Nine tips for making your family’s outfits cohesive:

Let’s say you have just scheduled your family photo session at Wingaersheek beach(or another favorite North Shore beach), and now you are grappling with how to find the right outfits for everyone. You want every member of your family to be happy and you want your outfits to photographs well. It’s a difficult task! I’ve compiled a list of suggestions to keep the outfit selection from becoming stressful. I promise it doesn’t have to be!

1. Start with the pickiest person. This might be your child with texture sensitivities, or it might even be you! Start here and choose colors and outfits for other family members from here.

2. Be comfortable! You don’t want to be adjusting your outfit (or your kids) during a session, so make sure you are dressed in an outfit you feel good in, and ditch your daughter’s itchy sweater.

3. Consider the weather! Please bring the appropriate sweaters for your children, kids who are freezing are unhappy and it shows in pictures.

4. Consider what type of session you are wanting. Do you want your photos to look more relaxed or are you wanting a more dressy/formal look? Generally speaking- very structured outfits look less relaxed. The session below was at Wingaersheek beach , and I love how relaxed it feels. Dresses that move with the wind are a plus in my opinion.

5. Colors. Always have lots of neutrals! For other colors, stick to warm colors and tones.

6. Patterns. Generally speaking, having at least one pattern in a family session adds interest to a family photo. This can be in the form of a dress, shirt, or sweater.

7. Texture. If you don’t have patterns in your outfit- make sure to add texture! Sweaters (like the one below) are a great way to add texture and interest. You could even bring a blanket to your session!

8. Don’t forget shoes. Do you want everyone to be barefoot at the beach or are you wanting everyone to wear shoes? Think about this ahead of time.

9. Coordinate, NOT match. This is a tricky one for a lot of people, I get it. The sessions that photograph the best are limited to a (warm) color pallet, and then there’s a mixture of textures and patterns within that pallet. The session below was taken at Lynch Park in Beverly, and their mom did such a great job of coordinating without matching.

Please DONT:

• Wear neon colors
• Wear thin close striped clothing
• Wear clothes with logos/cartoon characters
• Too many dark colors
• Wear matching outfits (think coordinating over matching!)

Lastly, if you are really stumped on outfit choices, please email me pictures or questions and I will be happy to help you bring it all together for your family session. It always comes together in the end!