So you've booked a family session and now you need to coordinate outfits...
This can be a very exciting project for some and a stressful endeavor for others. But the thing is, this doesn't need to be stressful! Picking outfits for the family can be your way of expressing yourselves and establishing your sense of style! Nevertheless, we understand how daunting it can be to make sure patterns won't come out wonky in the photos or that all the colors will go together. So, we're here to help! Let's go over the do's and don't of dressing up for a family session.
This is us for our family photos taken by Evero Photography. We always recommend neutral tones like this! We did not mean for Joe and Judah to match, but they did and we love these photos so much!
Do:
- Stick with neutrals, blacks, or jewel tones. Bright colors don't always look good and can take away from the family unit itself. If you like pops of colors, we have a few examples in this post to refer to and you can always ask for advice!
- Wear comfortable/stylish shoes. It's never worth it to get blisters during your session and your discomfort will show.
- Add some cute accessories if that's what you like to wear! If you love hats, wear a hat! Have some really unique clay earrings? Rock those! Whatever feels natural to you, make sure you wear that on the day of your shoot.
- Incorporate articles of clothing that the kids enjoy. Our son loves his ugly Spider-Man shoes. Luckily, we didn't own those shoes when we took those photos but if we had, it would have been worth it for him to wear those in order for him to be happy. The pictures are not about the outfits, they're about you guys and enjoying those moments.
Don't:
- Wear tons of patterns. Some striped patterns might come out wonky in post-processing. We recommend that if you want to incorporate patterns, it should be limited.
- Wear ill-fitting clothes. This goes for everyone in the family. The reason we recommend making sure you like what you wear is because if you don't feel comfortable in your clothes, you'll be more worried about adjusting them rather than enjoying moments with your family.
- Try a completely new hairstyle the hours leading up to your shoot. Trust me, we know the feeling of wanting to try something new last minute. But it's usually not worth it. Try a new style a few days before as a test or wear your hair like you normally would.
- Wear clothes that are inappropriate for the season. We can't say it enough: if you feel uncomfortable, it will show in the photos.
When in doubt...
Ask! We are always willing to help you figure out what would look best for your photos! If you want to purchase new outfits, we recommend the following places to check out for stylish and affordable clothing!
- SHEIN (ALWAYS!)
- H&M
- Target
- Walmart (don't knock it 'till ya try it--they've upped their game on clothes and shoes!)
If you really want to get serious about matching, check out this helpful article here on color theory and how it can be useful with outfit coordination.
