It can be overwhelming and stressful when trying to plan for a family photo session so I’m writing about my personal experience in hopes that I can provide some helpful insight.

Where to start

Besides reserving the photographer’s time, you will need to select what each family member will wear (even down to the shoes).

I purchased my daughters’ dresses first at Mini Boden (online) as I found a cute denim dress with embroidered flowers and a striped dress with pom poms details that I loved. I knew I could be flexible with the colors for Ryan and myself so that’s where I started.

After the dresses arrived, I took them with me when I went shopping for myself in downtown Naperville, IL. I ended up purchasing two dresses from J. Crew, a mustard yellow dress and a blue dress. I was torn between the two and you may have seen my Instagram story (@heidiaubinphoto) asking for votes for which one to wear. 86% of my Instagram followers chose the mustard yellow so went with that option. Once I knew I was wearing yellow, Ryan purchased navy blue shorts (which matched perfectly with the stripes on Evelyn’s dress) with a “reddish” polo. I made sure that the polo didn’t have any distracting logos on it as well.

We were set! Until….

The girls’ tried on their dresses (roughly a week before the family photo session). Unfortunately, the collar on Audrey’s dress kept popping up and overall was heavy. I knew I would be trying to lay the collar down the entire photo shoot and would be concerned if she was getting flushed from the heat.

The next day, I ran to Gap Kids in Naperville, IL and lucked out to find a denim dress with polka dots. I knew she’d be cooler in it and it fit her better than the other dress so went with that.

Day of the photo shoot

Our family photo session went smoothly as I didn’t have to worry about outfits, hair and makeup since I spent the time upfront taking care of those things. We also pushed back nap time as the photo sunset session was closer to their bedtime.

The girls were a little reserved as they take some time to warm up, but overall they did great! I am so happy that I have photos with my family as the girls’ are growing up so quickly.

What’s Next

Print! I plan to create a new wall art design in our family room using the photos from our shoot. And I also will make professional prints for our family photo album. :)

Key Takeaways

1. Try on ALL outfits at least a week before your photo session

2. Have a “plan B” in the event an outfit doesn’t fit right (or your kids don’t want to wear it). Instead of rushing to the store like I did, purchase two outfits for each child in advance so you have more options to work with. 

3. Don’t forget what everyone is wearing on their feet! Luckily the sandals I purchased online fit the girls, but would have had to run out to the store if they hadn’t.

4. Even if you are unsure about booking a family session, just do it. You will never say, “I wish I didn’t have these photos of my family”.

5. Print your photos from the session…whether it’s prints you order online or a wall art display/collage. These are the tangible items that can be passed down to your children.

I hope my key takeaways helped a little bit as you are thinking about or planning your family photo session. I made a previous blog post on What to Wear for your family photo session, so go check that out as well. I also have a digital Family Photo Session Prep Guide that I send to all of my families. If you’d like to see it, please shoot me an email (hello@heidiaubinphotography.com) and I will send it to you.

And here’s a few of our family photos: