1. Be YOU in your family photo.

Don’t go out and buy outfits that you would never otherwise wear. Match your outfits with the style and personality of your family.

Here is a holiday photo of myself and Lillian from 2011. I LOVE polka dots so I decided to include them as a pattern for our shoot. I also love shoes...

2. Ditch the matchy-matchy.

Instead, coordinate outfits based loosely on a color scheme or theme. Not sure where to begin selecting a color palette? Find a piece you love and want someone to wear. Then coordinate around that. Choose three to four complementary colors and then wear different combinations of those colors, with each person wearing at least two of the colors to tie them in with the rest of the group.

3. The families of color:

Group One: Jewel tones (ruby red, sapphire blue, emerald green)
Group Two: Pastels (pastel blue like worn demin, pastel pink, pastel green, pastel yellow, peach)
Group Three: Earth tones (pumpkin orange, eggplant purple, sage green, chocolate brown).
Group Four: Cool vs Warm tones (cool colors are blue and green, warm tones are reds, yellows, oranges). Sometimes colors from each of these groups compliment each other: pumpkin orange with denim blue)

4. Inspiration...

When all else fails, check out Pinterest! I have a "What to Wear" Inspiration board for ideas. Click here to check it out: http://pinterest.com/photosbymandm/what-to-wear-to-a-photo-session/