The holiday season is upon us, my friends, which means holiday cards will soon be flooding our mailboxes! I love preparing for our holiday cards and, in fact, shared how my family goes about taking our own pictures last year. While it may seem overwhelming to go about taking your own family photos, with a few simple tips and tricks there’s no need to hire a photographer to capture the memories. And the same goes for dressing the entire family.

In the same post, I shared how I go about getting my family dressed for the occasion. Sure, I only have to find cohesion for four people but that cohesion has to include different personalities and styles, which can be a challenge. Today I thought I’d share a few tips to make the process run a little smoother and to make it far less stressful for everyone involved.

Have a vision, make a plan. Think about the look you are going for and use that to gather inspiration. Once you have a vision, scour Pinterest for different ways to make your vision into a reality. Whether modern, vintage, or whimsical make sure to also determine if you’d like the look to be dressy or casual. When you’ve figured out the aesthetic then you can start going through everyone’s closets to gather pieces that capture the look you’re going for.

Establish a color pallet. First I suggest going about picking three complimentary colors to create a color scheme. This year, I picked black, white and gray which allowed us to also include a tiny pop of red. You can also establish a color pallet depending on the location of the family photos. Last year we did maroon, gray and brown/tan because it worked well with our environment and the season.

Consider the location. Once your location is set, take into consideration the environment. Are you out in nature, an urban setting, or is the location more industrial? Where you choose to take your photos can have an effect on your vision and the color pallet.

Let personality shine. The vision is set, the colors are picked so having your family express a little personality shouldn’t be a problem. You don’t want things to be overly matchy-matchy, that can result in the photos looking dated. Let the family express their personalities and style by adding textures, patterns and layers. This will allow the overall look to still be coordinated without overdoing it.

Let the accessories speak. Accessories can add personality to an overall outfit and can be the vehicle to adding tiny pops of color to the overall family look. Accessories are especially helpful if your color pallet is more low key because it can add depth and cohesion to the photos.

Lay it all out. Lastly, laying out everyone’s outfits, complete with accessories, helps you get a good look at how cohesive your vision may or may not be. This last step can tell you a lot and can help you edit the final look overall. The textures, the colors, the patterns and accessories – you get the lay of the land and can correct anything that may not fit.

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