Family photos- what to wear

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We were given some money as a gift to get a family photo shoot. I've never been to one before. As this is a one off I want to make sure the picture is classic and won't date too badly over time. So no matching argyle jumpers etc
My DP and I will be in pic and both dc's, one toddler and one baby. Any tips on what to wear? I was thinking slim black trousers with a collarless white shirt for me with a nice necklace and brogues. Hair down, is shoulder length and minimal make up.
Not sure about kids and leaving DP to his own devices [smie]
Any tips please?

Depends where the shoot is being done - if its in a studio they often use a white background in which case I'd avoid wearing white! Also avoid a solid block of red as it can look wrong against the backdrop.

Depends on your own personal style, I wore a dress when we had a shoot done which was blue with a slight pattern on it but trousers would have been fine too. For the DC's do you have a favourite outfit for them, or something with meaning to you? Take some "props" along eg favourite teddy, a toy that they both like to play with together, etc so these can be incorporated if you wanted to.

It's good fun having it done though!

You could ask the studio for advice, or pop along and see dome of their work, or even go onto google images and look at family portraits to get some ideas.

You haven't said whether the children are boys or girls, but in general I would maybe try and stick to a similar colour pallete for you all and wear things that don't date. Maybe Polo shirts or plain shirts for boys/OH or maybe dungarees/denims? For girls a classic dress or pinafore or denims again could be nice depending on the style you want to go for. I'd definitely take a favourite cuddly (or other) toy. they will enjoy seeing that in the photo when they are older too.

www.google.co.uk/search?q=family+portraits&safe=active&rls=com.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=9JwMUsLJEYeV7Qa9qYGACQ&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=992&bih=592

We had one done recently where we all wore navy.

The photographer took it against a dark background and I really like it. It's quite modern looking, the idea was that our faces stand out rather than a focus on clothing.

Thank you everyone for tips. That's a good idea Ahem, I like the sound of your pic. I've also emailed the studio soontobe.

That's good that it will be fun rockchick, I need a bit of fun to get break from constant baby feeding!

Thanks also for the link, though some of those pics are a warning what not to go for

When we had ours done we were advised to pick a colour palette to stick to, so we went for blue / grey / green and everyone wore jeans. I think the pictures came out well, nobody looks like they match we all just sort of blend well together.

We had some done recently ( not in a studio though we were at home ) and the colours we chose made a huge difference to the photos - so definitely get advice from the photographer and browse their online gallery for ideas if they have one.
Fwiw - softer colours worked best for us - even though I wear a lot of black normally. And our photographer recommended up to 3 colours that coordinated across the family.
I can see how the bold / navy used up thread would be striking too - maybe think about where / how you might display the photos too.
Have fun!

That's a good idea about thinking about where the picture will be hanging, I once dressed my boys for their nursery photo based on my livingroom decor :o

And I agree, some of the images in the link were "a what not to wear" :)

I'm a photographer. As people often like black or white backdrops I'd avoid those colours as well as red. I wouldn't worry about being too matchy matchy but going for colours that work together well tonally looks nice, i.e. all in brights or all pastels etc. Classic, plain clothes with clean lines and no logos/slogans would be my ideal.