What to wear for extended family photos

Planning for extended family photos is not easy, but I am here to help! The most important thing is finding a date that will work for everyone. Once you are able to find a date that works for your extended family pictures, the next question is always, "What should we wear?"

The first thing to decide is if you want to have a more casual look, or more formal. Are jeans ok? What about T-shirts? Or would you prefer everyone wear dress pants and dresses? Sometimes a combination of the two works great, like in this photo:

The next thing to do is to pick colors. While this can seem intimidating, it doesn't have to be! Start with 1-2 main colors. A lot of people love blue, so they will start with a base of blue and gray/black. Pick a main color that most people have in their closets so that everyone isn't having to run out and buy new clothes. From there you can add a pop of color if you want more color. Green, red, pink, green, yellow - the options are endless! In the Fall, jewel tones work really well together. I recommend staying away from too much white, as it tends to wash people out. This family below stuck with shades of blue, gray, white and black for their colors.

One thing to keep in mind is to be specific - for example, if you choose blue, do you want navy, baby blue, royal blue, or turquoise? Or a combination of those? Send out example photos to the family so they know exactly what color scheme you are going for. This family chose navy, gray, and white with a pop of yellow.

Each smaller family should also coordinate within themselves once they know the overall color scheme. Since we will be taking pictures of smaller family groups as well, you want to make sure each family is happy with their outfits and that they work well together for those photos. If each family sticks with the color scheme and blends well within their own family, the large group photos should turn out wonderfully!

The last tip I like to give is about patterns. Patterns are ok, but they should be used sparingly and not be too large or distracting. I like to keep the rule of only 1-2 people in each smaller family wearing a pattern so that it isn't too overwhelming for the whole group.

Hopefully this helps ease the stress of planning extended family pictures. As always, if you have additional questions just send me a message!