outfit ideas for family photos
You booked the family photo session. Hooray!
And then approximately 4.7 seconds later, the panic sets in:
“WAIT. WHAT ARE WE ALL GOING TO WEAR?!”
Suddenly you’re standing in the middle of your closet holding three dresses, wondering if your husband’s shirt clashes with your daughter’s outfit and questioning every fashion decision you’ve made since 2007.
Good news: choosing outfit ideas for family photos doesn’t have to be complicated!
The goal isn’t for everyone to match. It’s to create a look that feels coordinated, photographs beautifully, and (most importantly) still looks like your family.
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Outfit Ideas for Family Photos: What to Wear Without Overthinking It
Coordinate, Don’t Match
Let’s officially retire the everyone-in-white-shirts-and-khakis family portrait.
Instead, choose a palette of 3-5 complementary colors and let everyone’s outfits pull from those shades.
Think cream + olive + camel + rust, or burgundy + forest green + cream + tan.
One of my favorite tricks? Choose the hardest outfit first (usually Mom’s!) and build everyone else’s look around it.
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Add Texture
Texture is one of the easiest ways to make simple outfits photograph beautifully.
Think chunky knits, linen, corduroy, lace, velvet, denim and flowy fabrics. These add depth and visual interest without making your outfits feel busy.
You can absolutely incorporate patterns, too! Just let one patterned piece be the star and pull colors from it for everyone else’s outfits.
Mom in florals + Dad in plaid + one kid in stripes + another in dinosaurs?
We’ve officially entered a hostage negotiation.
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Dress for Your Location
Where we’re taking photos should absolutely influence what you wear.
Summer meadow: Dusty rose, cream, tan and soft browns are gorgeous against golden grasses. Flowy dresses are especially beautiful here!
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Forest: Olive, mustard, rust, camel and cream work beautifully with all that greenery without disappearing into it.
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Christmas tree farm: Burgundy, forest green, cream and camel give you that cozy holiday feel without screaming MATCHING CHRISTMAS OUTFITS.
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Fall: This is your chance to play with richer colors! Burgundy, mustard, forest green, caramel, cream and denim all look amazing against fall foliage.
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Beach: For family photos here in Virginia Beach, I love softer tones like cream, ivory, tan, oatmeal, muted blues and soft browns. Natural, flowy fabrics are perfect when we have an ocean breeze to work with.
And no, everyone does not have to wear white shirts and jeans, pinky-promise.
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A Few Things I’d Skip
There aren’t many hard rules when choosing what to wear for family photos, but I generally recommend avoiding giant logos, super-neon colors, extremely tiny patterns, uncomfortable clothes and having everyone wear exactly the same thing.
Most importantly, don’t buy something just because Pinterest told you it’s the perfect family photo outfit.
If you would never normally wear it, chances are you won’t feel like yourself in it.
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Comfort > Perfection
Your clothes need to let you move, sit, walk, snuggle your kids and HAVE FUN.
Because family sessions with me aren’t about standing perfectly still and saying cheese for an hour. We’re going to move around, laugh, play and probably embrace a little bit of chaos along the way.
Your outfits need to be able to come along for the ride.
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The Best Family Photo Outfits Look Like YOU
At the end of the day, these are suggestions: not commandments handed down from the photography gods.
If your daughter loves her sparkly shoes, bring the sparkly shoes. If Dad feels ridiculous in a sport coat, don’t make him wear one.
Your family doesn’t need to look like a perfectly styled catalog.
The goal is to create photographs you’ll look at years from now and think:
“Yep. That’s us.”
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Still Not Sure What to Wear? Ask Me!
When you book your Virginia Beach family photo session with me, you don’t have to figure everything out alone.
Deciding between two dresses? Wondering if everyone’s outfits work together?
I’m happy to help you choose what will photograph best with your family and your location.
Ultimately, I want you walking into your session feeling comfortable, confident and ready to have FUN with the people you love.
Because when you feel good, you stop worrying about what you’re wearing.
And that’s when we create those killer photos.
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