Holiday family photos are one of our favorite traditions of the season, and planning everyone’s outfits is always part of the fun. Whether you are booking a professional photographer, taking photos at home, or finding a beautiful outdoor location, choosing the right looks can make all the difference. Of course, coordinating outfits for an entire family is not always as easy as it sounds. Especially when everyone has their own style, preferences, and idea of what they want to wear.
Taking Family Photos
The good news is that you do not need everyone to match perfectly to create beautiful family photos. In fact, some of our favorite photos are the ones where everyone’s outfits complement each other while still allowing each person’s personality to shine through. The key is creating a cohesive overall look through color, texture, and styling. From timeless neutrals to rich seasonal colors and fun patterns, there are so many directions you can take your family holiday photo outfits this year. Here are a few things we keep in mind when putting together looks for the whole family.
Choose a Color Palette
The easiest place to begin when planning family photo outfits is with a color palette. Once you decide on a few colors you love, shopping for everyone becomes so much simpler. You can go classic and festive with shades like deep red, burgundy, emerald green, navy, or chocolate brown, or choose softer tones like cream, camel, taupe, dusty blue, and warm gray. You can’t go wrong with the deep shades for the holiday season, especially for Christmas photos.
For holiday photos, we love colors that feel seasonal without being overly themed. A rich burgundy paired with cream and brown can feel festive while still looking timeless years from now. Deep greens mixed with neutral tones are another beautiful option, especially for an outdoor photoshoot. You can also keep things simple with a warm, neutral palette and let your location or holiday decor add the seasonal touch.
Instead of putting everyone in the exact same color, try choosing three to five shades that work well together. One family member might wear a dark green dress, another could wear cream, while someone else wears brown or tan. This gives the photos dimension while still making the entire group look coordinated. Last year, we did a lot of neutral shades so maybe this year we will opt for more colors with our outfit choices.
When shopping, we like to start with one outfit we absolutely love and build the rest of the family’s looks around it. That might be a dress for mom, a patterned piece for one of the kids, or even a great sweater or jacket. Once you have your starting point, it is much easier to find complementary pieces for everyone else.
Go Timeless With Neutrals
You can never go wrong with a neutral theme for family holiday photos. We have worn black and cream in the past and loved how polished and cohesive the final photos looked. Neutral family outfits also tend to photograph beautifully in almost every setting, whether you are shooting in a studio, walking through the city, posing at home, or heading outdoors for a fall or winter backdrop. For your photo session, stick with a color scheme no matter what shades you choose. It looks great not only this time of year but year round. And a cohesive look is fantastic for holiday cards.
Cream, ivory, camel, black, brown, gray, and navy are all easy colors to mix and match. You can also combine lighter and darker neutrals to keep the outfits from looking too flat. For example, someone might wear a cream sweater with dark trousers, while another family member wears a chocolate brown dress or camel coat.
Another reason we love neutrals is that these are often pieces you can wear again. Instead of buying an entire outfit specifically for one photoshoot, look for clothing that can work for holiday parties, dinners, work events, and everyday outfits throughout the season. A great knit dress, tailored trousers, a classic blazer, or a cozy sweater can all become staples in your wardrobe long after the family photos are taken.
Comfort is important, too. The best family photos happen when everyone feels good in what they are wearing. Make sure kids can move comfortably, shoes are practical for the location, and everyone has tried on their complete outfit ahead of time. Doing a full try-on before photo day gives you plenty of time to make exchanges, find accessories, or swap out anything that does not quite work.
Patterns or Textures
This is where you can really add personality and dimension to your family photos. You do not need every outfit to be a solid color. A subtle pattern can bring the entire look together and make the photos feel more interesting without taking attention away from your family. Opt for different patterns or different textures to bring the whole holiday family photo outfits together. For our Christmas family photos, we try to bring different patterns and fabrics into the Christmas card. One of our best tips is that you pick one focal point with different outfit options and work from there. We tend to opt for fall colors with the deep shades but bringing chunky knits and plaid, velvet, etc. into the family pictures makes it so much cozier and gives it that festive look.
We love incorporating pieces like vintage-inspired florals, plaid, subtle stripes, or small prints into a family photo look. The trick is to choose one or two patterned pieces and keep the rest of the outfits relatively simple. If one person is wearing a floral dress, for example, you can pull colors from that print and use them throughout everyone else’s outfits.
Texture is another great way to make holiday photos feel cozy and elevated. Chunky knit sweaters, corduroy, velvet, wool, tweed, and soft knitwear all photograph beautifully during the fall and winter months. These fabrics add visual interest and give your photos that warm, seasonal feeling we all love.
Layers can also be especially helpful if you are taking photos outdoors. Coats, cardigans, scarves, and textured jackets can add another element to the look while keeping everyone warm on colder days. Just make sure the layers work with the overall color palette so everything still feels intentional.
Corduroy Dress // Jacket // Matching White Dress // Cream Roll Neck Sweater // Gingham Dress // Boots // Skirt // Ballet Flats
Cream Sweater // Chino Pants // Maroon Sweater // White Shirt // Boots // Loafers // Corduroy Pants
Cream Skirt // Feather Top // Feather Skirt // Lace Shirt // Lace Skirt // Black Mini Dress // Knee High Boots // Sweater // Bow Dress // Sweater Dress // Booties // Cream Top // Brown Dress
Roll Neck Sweater // Button Down // Sneakers // Khakis // Brown Sweater // Cream Sweater // Boots // Jeans
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