Congrats, you’ve decided on doing a family session and we are so excited for you. Children grow so quickly these days that doing a session is the only way to freeze time with them this little! Because a family session is in some ways like running a marathon (exhausting, a little crazy, but a lot of fun) we want to make sure you’re very well prepared so that you can enjoy your session, love how you look, and (fingers crossed) your family will want to do it again next year! If this is your first time on our blog, welcome! We’re David and Meivys, a husband and wife photography team based in south Florida. We photograph modern, detail-oriented families and teens who want to be guided, love how they look and have fun! If you’re a fellow follower, thanks for your continued support!
So now that you’ve decided on a family session there’s a lot to consider to ensure its successful, like time, location, and outfits… but we don’t want you over whelmed because this is a special moment for your family’s story and it should be fun! Sooo, after photographing many families, we’ve seen that these next 5 tips will go a long way in ensuring a stress-free session:
1. Don’t match outfits! I know this is a funny one, but let us explain… We love to work with a color palette instead of just saying everyone wear white. By working with a color palette, we can allow everyone to have personality and still look coordinated. You don’t have to go around looking for the same outfit in 2 different sizes or the same shade of blush for everyone. Instead, we are going to work in terms of a color palette. Keep in mind the overall style of outfits that you are thinking of whether its all formal, casual, or semi formal (our fav) For example in a family of 5, here’s what you can wear, the color palette being blush, navy, white, light blue and grey
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- Mom: Floor length blush dress with nude heels and light blue earrings
- Dad: Grey pants, white shirt, navy blazer, blush pocket square and brown shoes and belt
- Daughter: White tulle skirt and a light blue top with nude flats
- Son: White button down, navy suspenders, and grey shoes, maybe even a blush bow tie
- Daughter: Navy dress with white sandals and a blush or blue bow
2. Lay out the outfits + props the night before the session. There’s nothing more stressful than getting the whole family up and ready, now add looking for and pairing outfits to the mix, it just gets crazy. We suggest that the night before when everyone is asleep, you take your time to organize, iron, and prepare everyone’s outfits. This will make it so much easier to transition from any activity to getting ready.
3. Bring water and snacks – Kids will be kids and they’ll be thirsty and hungry at the most unexpected times, right? We suggest bringing their sippy cups or water bottles along with favorite snacks or candy to help keep everyone’s energy and vibe happy and positive, plus the candy helps get the attention of the littles.
4. Make it fun – Part of what we stand for is having fun! When we have our family session meeting we can talk about how to incorporate what your family likes to do together so that the session seems more like a fun day being captured by a friend (photographer) and less posed and structured. Perhaps you all love to hang out and cook together or watch movies and cuddle in bed or on the couch, those can be great themes for a session while everyone still get to have fun and be in their normal environment.
5. Convince the littles + your hubby! – Ok, so we know the hardest ones to convince are the hubbies and the littles, so maybe call a family meeting to talk about how important this session is for you, take some time to educate and empower everyone to look and feel their best. Tell them why you chose us and our photography style too, the more involved you make them, the more cooperative they will be. Ask for everyone’s input and explain what will happen during the session so that everyone has the chance to be a part of the planning – maybe let them pick a color scheme (from your pre-selected list lol) or tell them that after the session you’re all going out for ice-cream, that these images will hang up on the walls, we can totally help with ideas on how to convince the family to come on board, we can share those during our family session planning meeting.
We hope these tips help you and know that we are here for you to guide you, help you , and plan with you every step of the way!
XOXO, David + Meivys
M Suarez Photography
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