Style Guidelines for Family Photos

Style Guidelines for Family Photos

I have gotten quite a few messages from people wanting help with dressing themselves and the rest of their family members for family photos lately. I’m right there with ya – outfit planning (especially when you’re planning for more than one or two people) can be stressful and sometimes time consuming.

So today, I’m sharing some of my tips for creating a cohesive family photo that you’ll be proud to hang on your wall and pass out to all your friends & family come Christmas!

Choose your outfit first & base all other outfits around yours. Does this sound selfish? It maybe is – but if you have something specific you really want to wear/feel good in and your husband & kids could care less about what they wear, then stick to this rule!! It’s much easier to create a cohesive look if you have a base/colour palette to start with.

Choose coordinating colours over matchy-matchy pieces. Please don’t show up all wearing white or black shirts! If you’re unsure what colours are coordinating/complimentary to the base outfit you have chosen, resort to looking it up on the good ‘ol colour wheel! It can be your bestfriend in this type of dilemma.

Create pops of colour & cohesiveness in your accessories. This is my favourite way to incorporate personality and colour into any photo, whether it’s a headshot or group photo. Accessories really add to an outfit and the overall aesthetic of a photo. For example, if you really wanted to wear a nice red blouse for your photo, incorporate a red bowtie or headband in one of your kid’s accessories!

Stay away from too many patterns/prints. I love prints, but they can dangerous and sometimes too trendy for a family photo. Print mixing can be tricky enough (as we learnt in last issue’s article!) on your own, let alone trying to mix prints between multiple family members. Keep things simple!

Stay classic. This is probably the most important tip. You definitely want to incorporate trends into your family photos in some way, but keep the overall look classic. For example – in our family pic, I’m wearing a cream lace top and jeans (that’s the classic part) but then tied a red silk scarf (the trendy part) in my hair. Note the scarf also works because it’s a pop of colour in the form of an accessory and creates cohesiveness because it pairs well with my daughter Violet’s red pants.

  

I hope these guidelines will be useful when it’s time to start getting ready for your family photos! Now all you have to worry about is that everyone is looking at the camera, no one’s crying/running away, and remembering to check that you zipped up your flie! All of which I cannot help you with. LOL

 

 

This article ran in the June 2018 issue of a local magazine, Refined Weyburn.