Choosing what to wear for an extended family shoot is HARD! You have several families to coordinate who all have different styles.
The key is to pick a color palette and go from there. Choose your most fashion forward family member to fully approve outfits or you can also ask me for help.
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Light blue or chambray is always a pretty color choice for the beach and paired with a light gray, white and shades of light pink is a perfect color combo!
I’ve compiled a few dresses and outfits to help you get started!
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This dress comes in a few color options which as a starting point would ALL be great for a beach shoot.
If you choose the green dress, maybe go with lighter yellows and lightblue/chambray for everyone else.
If you pick the blue dress, other shades of blue, light gray, white and rose colors would go well.
I am fond of the red option and with that you can still do shades of light blue/chambray, light pinks/rose, or sandy tan colors.
I also love this for moms b/c it’s easy to move around in and play with your kids at the same time.
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Anything flowy is always so pretty at the beach. I love this dress(the back especially) and the mauve color would pair great with the scheme above.
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A Romper can be so perfect for a beach shoot if you wanted to wear a short dress but worried about the wind! I love this one with the button detail plus ruffle sleeves and the colors are great for the beach.
More dresses and outfit ideas for moms:
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Can’t go wrong with chambray and I love a button down dress.
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This style would also make it easy to move around and play at your shoot while still being super cute and flowy.
Another similar romper with sleeves
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White pants with a patterned top is a solid choice. I love this flowy top paired with white pants.
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For the kids, this pink gingham dress is adorable. This color would pair so well with other pastels in the group but adds pattern to the mix.
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Perfect color and style for the little ones.
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For the dads and men, I love a short sleeve button down. I love this shirt b/c it comes in pattern, but also solids like light blue, chambray, gray. The even have a pink plaid or burgundy that might work with some color palettes.
For younger boys, think similar. A short sleeve button down or long sleeves rolled up, simple pattern or solid:
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If you want to play with pattern, I’d still keep it super simple yet beachy.
Something like this with maybe palm trees or crabs would be cute for a little boy.
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A simple casual henley will always work in the mix for men too. This one comes in several perfect colors for the beach or any setting.
I hope this helps when you’re trying to plan outfits for a big group.
Just remember to stay away from super bright colors(even navy blue and black) as they just don’t photograph as well as the more neutral pastels do at the beach.
Also, make sure you don’t have too much white in the group. White is really pretty at the beach, but too much white or everyone in white on top and khaki on bottom is too bland.
If you do want to go for a more neutral beige palette, make sure everyone is in a different shade of the white like the family below.
They did shades of white and sand and it came together really beautifully.
Also, this worked well for just the 4 of them.
If you have a larger group, even doing it this well will be a bit too much white and beige in my opinion.
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And then here is a shoot with a perfect color palette combo for everyone in the family!
And I love the shades of blue and mix of patterns in the most recent shoot I did.
And then last of all, remember to just roll with it at your shoot.
The things I ask you to do may feel really silly, but just do it and see what happens.
Keep smiling ALWAYS even when you think you aren’t in the shot, you may be in the backdrop.
Try to stay with the group and be doing something playful with a kid or snuggling in with your partner as you wait on me to photograph someone else in your group.
The less I have to set up, the easier and smoother the shoot goes.
And if you walk away feeling defeated after all of that planning, just know that can be a normal reaction after a family shoot and try not to worry.
I’m getting way more than it may seem like and the photos will be worth the chaotic time spent.
