What To Wear For Winter Family Photos In Vermont

You’ve decided winter is better than NEVER for your family photos (YAY! I’m high-fiving you through the interwebs). 

But the age-old question of, “what do we wear?” is nagging at you and thoughts of an anxiety-fueled shopping spree are starting to keep you up at night.

I’m laying out my tips to avoid the stress, including one from a client that was too good not to share.

5 Tips For Your Winter Family Photos in Vermont

1. Look Like Yourself In Your Winter Family Photos In Vermont

I believe whole-heartedly you want the pictures to look like YOU, so in turn, wear something YOU would normally wear. 

The photo session you’re about to spend your hard-earned cash on is not the time to experiment with that trendy boho hat or headbands on your baby just because they’re all the rage on Pinterest. 

While super cute, you want to look back on these photos and cherish what you see, not criticize your outfit choices. 

I always tell my clients to wear things from their own closets and only buy new items if they plan to wear those things again. 

What we’re going for is you, just the polished version.

2. The Goal Is To Look Coordinated, Not Matchy-Matchy In Your Winter Family Photos

I don’t normally like hard and fast rules BUT I have yet to find a situation when the following two didn’t apply:

1. Adults should wear simple, dark neutrals on bottom (unless it’s a dress)
2. Colors should be complementary vs. matching 

What do I mean by complementary? You want to avoid putting the boys in the same button-down shirt, the girls in the same dress or everyone in jeans and white shirts. Some variation in the color scheme helps to provide interest in the photo.

I believe sticking with 2-3 colors that reflect the season and look good together is the way to go.

Here are some styling boards I created to spark inspiration for your next winter photo session:

3. Plan ALL Other Outfits Around Mom’s For Your Winter Family Photos

Ok. Real talk here. Moms, pick YOUR outfit FIRST. I believe much of the stress surrounding clothing choices falls away as soon as mom has chosen something she feels confident in. It’s not very often that you get your photo taken by a professional so you want to love what you’ve got on.

In addition to what you wear, I think this is a good time to play around with a new lipstick or gloss that compliments your skin tone. These two products can do wonders to prevent you from looking washed out on camera, especially for us Vermonters who haven’t seen the sun in months this time of year!

4. Layer Up To Avoid Looking Puffy In Your Winter Family Photos

Let’s be honest, no one wants to look like the Stay Puft marshmallow man in the photos they plan to show off to family and friends and Instagram!

When it comes to winter photos specifically, I recommend keeping the bulky jacket at home. Layers are the name of the game this time of year. A thermal or thin fleece under a vest or pea coat will keep you warm while avoiding that puffy look. This also applies to the kiddos!

5. Buy Now, Return Later

My client, Amanda, gave me this idea and I thought it was genius! Instead of taking her two kids shopping with her to pick something out, she went alone one evening and bought a bunch of stuff for her kids and husband to choose from. Whatever they didn’t like or didn’t feel was “them”, she returned! So simple yet I never even thought of it!

Good places to shop: LL Bean, REI, Old Navy and Costco are my personal favorites. 

Now here’s Amanda and her adorable fam in all their wardrobe glory 🙂

Hello + thank you for stopping by! My name is Mia, owner of Mia Moran Photography. I’m a Vermont Photographer, specializing in maternity, newborn and family photography in the Burlington, Vermont area. I hope this post was helpful! If you’re interested in booking your own photo session, hit me up here!