Perfect outfits for the family.. without looking like the brady bunch!
My personal favourite place to shop for outfits or accessories for family photos is H&M. They carry similar colours and fabrics across their mens, ladies, and kids collections. That doesn't mean every person needs the same exact sweater but it is nice to have some consistent colours for accents. They are also a great fashion shop with a totally reasonable price range!
Here is a few tips to coordinate your family & also a few things to avoid!
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Things to avoid
- Big branded logos & busy patterns: Giant graphics on a top can be distracting, whenever possible stick to solid tops or sweaters. Also patterns make great accents, if someone is wearing a pattern try to pull colours from the pattern to coordinate everyone else without introducing a second pattern.
- Too much black: Some of my favourite day to day outifts are black, but for photos try to limit black pieces to every other person.
- The wrong type of shoes: Consider your location and what the weather has been like. If your session is in a grassy park or on a beach, high heels might not be the best choice. Grab a pair of flats or sandals instead. If the weather has been a little on the wet side keep in mind that grassy area might be wet -open toes might be asking for trouble. When in doubt bring a pair to walk in and a pair for photos! Running shoes are totally cute in photos if they are neutral in colours and clean! Sorry, no neon sketchers for these photos ;)
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Things to look for
- An accent: It can be a piece of clothing like a top, a dress, a scarf or even a cardigan in a colour or fabric that you like. Use this as your starting point and build from there! If your accent is a colour, pick 2 neutral tones that look nice with it, these will be your compliment colours. For a family of 4 only 2 people should have the accent colour while the other 2 have the neutral compliment colours.
- Layers: If you can have layers in your outfits it is a simple way to change the look. This can be cardigans, jean jackets, hats, basically anything you can take off and throw to the side for a few shots.
- Pieces that your kids are comfortable in: If your kid doesn't wear dresses, and suddenly they have to wear a dress, they may not be comfortable. Let them be part of the outfit coordinating and maybe pick some cuffed denim or leggings. Letting them help plan the outfits with you, this helps them be engaged in the session before you even arrive! If they are younger plant the seeds for a fun session vs. telling them: "Ellie will be taking our pictures and she is going to love your pretty dress when it twirls"
- Check my pinterest account for some cute family outfit inspiration!
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