Do you ever book a family photo session and then worry for weeks about the perfect thing to wear? I hear moms saying this all the time! Mom is stressing out running from store to store looking for anything other than the old stand by of black shirts and blue jeans for the family to wear, but isn’t sure what to buy! I have worked up four easy tips to help with this process and make it a little less complicated.

 

1.Keep it simple by choosing a patterned outfit with multiple colors in it for one person in the family and use those coordinating colors from the patterned outfit as solid colors for the other members of the family. You can also add layers and coordinating jewelry from the color palette on the patterned outfit.

 

2. Wear what you love. It’s hard to get away from what we think we “should” wear to a family session and embrace the unique style that each person has curated for themselves. Some people love flowy, hippie outfits while others like a more classic, tailored look. Let whatever clothing you choose be a reflection of your personal style.

 

3. Avoid solid white. If you love white then tone it down to an ivory shade or put layers on top of it.

 

4. Think about your home decor and what you plan to do with the photos beforehand. I have bright yellow barstools in my kitchen and print off a large 30×40 canvas from our personal family session each year for my feature wall. I choose to dress one of my sons in a yellow shirt each year so that I have a pop of yellow to coordinate with those random, beloved barstools.

 

 

That time Silas fell down a flight of concrete stairs right before our family photo session…

If you follow me on social media then you may have noticed that my three sons are very rambunctious, adventurous and mischievous. My son, Silas, is the ring leader of the pack for mischief. He was my most active baby in the womb and when he was born he let out the loudest, most shrill, blood curling scream I’ve ever heard and my midwife said, “He’s going to have a personality!”.

That was an understatement. The boy is destined to be a NAVY SEAL, sky diving instructor or wilderness man!

After I had finally lost the 60 pounds that I had gained from Silas’ pregnancy I felt confident and determined to have our family photos done at our favorite place outside of Kansas City, Missouri at the quaintest apple orchard, Alldredge Orchards.

I am normally not a big planner and tend to be more of a “fly by the seat of my pants” person, but these photos were important to me and I knew that taking the time to plan ahead would help things go more smoothly. Especially the fact that I had a 1 and 3 year old! I was 11 weeks pregnant with our third son at the time and knew that this was a time in my life that I wanted great family photos! I took the time to pre-plan the session, bought a cute plaid shirt for Silas and matched the rest of the family from the colors in his shirt, scheduled a makeup appointment at MAC and had everything ironed out hours before the session.

The tensions were high, but by golly-gee were going to make it to that photoshoot on time and happy! I fed the kids a high protein snack and promised them a cherry chocolate malt from our favorite local diner if they had fun and listened to the photographer, Allison Corrin.

I was hesitantly excited as we opened the front door to get into the van… when all of the sudden Silas lost his balance and crashed straight down onto his face down 4 concrete stairs. I remember it all in slow motion.

I heard that blood curling scream again. His forehead was indented with a concrete pattern and bruised up immediately. His mouth and nose were bleeding and I couldn’t tell if he had injured his teeth! I held him as he cried and eventually just laughed at the situation… Of COURSE this would happen!

We got in the van and went to the apple orchard anyway.

No use canceling the family photo shoot because of a bruise- especially because I know editing in Photoshop. I was able to edit it out and Allison kindly did a little work on the blog preview for me to show my family and friends on the web.

The kid is resilient. He and Solomon played at the apple orchard, chased chickens, picked apples, and we got some of the most fabulous family photos. Sometimes setbacks are an opportunity to pause, laugh and press on as planned. Our Kansas City family session was one of those times.

If your as lucky as me and your kid gets bumps or bruises before your family session with me then I will gladly edit them out free of charge!