Christmas is such a heartwarming time of year as we remember Jesus’ birth and gather with family under the tree, thanking Christ for His abundant love and sacrifice for us while holding our dear ones close! Whether you’re updating your family photos for Christmas cards or capturing this meaningful holiday together, we want to share several styling tips about what to wear for Christmas family photos! With Christmas and winter color palettes and accessory inspiration, we’ll explain how to coordinate your family’s outfits while helping you create images you’ll love and stay warm with layers!
Choosing Colors for Christmas and Winter Family Photos
We recommend selecting light, neutral colors over bright, bold, or neon colors for your Christmas and winter family photos. Light, neutral colors photograph softer, complement your skin tones, and make your photos look more high-end, whereas bright, bold, or neon colors create unflattering skin tones and distractions in your images! Snow creates a beautiful white backdrop, so even though it might seem counterintuitive, muted colors (like soft pink, powder blue, and beige) still look great!
If you would like to incorporate a little more color into your session, we suggest choosing more sophisticated, jewel-toned versions of bright, primary colors. (For example, you could select emerald over green or crimson or burgundy over red.)
Instead of busy prints and logos, we suggest choosing solid colors and simple designs for your family’s outfits. Small, complex patterns (like tiny striped, plaid, or checkered designs) can be distracting and create unusual colors in your images.
Here are some of our favorite colors for Christmas and winter family photos:
Dominant & Accent Colors
When coordinating your family’s outfits, we encourage you to plan each outfit with “dominant” and “accent” colors, breaking up the colors and shades so you’re not all wearing the same color on top and bottom. The more you can mix it up, the better! Most moms choose their outfits first and then build the rest of their family’s outfits based on that. A dominant color is the one you see the most in an outfit, while an accent color is sprinkled in as a smaller piece. Aim for each person’s outfit to have a different dominant color and incorporate coordinating accent colors from the other outfits with their accessories. That way, all the outfits will look connected and cohesive while highlighting each person’s unique style and personality!
Coordinating What to Wear for Christmas Family Photos
For an emerald, evergreen, cream, white, and tan Christmas family photo color palette, you could wear an evergreen dress with a soft gold necklace and tan ballet flats (making evergreen your dominant color). Then, your spouse could wear a cream sweater with an emerald solid, collared shirt, tan corduroys, and taupe closed-toed, leather dress shoes (making cream his dominant color). Your daughter could wear an emerald dress with a soft gold sparkly waistline and tan ballet flats (making emerald her dominant color). Your son could then wear a white solid, collared shirt with white dress bottoms, an emerald bow tie, and tan closed-toed, leather dress shoes (making white his dominant color).
For more visual interest in your Christmas family photos, you can tie in coordinating accent colors from the other outfits in each person’s accessories, helping all the outfits look connected! (The evergreen dress in this example is available in small, medium, or large in the client closet for 1-Hour and 2-Hour Portrait Experiences!)
Color Palettes for Christmas and Winter Family Photos
Cold-Weather Accessories for Christmas and Winter Timeless Family Outfits
When seasons change, and temperatures drop, it can get too chilly to wear a dress and heels or a polo and dress shorts by themselves. When the frost sparkles along the windowpanes, we suggest dressing in layers and warm accessories to help keep you and your family warm while giving your photos a cute look! I mean, who doesn’t love pom poms and mittens? 🙂
Some of our favorite cold-weather accessories are:
- scarves
- mittens
- hats
- cardigans
- sweaters/sweater vests
- newsboy caps
- ties/bow ties
- suspenders
- blazers
- sportscoats
- pullovers
- belts
- shawls
- dress or jean jackets
- statement coats
- boot cuffs
- a light-colored blanket for your family to sit on
Layering these pieces will help save you from shivering too much while adding more depth and visual interest to your photos!
How to Crotchet Gorgeous Hats and an Ear Warmer
We are so blessed to have my dear Aunt Beth! Besides being a loving, caring person, she is so talented at crocheting; I couldn’t help but feature her and her beautiful crafts on the blog! We hope these cute, fun accessories will give your family some cozy Christmas and winter accessory inspiration and a fun family activity to relish together 🙂
Crotchet Yara Beanie
With so much texture and visual interest, this gorgeous Crotchet Yara Beanie pattern from Crotchet For You by Erangi Udeshika has the cutest little pom pom!
Vintage Flowered Cloche
For a sweet, vintage look, this gorgeous Vintage Flowered Cloche pattern from Classy Crotchet by Jen Keng Pierson will give you a throwback with its timeless style!
KM Ear Warmer
This adorable KM Ear Warmer crochet pattern from Crotchet it Creations by Jessica pairs perfectly with a ponytail or bun while keeping your ears nice and toasty!
Puff Stitch Slouchy Beanie
This casual Puff Stitch Slouchy Beanie crotchet pattern from Sewrella is comfortable with a cute look!
My Aunt’s Helpful Crocheting Tips & Tricks
- When unsure of a stitch, look it up on YouTube for helpful how-to videos.
- Are you looking for a cute, fuzzy pom pom? Try faux fur pom pom balls!
- Some yarns that have worked well for her are Caron Simply Soft Yarn and Lion Brand Heartland Yarn.
- Here’s a round wood button for the ear warmer!
Cold-Weather Family Photo Outfit Tips
During cold weather, knowing what to wear for Christmas family photos can be challenging. You can pair your dress or skirt with a peacoat, warm tights, and a yarn hat, or wear a snuggly sweater with a scarf and dress pants or jeans. Closed-toed ballet flats, heels, tall dress boots, or heeled booties always look flattering! We suggest layering a large-print, plaid or solid, collared shirt with a cozy sweater/sweater vest or blazer for men. If he’s going for a more editorial style, he could incorporate a tie, a newsboy cap, or suspenders into his look! He can never go wrong with a pair of closed-toed, leather dress shoes, dress boots, or boat shoes! Lastly, the same applies to your little ones! Try dressing them in layers; cozy accessories; and warm, closed-toed dress shoes, ballet flats, dress boots, boat shoes, or booties!
We want you and your family to have the best portrait experience, so if your session is outdoors during wet/snowy weather, we HIGHLY encourage you to pack warm winter coats! We’ll provide blankets and an outdoor heater to stand by when you aren’t in front of our lenses, but a jacket will help reduce the chill. If your session is inside our studio during wet/snowy weather, feel free to have your family and little ones wear boots and change into dress shoes for your session.
One Final Note
We hope these styling tips will help you and your family have the best portrait experience and know what to wear for Christmas family photos. Even though your outfit colors and accessory choices will enhance your pictures, remember that the memories, love, and connection you share matter most in your images! Cherish this heartfelt, hopeful season filled with love and gratitude toward the One who loves you beyond what words can express! “‘For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him’” (John 3:16-17 NLT).
Please email us at Jenn@JenniferHallPhotographyLLC.com if you have any questions. Love you lots!
