What to Wear to Your Family Session (Without Losing Your Mind Over It)

I’m going to tell you something that might actually make you exhale: there is no wrong answer here.

Outfit stress is one of the most common things families bring to a session, and I understand it completely. You’re going to have these pictures on your wall for years. You want everyone to look like themselves, but also like you belong together. You want it to feel timeless. You don’t want anyone to look back at these in ten years and cringe.

I’ve got you. Here’s everything I actually know about what works — and what doesn’t.

START HERE

Pick One Person First

Don’t start with everyone at once. Start with whoever you have the strongest vision for — usually Mom, often a daughter with a dress you already love. Build outward from there.

Once you have one anchor outfit, everything else gets easier. You’re not trying to match; you’re trying to complement. Pull colors from that first outfit and let them guide the rest of the family. Tones that live in the same family — warm or cool, muted or saturated — will feel cohesive without looking like a uniform.

A family in coordinating blues and creams feels pulled together. A family in matching royal blue polos feels like a team photo. You’re going for the first one.

THE SECRET

Texture Over Matchy-Matchy

Matching is not the goal. Harmony is the goal. And the thing that creates harmony in a photograph isn’t identical colors — it’s a mix of textures and tones that feel like they belong in the same world.

Think linen, chambray, gauze, knit, denim, soft cotton. A flowy dress next to a linen button-down next to a little one in a smocked romper. Different textures in a shared palette. That’s the sweet spot.

Avoid large logos, busy patterns, or graphics that compete with faces. A subtle stripe or a small floral is beautiful. A graphic tee pulls the eye somewhere you don’t want it to go.

COLOR

What Actually Photographs Well

Soft, muted tones almost always win: creams, sage, dusty blue, terracotta, warm white, olive, blush, camel. They feel timeless, they work beautifully against natural backgrounds, and they tend to age well.

Bright, saturated colors can work — but the more saturated the color, the more it competes with everything else in the frame, including faces. If you love a bold color, use it as an accent rather than the foundation.

Pure white and very bright white can be tricky in outdoor light — they have a tendency to blow out. If you love white, go for an off-white or cream instead. It photographs softer and still gives you that clean, airy feeling.

When in doubt: if the outfit could belong in a catalog for a cozy autumn weekend at a farmhouse, it’s probably perfect.

THE KIDS

Dress Them to Move

This is the one I feel most strongly about. Please, please dress your children in something they can actually play in.

I’m going to ask them to run, to roll in the grass, to climb on things, to chase and be chased. If they’re stiff in their clothes — if the shoes pinch or the dress is too precious to sit in — it shows. Kids who are comfortable forget the camera exists. Kids who are uncomfortable become very aware of it.

Comfortable doesn’t mean sloppy. A smocked dress with soft shoes. A linen romper. Chinos and a soft button-down with the sleeves rolled up. There is a beautiful middle ground between dressed-up and dressed-to-play, and that’s exactly where I want your kids to land.

FOR THE GROWN UPS

You Matter in These Pictures Too

I say this to every mom who shows up having put enormous thought into everyone’s outfits and approximately no thought into her own: you matter in these pictures. Your kids are going to grow up and look at these photographs. They want to see you.

Wear something that makes you feel like yourself — not a performance of yourself, but actually yourself. If you feel best in something flowy and feminine, wear that. If you feel most like you in jeans and a nice top, wear that. What I’m looking for is the version of you that’s most comfortable in her own skin, because that’s the version that photographs beautifully.

And for dads: a well-fitted chino, dark jeans, or linen trousers with a soft button-down or a casual layer always works. Skip the tie unless that’s genuinely how you live.

PRACTICAL THINGS

A Few More Things Worth Knowing

• Bring an extra layer. Even in summer, a cardigan or denim jacket gives us styling options and keeps everyone comfortable if the temperature drops as the sun goes down.
• Avoid brand new shoes on little ones. Break them in first, or opt for something already loved and worn.
• Skip heavily fragranced products near your face — hairspray especially — if we’re shooting in wind. It will make your eyes water, which is less than ideal.
• If you’re unsure, take a phone photo of the whole family together before you leave the house and send it to me. I’m always happy to give a quick thumbs up or a gentle redirect before you’re standing in a field.

The most important thing I can tell you is this: whatever you choose, wear it with confidence. The families I photograph who feel good in what they’re wearing bring a completely different energy to a session. Not because the clothes are perfect — but because they’re not thinking about the clothes at all.

And when you stop thinking about the clothes, you start thinking about each other. That’s when I get to do my best work.

With warmth,

Martina

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