Over the years, I’ve learned a handful of strategies that have made planning our family photo outfits SO much easier. I’m sharing my thought process, the five tips I use to coordinate our family’s clothing, and pictures of our family through the years so you can see how it all comes together!

These tips work whether you’re taking casual pictures at a park, getting dressed up for a more formal shoot, or planning family pictures for your Christmas cards.

How to Choose What to Wear for Family Photos

Before we get into the five tips, I want to share a little backstory.

When my husband Benson and I first started our family, we didn’t put much thought into coordinating our outfits for pictures. And after Addie was born, we STILL didn’t get professional family photos taken.

One day I looked at her when she was over a YEAR old and realized how quickly she was growing. I wanted to remember all her cute little expressions, but I could never quite capture them myself. I wasn’t a great photographer at that point (and phone cameras weren’t as good — this was in 2015), and she moved way too quickly! Haha, those little people!

So we finally booked professional family pictures.

Our first shoot was in October 2015, which worked out perfectly because we could use the pictures for Christmas cards, too.

Of course, then came the challenge of figuring out what everyone should wear.

I spent time looking at other families’ pictures, thinking through what I liked, and figuring out how to coordinate our clothes. Since then, we’ve taken many family pictures, and I’ve continued using the same basic approach. It just works.

Here are the five things I think about when choosing outfits for family photos!

1. Figure Out What You Like in Family Photos

Before choosing anyone’s clothes, spend a little time looking at family pictures and noticing what you like.

When I was planning our first family photo shoot, I scoured Pinterest looking at other families’ pictures. I asked myself two simple questions:

Not groundbreaking, I know. 😆 But it was actually really helpful!

I discovered that I had some pretty clear preferences.

Things I liked:

I also realized that I especially liked family pictures that incorporated white. I had seen plenty of pictures with gray or black as the main neutral, but my favorites usually had some white mixed in.

Since our family has medium complexions and dark hair, I thought adding white would help create the lighter look I wanted.

Something I didn’t love: When everyone wore blue jeans. There’s nothing WRONG with that, but I personally preferred when the outfits had a little more variety.

Now, some of my likes might be your dislikes! And that’s totally fine. There isn’t one right way to dress for family pictures. The point is to figure out what YOU like before you start choosing clothes.

Questions to Help You Choose Your Family Photo Colors

As you’re looking at inspiration pictures, ask yourself:

For our first family pictures (in 2015!), I ended up choosing white, blue, and tan. Addie’s puppy and the pink in her shoes made it into the pictures, too, so I guess we had a little pink as well. 😉

I originally considered gray instead of tan, but after looking at what Benson and Addie already had in their closets, tan made more sense. I also thought it would stand out a little more in the pictures.

That’s another thing to remember: You don’t have to buy all new clothes to get a coordinated look! Start with a general direction, then see what you can put together from what everyone already owns.

2. Think About Your Goals for the Family Photo Shoot

Another important thing to consider when deciding what to wear for family pictures is what kind of photos you actually want.

Are you hoping for casual, playful pictures? More formal portraits? Pictures of everyone interacting naturally? Something festive for holiday cards?

The answer can help determine what kind of clothing makes the most sense.

For our first family photo shoot, I really wanted to capture Addie and our family in our normal, everyday mode. I wasn’t looking for glamorous pictures with everyone dressed up. I wanted to remember our relationship with Addie at that stage of life.

That meant things like lying on the grass together, swinging her around, and letting her climb all over us.

Since we knew we’d be taking pictures at a park with grass and dirt, casual clothing made the most sense. Jeans and comfortable clothes allowed us to move around and interact naturally without worrying too much about what we were wearing.

But your goals might be completely different!

Maybe you WANT everyone dressed up. Or maybe you’re taking pictures inside your home and want a relaxed, cozy look. Or perhaps you just want one nice picture where everyone is together and looks coordinated.

All of those are great options!

Questions to Ask Before Choosing Your Outfits

Think about:

If you’re planning outdoor family pictures with lots of movement, make sure everyone’s clothes allow them to sit, walk, and play comfortably.

If you’re planning a dressier shoot, you can absolutely choose dresses, button-down shirts, and nicer shoes instead.

And don’t feel like everyone needs to wear the same level of dressiness down to the exact item. A dress on one person and jeans on another can still work together if the colors and overall feel are cohesive.

