What To Wear for Family Photos

Picking out outfits for the entire family can be stressful. Here are 7 tips for what to wear for family photos this year.

1. Pick a Color Scheme

With my style of editing and shooting wearing a mix of neutrals and pastels works best. It is always best to mix and match the colors between everyone so that no one exactly matches with each other. Mixing it up adds variety to your photos and allows everyone to be seen in their own unique way!

P.S Don’t forget to wear nice shoes!

2. Choose Muted Colors

Clothing that is super bright and vibrant runs the risk of overtaking the photo and distracting from the true subjects of the photo, your family! If you have a favorite color you love to incorporate into your pictures, consider using the more muted or pastel version of that color.

4. Limit Patterns

Busy patterns tend to distract greatly in photos. Subtle, simple patterns like plaid or subdued florals prints look great in photos, but are best limited to one or two people. Prints will add variety to everyone else’s solid colors and can help blend together the color scheme if necessary.

Small stripes and polka dots can cause an eye straining effect in photos called “moire”. If the photo is printed it can cause the area of the body the item is on to look strangely shaped. It’s best to avoid them when possible for professional photos.

5. Avoid Large Logos

When our eyes are looking at a photo, the first thing we notice are the words in the photo. In your portraits you are going to be front and center. So if you have large words on your chest, you will be the 2nd thing people notice. Because of this it is best to leave shirts with logos out of picture day. The focus should be you and your family!

6. Try on Clothes Ahead of Time

You deserve to feel beautiful in your family photos so don’t wait to find out how your clothes will look on you until the day of! Nothing is worse than getting photos back and realizing a piece of clothing hugs you in an unflattering manner, or something simply does not work together in the way you saw in your head. Don’t just try them on in the mirror, because our eyes tend to not see small details, have someone take a photo of you to see what a camera will see.

7. Be Yourself!

There’s no need to go out of your comfort zone and wear something completely off the mark for you and your family. The best photos are the ones where you look and feel great and part of that is making sure you are comfortable! There is no one way to dress for pictures, you deserve photos that feel like you!

Want to see more examples of outfits for family photos? Check out my Pinterest board for family styling ideas!

To get access to my styling guide, contact me here.