Family picture outfits on a budget

On Saturday we went on a family excursion that often leaves mothers stressed, kids frazzled and asking where their bribe treat is, and husbands generally wishing the whole ordeal was over so that the great memento of this occasion could already be hanging on the wall of their house.

The event? Annual family pictures.

I think the most stressful part of it all is not the “day of,” you know, getting everyone dressed and out the door on time, but the days before, days of scrambling to pull outfits together that coordinate. All so that one shot turns out picture perfect.

But, over the years I have come up with a few tips that work well for our family and helps us stay within budget. I have also found my approach keeps me from going crazy trying to coordinate dozens of articles of clothing that the six people in our family bring to a family photo.

I’m sharing these tried and true tips with you in case you are about to also embark on this festive fall tradition. Hopefully these tips will inspire you to streamline things a bit more, perhaps even helping you come in under budget as you plan your family’s outfits.

I should preface this by saying I’m not a fashion blogger or a photographer, just a mom who has now done this nine consecutive years.

Tip 1: Select one outfit as the foundation

Most experts on outfits for family pictures (fashion bloggers) encourage their readers to pick their own outfits (mom’s outfit) first. Our family doesn’t. We’ve fallen into the routine of using my husband’s outfit as the foundation. Over the years he has developed a capsule wardrobe with a particular palette. He likes to wear a button-down shirt, slacks (not jeans), and has jackets he can use as an extra layer. Which is perfect, because that’s exactly what I’m looking for in a foundation. And when he selects his outfit first it is easier (and more enjoyable) for me to find an outfit from my closet (or buy a new one) rather than asking him to shop for something. Having a foundation to work with makes experimenting with coordinating looks not just possible, but maybe even a little fun.

*This picture was our family picture from last year. My husband picked the rust oxford shirt, British khaki slacks, and moss green trucker jacket. Our outfits were all coordinated off of this foundational outfit.

Tip 2: Gather clothes you already own

Next, I go to each closet and drawer and pull out any piece of clothing that complements or coordinates with my husband’s outfit. I pull out dresses, tights, cardigans, jackets, headbands/bows for girls, sweaters, button down shirts, and pants.

This is a “planning pile” from last summer when we were preparing for family pictures to celebrate my parents’ 40th Anniversary. I put everything all in a pile on my bed and started to mix and match options to see what we have that we already own that will work.

You almost certainly have several items in your closets already that your family can wear for family photos! You don’t have to buy something new.

If you need help with complementary colors, pop over here for a handy guide!.

Tip 3: Prints, textures, and layers

First: prints. Out of the “planning pile” I pick one or two pieces that have a print. Typically one “busy print” is all that will work for family pictures, but usually our pictures have one “busy print” and a second, more subtle print. Next, I pick two or three people who will wear a layer. I make sure at least one person wears a textured layer (tights for girls can also be textured and count as a layer).

In this picture you can see all three of these “picture day strategies” on display. My husband is wearing the outfit he picked (which has a busier print) but it coordinates nicely with my daughter’s larger, contrasting, and more subtle print on her dress. My husband also has a layer over his busier print (to tone it down), my son has a chunky sweater for added texture as does my second oldest daughter. The layers that I picked are all neutral to mute the colorful and bold patterns.

Fun fact: the white cardigan my daughter is wearing in that photo was way too small for her, but because we didn’t need to button it up, the sweater did the job! I have also been known to make a ten year old wear a stretchy newborn flower headband as an accessory. I literally pull all the clothes we own in order to mix and match without having to purchase new pieces!

Tip 4: Pops of color

I’ll often find some kind of accessory for someone to wear that can add a pop of color, especially one that might complement our overall look. Usually this comes in the form of a headband for a girl or a pop of color from a boy’s shirt under a three-quarter zip sweater.

Here’s an example of accessories adding color. Can you spot any accessories that you’ve already seen us wear before?!

Tip 5: Purchasing what we are missing

Finally, the last step is buying any pieces we are missing. By this point, because I have done the legwork outlined above, I know exactly what my shopping list is. For our family of six we typically have a total of 25 articles of clothing (including shoes) for pictures. This year, this was all we bought.

