What Should I Wear for My Lifestyle Family Session

I know what it’s like to worry about what your family will wear for a photo session. Dressing an entire family and making sure it all looks great together can be stressful!

My best piece of advice for you is to wear what you love. If you don’t love what you are wearing chances are you aren’t going to love the photographs. 

Here are some of my other tips for choosing your family’s outfits that I hope are helpful to you.

  1. Dress up but not formal. I like to dress the girls in dresses that are slighly casual. You want to look like yourselves but just slightly more “put together”. Suits and formal dresses are not necessary :) Somewhere in between your Sunday best and your casual weekend outfits is great.

  2. Wear something flowy. Flowy clothes photograph beautifully. If you have looked at my photographs before you may have noticed that I like to photograph families moving around, not sitting still. Clothes that move tell more of a story in your photograph and add visual interest. I always suggest women choose dresses, long skirts or a flowy top.

  3. Avoid super tight clothes. I ask parents to sit, dance, snuggle. Make sure your clothes can do that! :)

  4. Don’t be afraid of color and patterns. Just like material that moves, color makes photographs interesting! Mix it up! Avoid wearing all the same color and/or print. I know, I know…. it’s easier to pick a color and be done with it, but I’ll be honest, and I’m sorry, but it’s a bit boring to the eye. Your pictures will be more interesting if you have a variety of colors and add a prints in there too. It looks great! Have fun with it!

  5. Choose colors that coordinate well together for your family, not matching. I always suggest 2-3 colors for the family. I guarantee adding a few colors will make your photos pop with fun and create beautiful images. My one caveat is to avoid bright red and bright orange. They can overshadow and overwhelm the image.

  6. Don’t forget to accessorize. Big earrings and bracelets look great and really add to your overall look. And, please leave your Apple Watch at home or in the car. Trust me, you don’t want it in the pictures.

  7. Choose shoes that go well with the outfits, but make sure your kids have broken them in first :) Sometimes new shoes give kids blisters and quick(!!), and then it’s all the kids can think about. That can be a bummer during a photo session. It’s better to go with broken in shoes as long as they aren’t too broken in! :) Little booties are always cute for girls in the fall.

    But you don’t have to do all of this alone! I’ve created a Pinterest board for ideas for the whole family. Go to to my Pinterest board here. And, when you book a session with me I will offer styling advice. Send me your ideas and I will help style the family!


    Interested in booking a lifestyle family session in Raleigh? Get in touch! Send me a message to start the process. I’d love to hear from you!

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Michelle Panek Photography is a Family, Newborn and Branding Photographer in Raleigh NC Serving Raleigh, Durham, Cary and Wake Forest. Visit the homepage here.