What to Wear for Family Pictures: Timeless Options

What to Wear

Mother and son wearing light colors on New Hampshire beach snuggling at sunset.

Planning your family photo session should be exciting, but choosing what to wear can sometimes feel overwhelming. You want everyone to look their best while ensuring the photos remain timeless and beautiful for years to come. Don’t stress! Here are some tips and ideas on what to wear for family pictures to help you make the best choices for your session.

Example of what to wear for family pictures, light muted colors for mother and her babies and children.

Our Method

Here at Kathleen Jablonski Photography, we’re not really into the whole “do it yourself” method when it comes to picking what to wear for family pictures. Why? Because parenthood is hard enough without adding this to your plate. If you are anything like me, you will spend a lot of time searching for outfits online but not actually purchasing any…then panic buying on Amazon 5 days before your session.

Take this as your sign to BUY NOW! When you give yourself the gift of time, you can exchange sizes, colors, etc. if need be and you aren’t left wearing some awkward fitting dress that you have to keep pulling up to hide your bra straps. Photoshop is a beautiful tool but it can’t always fix everything.

Images of coordinating outfits for advice given by Kathleen Jablonski Photography on what to wear for family photoshoot.

What Does it Mean to Have a “Timeless” Look?

Our style is timeless and we do this for a reason. When you look back at your photos in 10 or 20 years, we want you to look back at the love on your kid’s faces, not the bright pink or purple sweater you decided to dress them in. Clothes can be very distracting so we like to keep it simple and light so your family’s love can take the center stage.

Does this mean it has to be boring? Absolutely not! We love incorporating different textures, patterns and styles! Take a look at some of the styles below to see what we mean.

We prefer muted, basic colors because they photograph beautifully. Linen overalls, dresses, rompers, matching sets, and sweaters are all great choices for your kids because they will add to your overall images instead of distract. Not to mention…they are all very comfortable options so your child won’t be scratching the itchy tulle dresses like we all used to during the Olan Mills days.

Ideas for dresses for mothers when thinking about what to wear for family pictures.

Options for Mom

When discussing what to wear for family pictures, we would argue that Mom’s outfit is the most important. When mama feels good, everyone else will too! Since our style is very light and bright, we love encouraging something floral or a nice muted color. You can really never go wrong with a beautiful white or ivory dress like this. Here are some of our favorite spots to shop:

Baltic Born

Nothing Fits But

Free People

Morning Lavender

Hazel & Folk

Worth Collective

Many Mamas that come to us are self conscious about something on their body. It comes with the territory of having babies unfortunately. Our job is to make you feel confident and beautiful so we opt for flowy dresses that accentuate your figure. See some of our all-time favorite dresses below:

Hill House Dress

Nothing Fits But Dress

Morning Lavender Dress

Many of our favorites are already in our Client Wardrobe so you don’t need to worry about shopping at all. Just leave all of the styling to us and we promise to make you look absolutely stunning in your images!

Style board created by Kathleen Jablonski Photography with muted colors, dress by Free People and kid outfits from Zara.

Options for Dad

If there is a Dad in your family, he might be a little shy about wearing something that is out of his comfort zone. Understandable! The goal is to make sure that everyone feels confident in the images so we try to stick Dad in something very basic. We often opt for a lighter pair of pants or jeans (which are often in his closet already) with a henley, collared, or linen shirt depending on the season. Here are some of our favorite quick options for Dad:

Shirts:

Collared Shirt

Textured Shirt

Henley Shirt

Pants:

White Chino

Light Khaki Chino

Light Wash Jeans

The biggest thing to keep in mind is to make sure that clothes are the right size and fit well. We don’t want any ripping of the pants that they didn’t try on until the night before (just my husband?!).

Toddler boy wearing Rylee and Cru linen overalls playing on Hampton Beach in New Hampshire while holding mother's hand.

Options for Kids

Kids are usually pretty simple because there are plenty of timeless options at stores these days. We’ve even found pieces at Old Navy and Target that work!

I know it feels like you have to pick the biggest and most elaborate outfit for your kiddos when thinking about what to wear for family photos, but believe me when I say understated is the way to go. Your children will look darling in linen overalls or a simple muted color romper and you will look back at these images and see your kid instead of the obnoxiously trendy thing they were wearing. Just think of all of our images from childhood…all I see in my baby albums is loud 90’s colors and a bowl cut.

Simple options when discussing what to wear for family photos including ivory, muted colors, and tans to create a timeless look.

Our favorite places to shop for kids online are:

Zara

H&M Kids

Rylee + Cru

Noralee

Quincy Mae

Jamie Kay (long shipping times)

Young boy wearing soft tones soaking in the sunshine during a golden hour session with Kathleen Jablonski Photography at Hampton Beach in NH.

Warm Colors vs Cool Colors

Just to bring you back to elementary school art class for a minute, do you remember your teacher talking about warm vs cool colors? Think of the sun…red, yellow, orange and variations of those colors will come to mind. With cool colors, think of the ocean…blue, green, and purple colors. When thinking about what to wear for family pictures, stick to either a variation of warm colors or cool colors. If you are looking for something bright and warm, maybe pick three muted tones of red, yellow, or orange and add in some white or ivory as well. If you like blues (especially for those blue-eyed blondie kiddos!), lean towards the variations of muted blues, grays, purples and greens.

This doesn’t have to be a hard fast rule of course but sticking to these groupings of colors will add a cohesive look to your family photos.

Client Wardrobe

For all full sessions, we offer access to our exclusive Client Wardrobe, stocked with beautiful basics so you don’t even need to shop. At Kathleen Jablonski Photography, we provide custom styling for your entire family, helping you choose every fashion detail before your session. During this special season of life, there’s nothing better than having every detail handled for you. You deserve to be spoiled and well taken care of!

Many of our clients are just beginning on their motherhood journey. As a NH Maternity Photographer, we want Mama to feel absolutely sunning for her maternity session. We have a collection of maternity dresses that will be comfortable and shed a light on the beautiful transformation she is undergoing.

After baby is born, the postpartum days can be ones filled with equal parts joy and exhaustion. Our goal is to take the stress off your plate by curating outfits for your entire family. That is what makes us a top-rated New Hampshire Newborn Photographer.

Dresses in Kathleen Jablonski's studio client wardrobe including many dresses in white, muted colors, ivory, tan, florals, and blues.

What to Wear for Family Pictures

Choosing what to wear for family pictures doesn’t have to be stressful. By following these tips and planning ahead, you can create a cohesive and timeless look that will make you so happy with your images. Remember, the most important thing is that you and your family feel comfortable and confident. When you feel good, it shows in your photos, and we can capture those beautiful, genuine moments together. Ready to plan your session? Contact me today to learn more and book your family photo shoot!

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NH Newborn Photographer