If I start planning outfits early enough I will visit our favorite thrift store to see if I can find what we need. (I always have success grabbing boys’ shirts and sweaters at thrift stores. They are often new with tags!). I will then start looking to purchase new things from the store. I have had success getting accessories from Amazon or Target, nice shoes for the kids from Nordstrom Rack, and if I’m missing a dress from my “planning pile” for my older girls (who don’t have hand-me-downs anymore) I’ve found the Gorlya brand on Amazon is really nice for solid colored dresses that have interesting details.

Pro tip: I always make sure we wait until the month of family photos to get our kids new shoes for the school year. If I got them new shoes before the school year began, they’d spend several weeks scuffing them up before our appointment with the photographer. Waiting to buy new shoes until October stretches my budget considerably.

Ok Audra, I actually need the easy button this year

Like I said: I’m not a fashion blogger or a photographer, but this is the system that I use and it’s worked well for our family over the years.

However, if you like the easy button and need suggestions for color schemes that work (or want to just buy all new outfits for the family, I really like this blogger’s simple yet put togehter style and her suggestions for outfits for the whole family. She even links everything for you so that if the easy button is what you need for family outfits for pictures, you can certainly hit it!

Favorites from the Holiday Catalog

Each year we have several holiday catalogs land in our mailbox (or inbox). Out of all of these, there is one catalog where year after year… I want literally everything in the catalog. This weekend that catalog from Young Living was released, and while I (again!) want every single item, I am paring down my list to the top five things. These are what caught my eye, not just for myself, but also for gifts I love to give to others. The quality of these items far surpasses similar things that you can buy at big box stores this time of year, and besides being high quality, I love that they also use safe ingredients, and the fragrance used is natural (from the highest quality essential oils!) and not synthetic.

Mini Aria // I have the larger Aria diffuser in our dining room (which is also our homeschool space) and I’m excited for the Mini Aria to arrive! It has a darker base (so elegant!) and comes with a 15mL of Christmas Spirit, a 5mL of Peppermint, and a 5mL of Vanilla. I had needed to order both Christmas Spirit and Vanilla this month anyway, making this the perfect little bundle for me!

Lip Balm Collection // Every year I purchase at least six of these collections. They make great teacher gifts when paired with a gift card (and often teachers will ask me how to get more!). The lip balms from Young Living are the only kind of lip balms that I use. I have found that other brands dry my lips out more, leaving them chapped, and needing to continue reapplying more and more lip balm. Not so with these! I always buy a few for myself, too, because this bundle is a great deal!

Macaron Diffuser Collection // A girl can never have too many diffusers (I said what I said). This diffuser is a beautiful ceramic diffuser. It isn’t tall like most diffusers, it’s stout - making it perfect for a shelf. This diffuser set comes with Evergreen Essence (the only time all year you can purchase this blend that smells like you are walking in a winter wonderland), Cassia (warm and inviting), and Orange (pairs well with almost anything in the diffuser). Keep the whole collection yourself or break it apart and use it as gifts!

Kidscents Bath Bombs // I am grabbing a few of these to put in my girl’s stockings this Christmas. They are always after me to buy bath bombs from Target, but the dye and fragrance isn’t something I am willing to let them soak in. Some people are pros at DIYing bath bombs, but I’m not one of those people. These KidScent Bath Bombs have a relaxing scent and come with a container that can be customized. So cute!

Christmas Spirit Foaming Hand Soap // Just like in the days of yore when I frequented Bath and Body Works, I like to keep the hand soaps in my bathrooms and kitchen seasonal. Once November 1st hits, that scent is Christmas Spirit. It’s a festive blend of spice and citrus and is such a cozy way to welcome in the season!

If you are already a Young Living member, you can visit the website, log in, and just start shopping. If you are new to Young Living but want to get started with one of the favorites that I mentioned above (or something else from the Holiday Catalog caught your eye), pop over here to get started.

Snippets from my week

Family pictures are a wrap this year! Enjoying that well-earned bribe treat of tacos from a taco shop in town! Can’t wait to see how our pictures turned out!

Excellent read about an aspect of WWII I had never read about before. Recommended.

We tried out a new game (Catan Junior) on Saturday night. It was a hit! (Does your family play this game also?)

Thanks for reading! Do you have any tips for taking family pictures to share? I’d love to hear about it for next year–just hit reply if you’d like to share. I read all your messages and try to respond, but not always in a timely manner. Sorry! And if you enjoyed this email, you’d be doing me a favor by forwarding it to someone else who might like it.