How to dress your extended family for family photos
Let's talk styles for extended families! I know how overwhelming it can feel to coordinate colors, outfits, and overall styles when it comes to extended family photos. Ensuring there is coordination across colors and styles is an important piece to clean, beautiful images. Here are a couple of my tips when it comes to family styling...
- Pick One Staple Color
As you can see in some of the examples below, these families chose one color as a staple to then style all of the outfits around this color. The family on the left opted for neutrals, the middle family chose light blues and whites, and the family on the left went with blues and browns. Colors I would avoid for staple colors are oranges and reds... both of these colors cast a reflection of the color onto the skin tones of the subjects. I recommend staple colors be solids, pastels, or deep, neutral tones. This makes it possible to pair with other colors and shades.
- Build a Color Scheme
Based on the staple color, now it is time to build a color scheme. Most staple colors, like the blues below, can be paired with many different colors based on the overall look you are trying to achieve. As you'll notice with the family on the right - their overall scheme has more of a neutral theme combining blues, whites, and browns. The family in the middle has a brighter theme opting for blues, whites, and soft creams. The family to the left has a true neutral theme highlighting a whites, beige, and a soft rustic color.
- Keep the Patterns Minimal
It is always a safe bet to keep patterns minimal! If you do have some outfits with patterns, I suggest subtle patterns or dressing only one or two family members in the patterns, with the majority in solid colors.
- Watch the Jeans
Jeans are a perfectly fine option, as long as the entire family is not in jeans. Similar to the patterns rule, I would suggest no more than a quarter, depending on the family size, to be in jeans. Bottoms like khakis, dress pants, dress shorts, skirts, dresses will add diversity and an aesthetically pleasing finish to the overall look of the photos.
- Don't stress about the exception!
If you're having a hard time with one or two outfits out of the whole family, don't stress! Stick with the basics... neutrals, solids, conservative coverage and I promise that outfit will compliment the overall look!
- Less is more
To piggyback on my last point... less is always more when it comes to extended family styles. If every family member is dressed in a statement piece, that will make for a very busy look overall. Simple, flattering, and consistent will give you a pleasing and striking overall look. Now, that doesn't mean you can't dress everyone up to the nine's if that fits the family personality... as long as the outfits compliment, you have the green light!!
- Genuineness is the best outfit!
Outfits are a big piece of the overall photo experience, yes, however at the end of the day... getting everyone together to capture the genuine family dynamic is what it is all about. We spend our time together getting everyone comfortable in front of the camera and engaging with one another to capture the most genuine moments to make memories last a lifetime!
