Every year I get so excited when the leaves start changing, pumpkin spice coffee gets restocked, and the cool-crisp air fills my lungs with an invigorating scent that awakens my soul. Not only do I LOVE fall, but I also love the activities leading up to Christmas, my absolute favorite day of the year. As I plan on taking my own kiddos to the pumpkin patch and figuring out Halloween costumes, I’m also preparing for Christmas Mini Sessions for all of my loyal and amazing clients. I get so excited to see familiar faces that come back year after year. Speaking of "years," this one has been quite different than most. The pandemic had been a roller coaster ride for the entire universe. I am truly amazed that my clients have so quickly adapted to this temporary lifestyle and are choosing to keep celebrating life and documenting their blessings through portraiture. With everything that has been happening, this has been the slowest and yet the fastest year all at the same time. It's so crazy that the holiday season is here and it's time for me to begin preparation for Christmas Mini Sessions for all of my beautiful clients.
Each year I receive the same, "What should we wear? Do you have any suggestions for outfits?" texts and thought this would be a great time to write this article. Instead of sending out personal texts and emails, I'm going to share my wardrobe suggestions for Christmas Mini Sessions with all of you. I'll include some tips and tricks that have helped my clients with their wardrobe selections from years of photography and motherhood experience. So, without further ado, here we go!
Tips For Planning Your Winter Portrait Session Wardrobe
1) Start with Pinterest. Pin outfit ideas before you start shopping. You can reference back to this when deciding your own color choices and articles of clothing.
2) Choose the color tones for your outfits. Remember, these pictures are going to be hung in your home, will they match your decor? Do you want them hung year round or just for the holidays?
3) Decide on the style of your portrait session. Are you wanting formal and dressy portraits or prefer a more casual cozy look?
4) Start with your outfit first ladies (or gents) and build the rest from there. It's much easier to start with the outfit YOU love when creating the entire families wardrobe selections.
5) Add a few layers to your outfits. Layering clothing with vests, jackets, and cardigans add a little something special to your portraits and make them truly unique.
6) Create visual interest in your photos by adding some accessories. Bow ties, suspenders, fun hats, scarves, and jewelry are a simple and fun way of creating images that look amazing and classic.
7) Choose simple yet complementary outfits that matches your chosen print design. Only choose one or two print designs and then add in more solid colored items to keep your images from feeling too cluttered and busy.
8) Stay in the same color family. Avoid mixing bright colors and prints with pastels or too many variations of color tones. If you need color palette ideas, Pinterest is also great for that too!
9) Less is more. Adding too many layers, accessories, or print patterns can sometimes be distracting. Our goal is to focus on your beautiful family and the love you share. Keep it simple and avoid logos too.
10) Lay your items out on the bed. If you like the way they look together great! If you don't, figure out which item(s) are not appealing to you and change out just those pieces of clothing.
11) Dress warm friends. Goosebumps, blue fingers, and drippy noses may not be the look you're going for when you envision your family portrait gallery LOL!
12) Shoes. Ladies, we live in the midwest and it's going to be November. Be sure to bring some extra shoes to walk in if you want heels for your portraits. I promise, you'll thank me.
13) Bring baby wipes. Kids get crusty, believe me I have two of them, I know! You don't want those cookie crumbs or drippy nose remnants showing up in your portraits. Photoshopping them out is an extra cost and who wants that?
14) Iron your clothing. The last item on our list is probably one of the most important. Getting wrinkles out of images in photoshop is not fun. It also is an extra cost because well, it's super time consuming and is not an easy feat. Save yourselves some frustration and money by taking a little extra time to iron your clothing right before your session. Bonus, it gives your photos a truly polished look that you will love!
I understand planning outfits for the entire family can be time consuming and expensive. I truly hope this eases some of the frustration and makes planning your family portraits a little bit easier. God bless friends.
Leslie