The goal is to choose clothes that fit the kind of pictures you want to take.

3. Start With the Person Who Is Hardest to Dress

This is one of my BIGGEST tips for coordinating outfits for family photos!

Start with the person who has the most limited clothing options, then work your way toward the person who has the most options.

That might be the person who is pickiest about what they wear, the person with the smallest wardrobe, or someone who needs a particular type of clothing.

Why?

Because it’s so much easier to build everyone else’s outfits around the person with limited options than to plan several outfits and THEN discover that the last person has nothing that works!

Here’s a real-life example.

In 2017, Addie was SUPER picky about what she wore. I knew I could probably get her to wear her favorite bunny sweater or MAYBE one other outfit.

Buying something new and then try to convince her to wear it just for family pictures was probably not gonna fly.

So I started with her bunny sweater and her second favorite outfit. Then I played around with clothes for the rest of us to see which option worked best.

Usually Benson is the next person I plan around because he’s a minimalist and has very few clothes compared to me.

That year I was pregnant with Ella, so my maternity wardrobe was more limited than usual. But I STILL had more options than Benson! So I ended up choosing my outfit last.

Your family might be the complete opposite. Maybe your husband and kids will wear pretty much anything, but YOU have a harder time finding something you feel great in.

In that case, start with yourself! Choose an outfit you love and feel confident wearing, then coordinate everyone else’s clothes around yours.

And, if you need ideas for what YOU should wear, I’ll share some options below that I think will look fantastic in pictures.

And, because we can all relate, I should tell you… even though Addie was wearing her FAVORITE bunny sweater that year, she threw a crazy long tantrum right before we left the house and during most of the car ride. 😵‍💫

We had to skip her nap for the photo shoot, so that basically sealed our fate. 😅 We bribed her with fruit snacks, and somehow she smiled through the whole shoot without us having to force her. To this day, I have no idea how we got those genuine smiles. It legit felt like a miracle. 😆

So, even when you plan everything around your kids’ favorite clothes, things might not go perfectly! 🤪

4. Mix Up the Colors of Everyone’s Bottoms

Here’s a simple trick that can make a HUGE difference when coordinating family photo outfits:

Have everyone wear different colored bottoms instead of putting everyone in blue jeans.

This is especially helpful if you want your family to look coordinated without looking too matchy-matchy.

Think about it. If everyone wears blue jeans, most of the visual differences between outfits are happening on the top half. But if you mix up the bottoms, you instantly add more variety throughout the outfits.

For example, you could have one person wear blue jeans, another wear tan pants, another wear olive pants, and someone else wear a skirt or dress. You can still keep the overall color palette cohesive, but the outfits will look more varied and interesting.

This is something I talk about when teaching you how to mix and match clothes in your everyday wardrobe, too. Mixing up the colors of your bottoms can make a big difference in how varied your outfits look!

Of course, if you LOVE the look of everyone wearing jeans, go for it! There’s nothing wrong with matching bottoms. But if you’ve been wondering how to coordinate family outfits without everyone looking the same, this is one of the easiest things to try.

5. Add a Print or Two to Add Visual Interest & Tie Your Family’s Outfits Together

My last tip is to incorporate a print or two!

Prints add visual interest to outfits, and they’re also incredibly helpful when you’re trying to figure out which colors to use for family pictures.

In fact, if you’re completely stuck on a color palette, start with a printed piece of clothing!

Look at the colors in the print, then pull a few of print’s colors into other family members’ outfits. The print helps tie everything together without requiring everyone to wear the exact same colors.

For example, one year Addie wore a printed dress that had yellow, orangey-brown, and olive in it. We pulled those colors into everyone else’s outfits. We even found a printed onesie for Ella that included the same colors!

That made it easier to create outfits that worked together without looking identical.

Another year, we built our outfits around Addie’s bunny sweater. Her sweater had blue and pink in it, so I wore a burgundy top, which was in the same general color family as the pink, along with dark blue jeans. I also added another print with my scarf.

The colors weren’t exact matches, but they worked together!

You don’t need every color to match perfectly, and you don’t need everyone to wear a print. One printed piece can give you plenty of direction and visual interest!

