I had the treat to photograph the Edwards family earlier this year and was so impressed by Macca’s intentional mix of fabrics on her family of four (and also her life hack of having the clothes in garment bags and changing at the location so they don’t get wrinkled!) that I’ve asked her to write a piece to help my other clients as they prepare for their Holiday Sessions (only a few spots left!) when they are faced with the conundrum, “But what do we wear?”

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Family photos are a big deal in my household. Each year we plan a time to take photos; it’s a way to capture the year. I love knowing there are snapshots of the family each year; capturing how we’re growing, maturing, and evolving. Not to mention the family Christmas card! We usually plan for our photos to be taken prior to the holiday season. This way we can use one or more of the professional photos taken. 

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As a fashion lover and someone who gets so excited for anything to do with styling; choosing outfits for family photos is a moment for my creative juices to start flowing! I relish in the preparation; creating collages with different ideas for what my hubby, boys, and myself will be wearing. Still, it can be a bit overwhelming. If fashion isn’t your place of comfort than it might feel like an added pressure to figure out what everyone will wear on the big day. Just remember what truly matters. It’s the interaction and the love between everyone in the photos. Nevertheless, a cohesive color scheme never hurt anybody and can totally play up the photos! With that, I’ve come up with a few tips and visuals for making the outfit planning a bit easier and a lot more fun.

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Tips

Formal or Casual: Decide how dressy you want everyone to be. Is it a casual family photoshoot? Is it formal? Once the theme is decided you can choose accordingly for everyone. 

Color Scheme: Create a color scheme. Typically, I like to stay within a three/four-color grouping. For example- in the first photo the colors are burgundy, cream, grey, and blue. Choose two bold hues and a couple neutrals to compliment. 

The piece: Find one piece that speaks to you and plan the rest of the outfits around that item. For example, I planned the burgundy family look around the boy’s polka dotted button down. I started browsing online and found this shirt. I spoke to me and decided it would be the piece for the rest of my styling inspiration.

Rule of thumb: match colors/clash patterns. The boy is wearing a polka dotted button down. Following the rule of thumb; I would not style anyone else in polka dots. However, I would use other patterns with similar color palettes to complement each other. The girl’s dress has pops of burgundy throughout. The colors of the button-down shirt and dress coincide while the patterns clash. A perfect way to create cohesion without it getting to matchy-matchy!

Create balance: I now have two pieces of burgundy styled. It seems appropriate to create a neutral outfit the parents. Too much pattern can become overwhelming. Deciding to incorporate a couple solid pieces helps to balance the pattern.

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I hope you find these tips helpful for your future family photos! For any questions or styling advice feel free to email me at maccarose11gmail.com.

About the author

Macca Edwards is a lover of fashion. She lives in Walnut Creek, CA. with her husband and two boys. She’s shares her love for style as a columnist with Alive Magazine. Macca also has a blog (maccarose.com) where she shares weekly styling inspiration. She’s passionate about exuding confidence through style and hopes to be an outlet for others to find a piece of their confidence! When Macca isn’t working on her column or blog she’s building train tracks with her boy’s, doing at home workouts, or cheering on the Cal Bears football team every Saturday. Go Bears!