How to Choose the Perfect Outfits for your Family Portraits in Each Season
How to Choose the Perfect Outfits for your Family Portraits in Each Season | Nashville Family Photographer Dolly DeLong Photography
Choosing outfits for your family portraits can feel really tricky each season! While I’m all about leaning into the colors and vibes of each season, I think it’s important to think about the longevity of your portraits, too. When we capture family portraits, I want you to enjoy them for years to come. I want you to hang them on your walls, print them in your albums, and show them off. So, let’s talk about how to choose the perfect outfits for your family portraits in each season. There are three main things to consider when picking outfits for the family!
Think about the season first.
Depending on when you take your photos, the season will lend itself to some unique looks. For example, if we’re doing family photos in the fall, it may be tempting to dress your baby in a cute pumpkin outfit and put them in a pile of leaves. While it’s SUPER cute and would do well online, it may not be what you want to look at on your wall forever. We can totally grab that shot, but I recommend a more neutral, seasonally appropriate outfit for most of the session. The same thing goes for holiday photos! While we love the matching red and bright green sweaters, is that something you want to have hanging on your wall all year long? I won’t tell you no if that’s what your family wants! But consider leaning into the season in another way in your outfits. Maybe you can choose more neutral colors and dress them up with a fun bow, piece of jewelry, or accent piece.
Neutrals always look good!
As you plan your outfits, if you find that you’re struggling with color combinations, take a step back. Consider starting with a neutral palette. Look for whites, ivories, tans, and even grays. These can be a great place to start when choosing your outfit. From there, you can bring other colors in through your kids’ outfits or accessories. No matter the time of year, a neutral palette will always look amazing!!
Coordinate, don’t match.
Finally, no matter what season you choose for your portraits, remember that it’s better to coordinate – NOT match outfits. I always recommend starting with one outfit and building from there. A lot of times, that’s mom’s outfit. Then you can start pulling other colors from her dress or look and dress the rest of the family. Coordinating colors looks best, rather than everyone in the same shade or outfit. If you have a session in the fall, you can consider warmer colors like mustards, purples, and deep greens. Spring lends itself to pastels. Again, neutrals are good all year long!
If you’re looking for outfit advice, feel free to send ideas my way as you plan for your session! I am happy to help curate a wardrobe that not only feels coordinated but also looks beautiful for years to come.
Want more ideas on how to style your session? Grab my FREE Family Portrait Style Guide here!
Ready to Book A Family Photography Session in Nashville?
If you are ready to book a Nashville or Franklin Family Session, I’d love to help you plan a session that feels calm, beautiful, and connected. If you want to take the pressure off and feel extra confident walking in, my hair and makeup packages are a great add-on, with everything clean, bright, and timeless.
Want a little extra help as you plan? Download my free Family Photography Session Style and Planning Guide so you can feel prepared and excited for your photos.
And if you are a mama looking for a MINI Session version of a motherhood session, I usually announce all of my motherhood minis here.
And to my fellow photographers, if you’re juggling client work and trying to stay consistent with marketing, The Family Photographer’s Marketing Society was built to help with exactly that. It includes monthly tools, prompts, and guidance to help you stay visible with Instagram and email marketing without burning out!
Either way, I hope you were served well in this blog post!
Meet Your Friendly Nashville Family Photographer
Dolly DeLong is a Nashville-based family & branding photographer AND a creative business owner who educates other family photographers (aka creative business owners) on systems, SOPs, workflows, and marketing (aka how to run the backend of your own family photography business as a one-woman show)! Dolly loves serving families with her bold, elevated, and radiant photography. She also loves educating other creative business owners on how to set up systems and workflows to help them save time in their businesses. Dolly produces weekly blog posts, podcast episodes on The Systems & Workflow Magic Podcast, and weekly YouTube Episodes.
Dolly shares her expertise in Marketing, Email Marketing, and Business Systems with family photographers in an encouraging, supportive way, because she believes anyone can find joy in systems, workflows, and intentional SOPs! Plus, BONUS: Systems are where the magic happens! You can streamline and automate the backend of your creative business with ease!
Dolly’s faith and love for her family motivate her to help other business owners find the joy and freedom she’s seen in running a successful small business.
Whenever she has a spare moment, she enjoys watching TV, loves eating way too many sweets, and listens to podcasts while running or walking. Fill out her contact form to work with Dolly DeLong Photography for a family photography session.
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