What to Wear for Family Photos

A few weeks ago we had the absolute pleasure of taking family photos with The Simple Portrait {Project}...and I am being 100% serious when I say absolute pleasure; there is no sarcasm in that statement.

Their entire mission is to create limitations that produce beautiful family photos & they captured the personality of our family perfectly. Typically family photos are stressful...to say the least.

Do we match? But not likely matchy-match & end up being the white shirt family?

Are we smiling? But not all fake-posed-staged smiling?

Are the kids behaving? Or are they touching everything they're not supposed to touch?

Did you bring enough snacks? How about activities to keep the littles busy? Does someone need a drink...like you...of wine? Or Bourbon?

TSS{P} actually had all of that taken care of + more.

The area is a wide open space (warehouse like) with picnic tables, so you can sit and color while you wait or you can run around like a wild child and throw paper airplanes.

There are snacks. Lots of snacks. From a chalkboard that counts sleeves of Oreos eaten to goldfish & pretzels.

Speaking of the chalkboard...it also counts Liters of Bulleit consumed. That's right...step right up and pour yourself a bourbon before family photos. Bourbon not your cup of booze? They had beer and wine options too. Bonus - they were all local!

With all of this, how could you not be relaxed heading into the pictures? Energy is spent, bellies are full, whistles are wet...now let's go have some fun! And fun we had. We had a blast taking pictures & I'd say we actually made memories during the act...the kind you actually want to remember. Not the ones that are ingrained in your brain that you're trying to forget. My favorite was watching Santi dab around the entire studio. Then there was what he calls the "Lady Liberty" shot...see? Good memories were made!

20 minutes was all it took & our photographer worked her magic. She let Santi choose props, find the area he wanted to play/stand & worked us around him. We could even bring our Fur(st) baby, Dolce & work him into the pictures, because what's a family photo without the entire family?!

Ok - now onto the topic of discussion...What to Wear for Family Photos. I was particularly nervous about this one because I was under the impression that all of the photos are in Black + White. They are. But you can buy the add on to receive them in color also (which we did). As if choosing outfits for family photos wasn't daunting enough...choosing outfits that represent our family's style and personality for black + white photos seemed impossible!

I was nervous because we all have dark hair and dark eyes. My husband has darker skin & I wear a lot of black. A LOT of black. So I was worried we'd all blend together and just like dark blobs against the background. Basically I was worried we'd look like the goth version of {white shirts on the beach} family photos!

Here was my #1 (and only) strategy to prevent that & then I'll provide a few tips just based on what I saw around us:

1. Dress like you - My #1 rule was that I wanted us all to look and feel like us. I wear a lot of black. Jimmy dresses really well...like really well...all the time. Santi - well, he would have worn pjs if I would have allowed, so I guess there have to be some boundaries. 

I knew if I wore black pants + a long sleeved black shirt I would have gotten lost in the picture so I opted for ripped grey denim on the bottom & a sleeveless black shirt on top. I got to wear black & the amazing lighting helped me fake some pretty fab looking arm muscles.

Jimmy was easy. He always dresses so well, so it was a matter of color. He has the darkest skin & hair of all of us so I knew we had to lighten him up on top. We chose a light grey blazer and white shirt to help him stand out.

Both of these were good choices because they put our light + dark contrast on opposite ends (dark on top for me & bottom for him) & it lighted him up on top around his face.

I wanted to keep Santi looking fun and funky - just like his personality. So I gave him texture through his shirt, slid a pair of skinny jeans on him with a cute pair of grey high top boots by Stride rite (I think I got at Nordstrom). What I didn't know was we would end up with color pictures & the textured red shirt would pull everything together perfectly...an unexpected surprise!

A few tips:

Blend textures & patterns - My shirt was silky, but my denim was distressed. Jimmy's jacket was soft (in color & fabric) but his denim was bold and structured. Santi had a textured shirt and the most color of any of us, but everything else was super simple. We chose small doses of pattern (Jimmy's pocket square & Santi's shirt) as accents.

Coordinate but don't match - you all shouldn't be in the exact same color, but there should be elements throughout that hold you together. Jimmy's pocket square was red & so was Santi's shirt. I didn't wear red, but black and grey coordinate with red well.

 Only Jimmy wore white & only I wore black, but we all wore grey (Jimmy's jacket +shoes, my denim & Santi's shoes).

Dress & style like you - Yes, you want to look nice. Obviously you don't want to come straight from the gym or rolling out of bed. I made sure I had washed my hair within the past 2 days & you probably want to look better than your average Tuesday - but this isn't your wedding day or prom. Most families looked amazing, but the ones that stand out are the ones that are constantly fussing. Fussing with hair styles they don't usually have. Walking in shoes they don't usually walk in. Tugging on clothes they wouldn't usually wear. Fuss is uncomfortable and prevents you from feeling your best & we all know if we feel good, we look good & we're more relaxed.

I realize I'm circling back to my first (and only) rule, but it really is everything...the rest will fall into place!

Drink the wine + bourbon and eat the goldfish - ...and perhaps only the vanilla Oreos. No one wants chocolate teeth for pictures. But seriously, have a drink and relax. Even if it's at 10 am on a Sunday like it was for us :)

Lastly, don't be the white shirt beach family...or be the white shirt beach family if that's who you are...just know the difference!