Are you wondering what to wear for your family photos? Get helpful tips for picking out family photo outfits with lots of examples from a professional portrait photographer.
The number one question I receive from my clients is what to wear.
Choosing family photo outfits doesn’t have to be overwhelming!
Over the past 11 years of photographing families professionally, I’ve put together some foolproof tips. You can find those nine tips here on my photography site.
Summer is a great time to schedule family photos.
Professional photographers usually aren’t as busy as they are in autumn.
You don’t have to schedule around school, activities, and homework if you have school-aged children.
College students are often home during summer so it’s easy to include them.
And then there are summer vacations with extended family!
What better time to take family portraits than when the whole crew is together?
That’s my family up there when we celebrated my parents’ 50th anniversary at the beach. We decided to go with shades of blue to coordinate our family photo outfits.
Ideas for Family Photo Outfits
I don’t know about you, but I’m a visual learner.
That may be why I enjoy blogs and Pinterest so much!
It’s one thing to tell me some guidelines about what to wear, but if you can actually show me and tell me why it works? That’s when it really clicks for me!
An easy way to choose a color scheme for your family photo outfits is to have the pickiest person in your group choose a clothing item they love with a pattern.
Then simply pick 2 or 3 of the colors from that pattern and voila: instant color scheme.
Next, take a photo of the item in natural light with a cell phone and send it to everyone else to help them with matching the colors.
I’ve learned that blue is one of the best colors to wear for family photos.
It’s easy to find in stores.
It looks good on everyone.
And you can mix different shades together with great results.
For my family photo outfits, we decided on navy blue, powder blue, and royal blue with white and light khaki. We didn’t match, but we all coordinated.
My family stuck to just navy blue and powder blue for our family photo outfits.
Each person in the family is wearing something that suits their personality and body shape.
What to Wear for Family Photos: Blue
Here are some more examples of families who chose to go with blue as their unifying color:
This family was actually the inspiration for my family photo outfits!
Look at all those different patterns!
Stripes, plaids, tiny florals, geometric patterns but they all work because there are some solids mixed in.
They also did a great job of adding layers and different textures.
Another great example of how well mixing patterns works as long as you have some solids too.
This family managed to coordinate their family photo outfits despite being on three different continents!
Sometimes I have to pinch myself that I get to live someplace that other people choose to travel to for vacation.
This family chose to wear solid colors for a truly timeless look.
I particularly like how each of the men has a different color of pants or shorts, especially the one son wearing blue on the bottom.
Do you see how that blue on the bottom helps move your eye from the brighter blue shirt on the opposite end over towards the other side of the image?
And mom’s statement necklace added some great texture.
Another mom chose to spice up her family’s photos with a fabulous pattern on her skirt (and dad rocked some “shark attack” shoes!).
Do you see how they’re each showing off their individual personalities with their choices, while still looking like a family unit?
And again, mom’s necklace helps to break up the solid blue of her shirt and draw your eye up towards her face.
Those accessories are so important!
This family went with a lighter shade of blue and mixed it with cream and white and khaki.
The mixture of dresses, shorts, and slacks gives some visual interest on the bottom and the varied necklines and patterns keep it interesting around their faces.
What to Wear for Family Photos: Navy
Here’s the same family the year before!
They decided to add a secondary color for some pop with their navy blue.
Don’t you love how the coral adds a great punch?
Each person added that little pop of coral in a slightly different way: shirts, pants, necklaces, and a belt.
Here’s another family that used navy blue as their unifying color.
We took their pictures right around the 4th of July so the little girl’s red bow made for a fun touch!
This couple also chose a red, white, and blue color scheme for their anniversary pictures.
Her sweater and necklace added some visual interest with the added layers.
This family mixed hot pink and turquoise in with their navy blue for their family photo outfits.
This is the best thing about navy blue: it can be a neutral and works great with so many other colors! 
This family paired blues with a deep, sea-green.
They didn’t mix in patterns, but mom has some interesting detailing on her neckline and the son has a bit of that dark green peeking out from under his white shirt.
What to Wear for Family Photos: Bright Colors
This family chose turquoise as the main color for their family photo outfits!
Two of the sisters have a similar stripe pattern: one on her leggings and the other on her dress (hello! even her American girl doll matches!).
And the oldest sister has a beautiful lacy pattern on her top, just like her mom’s sweater.
Dad went with a solid blue shirt that was the same color as some of the stripes in the girls’ leggings/dress.
Here are the three key steps:
- Start with a unifying color scheme
- Use a mixture of patterns and solids
- Add in a variety of textures (including accessories)
Coordinating without matching!
This mom chose a favorite floral-accented dress for their family photos.
She pulled the navy blue and orange from her dress for her baby’s shirt and shorts, and dad’s shirt has some navy detailing in the placard.
What to Wear for Family Photos: Neutrals
Another timeless option is black and white.
This family was celebrating a golden 50th wedding anniversary so the women chose gold accents and jewelry.
Mixing in the black tops and the black stripes on the grandfather provided a nice change from the “everyone wearing white” trend that was so popular in the 90s and early 2000s.
And white sure does make your tan pop in the summer!
This couple also chose black, gray, and white for their photos.
Neutrals are always a timeless option when deciding what to wear for family photos!
White and pastels always look so fresh for summertime portraits!
This couple was expecting a little girl so dad’s shirt featured some pink in the plaid pattern.
Using Color Tones & Tints
So far we’ve been talking about picking a color scheme based on particular colors.
But another option is to simply pick a color tone and have everyone choose colors within that category.
What do I mean by color tones?
- Pastels
- Brights
- Jewel-tones
- Primary Colors
- Dark Colors
- Neutrals
Those are broad categories of color.
As long as everyone is in pastels (or brights, etc.), they don’t need to be wearing the same colors.
As you can see, this family chose to wear rich, brightly colored clothes.
Some of them are in warm colors (red, orange, magenta) and others are in cool colors (royal blue, turquoise, green).
But since they’re all wearing brights, it still works.
I love how no one matches and yet the entire group looks great together!
I hope this inspires you to schedule YOUR family’s photo session and helps you to figure out what to wear for your family photos too.
For more inspiration in choosing your family photo outfits, check out our Pinterest board (and follow us on Pinterest while you’re there!): What to Wear For Family Photos
If you have any questions or suggestions, contact me or leave a comment!
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