Formal family portraits are something we don’t do enough. You just have to capture those memories, but the truth is, with Pinterest running the world now, family portraits have changed from their days of standing in front of a Christmas scene backdrop at JCPenney, to curated outfits and magazine worthy poses. It’s intimidating.
We had a wedding to go to this weekend, so I took the opportunity of all of us being dressed up to steal a few family pictures before we left. There are a couple of things we don’t do often: one, the boys rarely match, and two, Steven never wears a suit. We actually bought the suit for the wedding, and I about fell out when I saw the price tag. Making it even more mandatory for us to document this rare occasion.
It all seemed like a really good idea until Steven was running late getting dressed, making it so he was only in two photos and he repeatedly told me “IT’S TIME TO GO.” The boys and I ended up doing most of the pictures by ourselves as I made threats before the self-timer went off each time, “Y’ALL BETTER BE STILL AND SMILE!” It all reminded me of this meme I saw just the other week. so.much.sweating.
Even with all that, 98% of the pictures turned out with one of the boys making a face like this:
And just a few really magical ones, which is really all you need for the Christmas card.
Navy + Burgundy Family Photo Outfits
Of course, the blogger in me just had to use all of this hard work for a post too. Not only were the pictures a little bit of a circus, the hunt for our outfits was quite the task as well.
Boys Outfits
I started out trying to be budget minded with the boys and went to a second hand shop first. I did end up getting Maddox’s cute shoes there for just $7! They were hardly worn, perfect for a pair of shoes this boy may wear once or twice. However, the rest of the trip wasn’t successful. So I took the easy route and hopped on over to Osh Kosh. I know I’m not the only parent that loves Osh Kosh. They always have cute things, almost always have a sale, and if your kids are in the mood to agree to matching, they make both toddler and big kid clothes in the same styles! I didn’t think my boys would agree to match, or wear suspenders, but they happily agreed to both. Again, I about fell out. I also spent a great deal of time laughing at Lincoln’s pants riding up his butt half the night at the wedding, his suspenders were a little too fresh.
Men’s Outfits
Steven was wearing a suit for the wedding, but if this was just an ordinary family picture, I would have opted for him to just wear a solid navy top or possibly a navy jacket and white top. I linked an option below. I wanted one of us to wear something solid to ground out the picture, since my dress and the boys tops were both printed.
Women’s Outfit
My outfit was a task. I first bought a dress from Banana Republic that was so awkward, it was quickly returned. Then I bought a dress from Ann Taylor and a day later I get an email that my order can’t be fulfilled. Then I stumble upon this dress from LOFT. I loved it, thought the color would be the perfect compliment to navy and ordered it for pick-up that evening. I get to the store get the dress (stupidly left without trying it on) only to find the sleeve was missing a button! So back to the store I went. Mind you this all went down in the matter of a few days before the wedding, I was scrambling. Luckily, LOFT had the dress in my size in another dress that wasn’t missing the button and all was solved. I went back and forth several times on wearing pumps to be a little more formal vs. my boots. However, it was 40 degrees that night, so warmth won! I also wore a scarf I ordered from Amazon for a little extra warmth.
Family Photo Outfits
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All in all, we had a great time at the wedding (we even accidentally matched the wedding colors). The boys were surprisingly very well behaved (mom win) and spent the night breaking out every Fortnite dance move they know, despite the fact they’ve never played Fortnite. They’re also asking when they can go to another wedding and break out their moves, and I’m over here looking for another opportunity for Steven to wear this suit.
Did you take family portraits this year, what colors did you wear?
-Brooke
