Choosing coordinating outfits for family photos can be difficult even for a small family. But when you add in the rest of your extended family, who don’t all live in the same area, it can be a real challenge!

So what do you do? First, consider how formal you want to be: ties and dresses, polos and khakis, or t-shirts and shorts? Next, I suggest starting with a color palette–a simple one. What colors of clothing would most everyone have? For example, almost everybody owns a pair of jeans, and something white or black. After that, add a few more colors for more variety. Next it’s time to start building your immediate family’s outfits. Lay out some items in the living room floor for each person and see how they look together. Solids work best, but it’s okay to have stripes or patterns here or there, as long as they aren’t too busy. Ask lots of questions: Are we wearing too much of one color? Are all of our shirts the same color, or is there some variation between tops and bottoms? If Mom’s going to hold the baby in most of the photos, is there enough contrast between her blouse and what the baby is wearing? If we do shots of Dad and the boys, how will that look? Finally, consider your shoes, socks, and other accessories. Don’t worry too much about the other members of your extended family. If each couple or family looks good together, we can always arrange those who match too closely to be farther away from each other.

Here’s an example for you, using navy and denim as a main color, white and khaki for neutrals, and a little bit of hot pink for a splash of color.

All of the clothing items in this first photo are from Old Navy, except one, but I’m almost certain you can find a nearly identical item there (and yes, some of the photos look a little weird: women’s clothing shots are almost always shown on models, so splicing together a top and bottom can be a little tricky–sorry). Your family might not be this size, you don’t have to wear these exact items, and these might not suite your taste. Or maybe “couple 4” is actually two single adults. That’s fine. This is just to give you some ideas. Of course, if you already have similar items in your closet, that’s even better. Here we have slightly different levels of formality, but everyone looks like they belong together. Different washes of denim and different shades of khaki also add variety.

I am far from a shoe expert, but here are a couple ideas to go along with the above outfits. All of the shoes and accessories in this second photo are from Target. Boys’ and men’s shoes tend to be pretty straightforward, so I didn’t do a lot with them. Girls and women generally have more options (including accessories like headbands, scarves, and jewelry) to help tie in the color scheme, so be sure to think about that as you’re planning what to wear.

 

I hope this is helpful to someone. Want me to create a board for your family with the colors you have in mind? Leave a message in the comments!