinating outfits SO easy.
What Not to Wear for family pictures
Skip the matching outfits (even for twins & YOUNG CHILDREN)
My two oldest kids are girls and I LOVED buying them matching dresses when they were little. It’s so fun (and adorable) to buy matching clothes for kids for special occasions. But I don’t recommend it for styling your family for your photography session. As a photographer, I’m always trying to balance out people and colors within every shot I take, and matching outfits always means I’m a lot more limited on posing. Visually speaking, it’s a lot more interesting to see a variety of colors, patterns, and textures in the shots.
I know that some other families favor the “everyone wear a white top and jeans” method, and I also find it isn’t the best in the final image. I find that the results ends up somewhere between boring and cheesy.
When everyone is in coordinating (as opposed to exactly matching) outfits, the pictures come out well balanced and visually appealing.
5 TIPS FOR STYLING YOUR FAMILY FOR A PHOTOGRAPHY SESSION
1. Stick to a Color Palette
I recommend you choose 3-4 colors and base your family’s outfits around those tones.
I’ll use this family’s pictures as an example of best practices for what your family should wear for your photography session. I met them at Tarrywile Park & Mansion in Danbury, CT, an awesome location choice for family pictures! They’re a busy family of six with two (!) sets of twins, and I loved our session together on a summer evening.
You can see they chose yellow, blue, and sage green as their family’s basic color palette, and relying on these colors for their family’s outfits makes the final images look really cohesive.
2. Add Patterns (Sparingly)
For this family of six, two members of the group are wearing patterns. This ratio (1:3) is perfect! For a family of four, I recommend you put one person in a pattern. For a family of six, two patterns looks really great. Any more patterns, and final result may look too busy. But at least one pattern in someone’s outfit really helps to tie the whole family’s “look” together really well.
My favorite patterns are florals and plaids, and you can see both in effect here.
You’ll also notice that the patterns themselves pull in other colors within the chosen palette, and that’s ideal. For example, the little boy’s shirt has tones of blue, yellow, and green within the plaid, and it serves to help all of the other outfits coordinate together.
3. Add solids and textures
But aren’t solids boring? Nope!
There are lots of ways to make solid items visually interesting, and not all solids have to look alike. Be on the lookout for textures, including ruffles, lace, buttons, knits, and pockets. Tops can be short-sleeved and long-sleeved, waffle knit, henley, linen, cardigans, thick knit sweaters, and more. Dresses can have different cuts and styles, which keeps things visually interesting.
For this family, you can see that the little girl’s yellow dress has great texture in the fabric itself as well as ruffled straps. Her sister is wearing a denim dress, and the sleeves, buttons, and unique cut makes for great visual appeal.
4. Add Neutrals
By “neutrals” I mean creams, whites, khaki, grays, blacks, and denim.
You can consider your chosen palette as a staring point, and add neutrals here and there. This dad wore a white top and black pants, and it worked well with the overall family “look.” In other families, I’ll see boys in gray shorts, dads in jeans, and moms in a cream dress. Neutrals are great for blending in well with your overall color scheme.
5. Be Thoughtful About Bottoms
It’s easy to show up with everyone in jeans, but I recommend switching it up a bit for the sake of visual appeal.
Think about mixing dresses and skirts, with rompers, shorts, jeans, and dress pants. It’s much more visually pleasing to mix up the bottoms than to have everyone wearing more or less the same thing, even if the tops have variety.
If you have a family with a bunch of boys, consider putting one in khaki shorts, another in chambray, and another in overalls. You don’t have to limit yourself to everyone in the same style or color.
Just for JW Brown photography Clients
To make shopping for coordinating clothes a breeze, I offer a complimentary styling service for every JW Brown Photography client. You choose your favorite colors and overall vibe, and this service will suggest options for your whole family from all around the Internet. You’ll see a mix of vendors and price points, and be sent direct links to purchase each item.
I always recommend checking your own closets first, and then filling in the gaps where need-be. You can skip the mall overwhelm and style your family in just a few clicks.
How to Book a Family Photo Session with JW Brown Photography
If you’re interested in booking a session, inquiring about availability, or learning more about my packages, please click below.
One more tip what to wear for your family photography session
Moms, make sure you pick your outfit out first, and choose everyone else’s outfit based on that. If you’re happy, comfortable, and confident, the rest of the family will follow suit for your photoshoot.
And by all means, reach out to me with questions.
