It’s that time again!  As we get into spring portrait season, it’s time to start making decisions on what to wear for your family pictures or engagement session in the SPRINGTIME! If you’re looking for inspiration on spring family photo outfits, I created this guide for you. You can shop through some of my Amazon favorites in case you are on a time crunch, or just take inspiration from these photos as you decide on spring family photo outfits! Though I first wrote this post in 2019, I’ve updated it with three new outfit combinations and links for 2023. AND, if you’re in the Portland area and searching for a spring mini session–those are available for easy online booking here! Enjoy, and happy photo session planning!

 

 

Spring Family Photo Outfits: Light Neutrals and Soft Florals

I started this timeless neutral outfit inspiration with this stunning floral dress. Florals are perfect for spring family photos, and I always encourage clients to look for lower contrast, subtle floral prints like this one so that the focus will still be on you rather than your clothes. Since mom’s dress had both color and pattern, I kept the rest of the family’s outfits pretty simple, sticking to warmer toned, soft neutrals like the oatmeal henley and light olive pants. Simple is good!

OUTFIT LINKS: Spring Family Photo Outfits: Light Neutrals and Soft Florals

Mom’s Floral Dress | Mom’s Sandals | Dad’s Shirt | Dad’s Pants | Son’s Shirt | Son’s Pants

Here’s a real-life example of this color palette in action. Mom chose a dress in a soft sage green with a subtle floral pattern (similar here), and kept the rest of the family in easy to mix and match cream, oatmeal, and light khaki neutral colors.

 

Blue and White Family Photos

Spring is the perfect time for using blue and white in your family photos. It’s crisp, fresh, and timeless. I prefer softer blues to avoid any bright colors reflecting back onto your skin. Pairing a pastel blue next to a crisp white will provide a little contrast, and subdued ruffles on a crinkled gauze fabric can add some textural detail.

OUTFIT LINKS: BLUE AND WHITE FAMILY PHOTOS OUTFIT

Mom’s Dress | Mom’s Shoes | Girls Dress | Boy’s Shirt | Boy’s Shorts | Dad’s Shirt

 

Gingham Family Photos

If you’re looking to weave a little pattern into your spring family photo outfits, try a touch of gingham. Look for a larger check, as a very small scale check pattern can photograph oddly. I love the simple, monochromatic ginghams in neutral colors, but if you’re going for a busier gingham, just use it on one person in a small amount so that it doesn’t overwhelm the image.

 

OUTFIT LINKS: GINGHAM FAMILY PHOTOS OUTFIT

Dad’s Shirt | Dad’s Pants | Mom’s Dress | Child’s Shirt | Child’s Romper

 

 

Spring Family Photo Color Schemes: Neutral Pastels

Next up is soft and romantic neutral pastels.  There’s a little lace, some ruffles, and plenty of soft chiffon and chambray.  The colors are super neutral for mom and dad with just some soft blues.  This could totally be worn for an engagement session too!  I made sure to add a little pop of color with the lavender statement earrings, which really is more than enough.  You could even pair this outfit with some lavender heels if you want to be a little dressier or add more color.

If this is a family photo session, the kids are in super soft shades of violet and rose.  I love that these are all solid colors but the visual interest comes from the textures: ruffles, the crinkle texture of the baby’s outfit, and the lace on mom’s top.  Sticking to solid colors like this rather than patterns gives the whole look a really classic, quiet, serene feel.  It would be perfect in a field for light and bright photos or strolling through the cherry blossoms!

OUTFIT LINKS: NEUTRAL PASTELS

Mom’s top | Blue skirt | Mom’s earrings | Baby’s romper | Girl’s dress | Dad’s shirt | Dad’s pants

 

 

Red and Blue Family Picture Outfit

My next look is a total 180 because I encourage a lot of subtle colors but I know some of my clients really do LOVE COLOR!  Bright colors can be tough to photograph–anything too bright can reflect that color back onto your skin–ick!  You definitely want to avoid anything really bright or neon near your face.  Here, the brightest colors are away from faces–dad’s pants are a super preppy Nantucket red color, but the chambray button down will look great near his face and won’t reflect any bad color onto his skin.  Because there are a lot of brighter colors here, mom and dad are both in shades of blue so that it’s actually pretty monochromatic except for those pops of coral!

For the kids, I added some texture in with the little girl’s dress–I really love that lace detail!  And the little boy’s plaid shirt is perfect.  It ties the colors all together, but is a large print plaid rather than a really small checked shirt.  Those larger plaids photograph MUCH better than a smaller scale plaid like gingham.

I left off shoes here, but I’d probably stick to warm and light neutrals like camel sandals with a heel for mom and daughter, and light khaki boat shoes for the boys.

And PS, those earrings?  ON MY WISHLIST!!  I need them in my life.

OUTFIT LINKS: RED AND BLUE FAMILY PICTURE OUTFIT

Mom’s dress | Mom’s earrings | Girl’s dress | Boy’s shirt | Boy’s pants | Dad’s shirt | Dad’s pants

 

Spring Family Picture Colors: Pink and Blue

OUTFIT LINKS FOR SPRING FAMILY PICTURE COLORS: PINK AND BLUE

Mom’s dress | Mom’s earrings | Dad’s shirt | Dad’s pants | Son’s shirt | Son’s bowtie | Daughter’s dress | Daughter’s sandals | Son’s shorts

 

Here I mostly focused on colors, materials, and shape.  I wanted it to feel like Easter egg colors, with a little light khaki and light chambray as neutrals to ground those fun pastels.  I’m relying on the ruffles on mom and daughter’s dresses for the texture, as well as some subtle texture in mom’s filigree earrings and daughter’s eyelet trim.  Simple textures like this add visual interest and are really preferable over a lot of patterns.  It looks so subtle and timeless!

Another little tip on patterns–notice how dad’s shirt has a large windowpane style print on it?  That’s going to photograph way better than a shirt with very tiny checks on it.  A shirt with small scale plaid or gingham can often photograph oddly–so if you choose a plaid or checked shirt, keep it a larger scale.

And one last styling tip–I’m a HUGE fan of rolling up sleeves for a more casual look!  I’d have both dad and son roll their sleeves up to their elbows to keep this looking casual and spring-y.

 

Where to Shop for Spring Family Photo Outfits: My Favorite Stores

Baltic Born

Joyfolie

Piper and Scoot

Doen

Morning Lavender

Pinkblush

Red Dress

 

 

Spring Family Picture Ideas

So now that you have your wardrobe figured out, have you booked your family photos yet? If you’re local to the Portland, Oregon area, you can head over to my website and get in touch about some light, airy springtime family photos. Even if you’re not local, grab some inspo from my favorite spring family picture ideas:

Salem’s cherry blossoms

An English garden in the springtime

A flower filled farm garden

 

I hope this was helpful!  These are so fun to create!  If you have any requests for styles or colors, drop them below in the comments and I’ll try to help you out!  You can also pin this to your Pinterest board by hovering over the pictures!

 

Want more? Check out some other posts on what to wear for family photo sessions here:

WHAT TO WEAR FOR MATERNITY PHOTOS

WHAT TO WEAR FOR BRIGHT AND AIRY FALL FAMILY PHOTOS

WHERE TO SHOP FOR DRESSES FOR PHOTO SESSIONS

WHAT TO WEAR FOR FALL FAMILY PHOTOS

NEW IN 2022: CLIENTS WHO HAVE A SESSION BOOKED WITH ME CAN BORROW FROM THE CLIENT CLOSET! BROWSE IT HERE

BOOK YOUR SPRING MINI SESSION HERE!