Dressing the whole family for your newborn session can be one of the most stressful pieces of preparing for this session. After all I try to take care of everything for you but this! The good news is that it doesn’t need to be that hard. Stressing over this part is unnecessary! Hopefully this blog will help you out.

First rule, keep it simple! It’s easiest to start with one members outfit and let the rest follow. Remember, you don’t need to match, just coordinate! If you are choosing to include colors other than black, white, or grey, start with your colored outfit first. This will make coordinating the rest much easier. If you start with 2-3 members outfits and they are wearing black, white, or grey, the remaining outfits could add a pop of any color. We recommend keeping colors neutral, or at least no really vibrant or neon colors. This will keep your images timeless. We have several backdrop options to coordinate with any color and we have many swaddle color options that dressing your baby to match won’t be a problem! You don’t have to worry about the newborn’s outfit and that’s the best part! We have you covered.

We typically photograph the family shots from the waist up so your baby is prominent in the images. So you don’t have to worry too much about the bottom half of your wardrobe. If you are choosing bottoms, you can never go wrong with jeans or khakis. These are timeless choices and make choosing the rest of your outfit easier. After all, what color doesn’t go with jeans and khakis? However, if you have other children that are going to be included in pictures, their pants will be visible in pictures. This is why we recommend jeans or khakis and dresses for girls (or at least no patterned pants/leggings).

Sometimes the worst part of dressing the family can be the shoes. Lucky for you, we recommend no shoes for sibling photos and often have you remove them for family photos too if we are getting a full body shot. This takes away a lot of stress!

If you ask us, sticking with black, white, navy, or grey, is your best option. These colors will never go out of style and truly keep your images timeless for years and years. We don’t disagree with patterned outfits but recommend only one family member wear a pattern as it can make your images too busy or steal focus. Also, floral print may be in now but who knows if it will be 20 years from now when you are looking through your photos.

As for style, the more simple you keep things, the better. For dads, polos and plain t-shirts are great options as well as solid sweaters.

For moms, a plain dress or plain top are great options. Big ruffled or detailed sleeves are not recommended as it will steal focus from the baby.

For little girls, a simple dress or a plain shirt and leggings are great choices. We have simple headbands and bow hair clips that can be used to hold your little girls hair out of her face. We even have some dresses here in the studio in a variety of sizes so we may be able to help you out if you don’t have time to worry about it.

For little boys, we’d recommend something similar to the dad. A polo or plain t-shirt are great choices and pair well with jeans or khakis.

It doesn’t have to be so tricky to plan! We promise! Most clients bring several outfit options to the session and ask for our advice on what pairs well or we are happy to even come to your house beforehand to help you put something together. We don’t mind this at all! Whatever makes you feel more prepared works for us. In the meantime, I hope this helps you feel more prepared for your session. If you are worried you don’t have anything for mom to wear, ask us about the dresses we have in studio. Maybe we will have something you like!