If you do mix multiple prints, just pay attention to whether they work together visually. You want the outfits to feel cohesive rather than having lots of competing patterns.

So if you’re staring at everyone’s closets and have NO idea where to begin, find a print you love and start pulling colors from it!

Quick Checklist: How to Coordinate Outfits for Family Photos

Okay, that was a lot of information! 😄

If you’re trying to figure out what to wear for family photos, here’s a quick checklist you can use to make the process easier.

You don’t need to follow a complicated formula or buy everyone new clothes. These are just simple guidelines to help you narrow down your options and make the process less overwhelming.

More Family Photo Outfit Examples Through the Years

I thought it would be helpful to share more of our actual family pictures so you can see how we’ve used these tips over time.

You’ll notice that we repeat some clothing pieces (like I told you, Benson is a minimalist so he doesn’t have tons of options 😆), mix up the colors of our bottoms, and usually incorporate at least one print.

And while sometimes we buy a few of our family members a new piece for the photo, we definitely don’t buy everyone entirely new outfits every year!

2016 Family Photos

We totally cheated this year and just used a nice picture someone took of us at a wedding. 😜

2017 Family Photos

I was pregnant with Ella this year!

And yes, I really did make Benson wear those same pants again. He’s a minimalist and only has about three or four pairs of pants, so our options are limited, ha! I’m also a big believer in, “If it ain’t broke…” 😄

2018 Family Photos

Benson and I are BOTH wearing the same pairs of pants we wore in 2015! But this time we added yellow, gray, and olive to the mix.

Plus, we had a new little person in our family! 🤗🥰

2019 Family Photos

Not too different from the previous year! Like I said…if it ain’t broke… 😛

2020 Family Photos

Another new little addition to our family! My goal this year was to let Benson wear different pants. 😂 Mission accomplished!

2023 Family Photos

That little monkey on the right…😆

2024 Family Photos

We celebrated my mom’s birthday in Hawaii this year and took family pics with her, my siblings, and their families.

(Remember I said if it’s windy, make sure to wear things that won’t fly around? That helped here! Even though both of my daughters were wearing dresses, they didn’t flap around in the wind. No outfit malfunctions. 😅)

Frequently Asked Questions About What to Wear for Family Photos

Should everyone wear matching outfits for family pictures?

Not necessarily! You can absolutely wear matching outfits if that’s the look you love, but I personally prefer when everyone coordinates without matching exactly.

Choose a general color palette, then use different combinations of those colors throughout everyone’s outfits. Mixing up bottoms and incorporating a print or two can help create a cohesive look with more variety.

How many colors should you wear for family photos?

I personally like using about three main colors, sometimes with an additional accent color.

You don’t have to stick to exactly three colors, though! Use that as a starting point rather than a strict rule.

What should you wear for outdoor family pictures?

Think about the location and what you’ll be doing during the shoot.

If you’re taking pictures at a park and plan to sit in the grass, walk around, or play with your kids, choose clothes and shoes that allow you to move comfortably.

If you’re taking more formal outdoor portraits, dressier outfits can work beautifully, too. Just make sure your clothing fits the activities you have planned.

If you know it’ll be windy, like at the beach, try to avoid things that will fly around too much in the wind.

How do you coordinate family photo outfits without matching?

Start with a general color palette, then distribute those colors throughout everyone’s outfits rather than dressing everyone identically.

Try using different colored bottoms and incorporating one or two prints that contain colors from your palette.

That way, everyone’s clothing looks like it belongs together without being exactly the same.

Shop Outfits for Family Photos for YOU

As promised, here are a few pieces that I think will look GREAT in family photos, thanks to the colors, prints, silhouette, or structure of the item. They’ll pop in photos and make you feel confident!

I Hope This Helps You Choose What to Wear for Family Photos!

Choosing clothes for the whole family can feel overwhelming, but it really doesn’t have to be!

Start by figuring out what kind of pictures you want, choose clothes that work for the people in your family, and use colors and prints to bring everything together.

And remember, you don’t need brand-new outfits or perfectly matching clothes to get beautiful family pictures. Let the pictures capture the season of life your family is in at the moment — that’s the heart of it all. I love having pictures to look back on to see how our family has grown and changed!

Originally published December 12, 2015. Updated October 2026 with clearer outfit-planning tips and additional guidance.