My Style {Family Photos}

Once a year, every year, we have a little photo session with our family photographer to capture a small glimpse of our family and freeze it in time. Usually, I've been brainstorming ideas and planning/researching since the time Angela snaps the last shot of the prior years shoot...pinning photo ideas and contemplating the look and feel that I'd like the photos to portray. But after all the dreaming and the planning, our annual family photos must always fall within a few guidelines:

They may NOT cost us a fortune.

                      AND

We MUST use what we have in regards to clothing.

Sometimes it gets a little tricky but most of the time it ends up working out perfectly. Here are a few of my tips and tricks for styling our family photo sessions.

{1.} Plan, plan, plan. Think about what you want the photos to say about your family in that moment. For us, this year, we were doing a gender reveal for baby #3 and I knew I wanted to represent the new "blue" coming into our house while still representing all things pink and girly! But this could also be something as simple as a special treasure like a blanket or a little ones favorite t-shirt. 

Via PBKisses Photography

{2.} Think about any props you may want to include...if that's your thing. Styled photos are such a big thing right now but make sure that any styling is still a representation of your family and your life. For this shoot, I knew I wanted pink and blue balloons, a boy or girl gender reveal box, and blue and pink converse. These items were my starting points for everything else related to the photos.

Via PBKisses Photography

{3} Make sure to shop your closet before you buy a single item of new clothing. Lay everything you like out on a bed and mix and match it all up. You'll be amazed at what you can come up with. Remember, clothing should always coordinate but never be matchy-matchy. So, think of it like this...the kids can wear the same color/tone but the days of them being twins probably isn't what you want for the photos. Here's how our clothing broke down, with what we shopped our closest for and what was bought at a good old brick and mortar:

Via PBKisses Photography

My starting point was this blue and white striped dress on my Laneydoo with the sweet pink button detail and both the girl's pink converse. Both of which we already had on hand. Next up was finding something the Monkey could wear that coordinated with her sister.

Via PBKisses Photography

Lucky for us,  she had worn a plain white eyelet dress for Easter this year which would coordinate with everything and we always have a jean jacket on hand (it's a must have wardrobe staple). So I threw that in to add a little blue. Last the girls just needed a little more pink, so I opted for some matching pink bows. I ordered these two from SoSoBella.

Via PBKisses Photography

Next up was the Mister and I. I had everything for myself except the pink converse and some jewelry. I find that dressing the Mister always manages to be the most difficult and requires the most out of pocket $$$. He needed navy blue converse and a new shirt. Thankfully, I scored this plaid shirt number for him that incorporated both pink and navy. Double score for us, the pink is very muted and he can wear this shirt to work. Booyah!

Via PBKisses Photography

So there you have it, family photos on a budget. Now, in an effort for full disclosure, I did spend extra $$$ on props (i.e. painted box & balloons).  

Total Clothing Budget:  $123.00