What to Wear?

2020 Holiday Styling Guide!

 

Pumpkin Spiced coffee is on sale at Starbucks, so its officially time to get excited about the Fall & Holiday Season! Woot!

But OMG, what am I going to wear?!

I can not wait to see you all this Holiday Season. If you have signed up for one of my Holiday Mini Sessions, this styling guide is aimed to help take the stress out of getting your family outfits together.

 

 

 

What Session Did You Sign Up For?

 

There are a number of fun sessions planned this year! Depending on which session you signed up for will determine the direction your outfits will go.

Fall Red Truck

Vintage VW BUG Beetle

Holiday Red Truck

Tree Farm Magic

 

Think about The Vibe!

Each Session has their own Vibe. While the Red Truck Sessions & The tree Farm Sessions will have your traditional Fall and Holiday Vibe, the VW Bug Beetle Session is definitely going to have a more of a retro feel to it. This will influence your color palette choices and outfit style.

 

Fall Red Truck

This years Fall Red Truck set up is inspired by your local Farm Apple Orchard. It will be rustic farm style with vintage wooden crates, buckets of apples, hay bales, apple spiced donuts, apple pies and apple cider! It will give you all those fuzzy Feels!

 

Holiday Red Truck

Similar to years past, it will be your traditional Holiday inspired set up. Bight, Vibrant and fun! Lots of exciting props for the kids.

 

 

VW Bug Beetle

New this year, I have so much planned for this session. A little different from the Red Truck, this session is going to be more on the Retro Vintage side. I know it is hard to envision, but I have so many cool ideas for this set up. Vintage Suitcases, I have a matching vintage toddler scooter as well as other vintage children holiday props. See below for some inspiration

 

 

 

 

Pulling the Family Together!

 

 

Coordinate but don’t matchy-match!

 

Getting everyone’s outfits to coordinate is the hard part.

When styling & dressing your family, try to coordinate everyone without being too matchy-matchy. You want to balance your color pallet throughout the family. You can never go wrong with neutrals. Pick out one or two statement colors and then coordinate the rest of your wardrobe with neutral colors.

 

Below are some color pallets to choose from. Fall statement colors tend to be on the earthy side (mustard, burnt orange, rust, dusty mauve etc) while Holiday statement colors are more vibrant jewel tones (burgundy, wine, hunter green)

 

 

Plaid and Patterns

 

Everyone wants to wear plaid in the holidays! I am all for it. It looks great, especially for the tree farm sessions against the beautiful deep hunter green trees. Just don’t go overboard. Too much patterns and plaid can be hard on the eyes. If you go this route, try to minimize it to one pattern. If your family is on the smaller side, then I suggest only one or two of your family members wear patterns. If your family is larger, balance it out evenly between clothes and accessories. Another great way to incorporate but not overdo it, is to bring patterns into your outfits through accessories. Scarfs, hats, mittens are a great way to bring in colors without hurting the overall family color dynamic.

Go ALL OUT!

 

This may NOT be for all of you, but Hey, It’s Christmas and you can party if you want too! If you are looking for a more stylized session, then feel free to get dressed up and make it Semi Formal. If you ask me, there is nothing cuter than a couple in a pretty dress and a fine suit standing out in the middle of a field of Christmas Trees. How often do you get to have professional Family Photos? Make the most of it! You will be so glad you did it! Just trust me. I LOVE shooting styled sessions. I am all for going over the top!

 

COMFORT

 

Dress for COMFORT! You will be picking the kids up, playing, laughing and moving around during your session. Make sure your outfits let you do all of these things. You do not want to be worrying about how your outfit looks the entire session. DO NOT WEAR HEELS! The session will take place on a grassy field. Your heels will sink into the ground. I recommend boots and flat shoes.

 

ACCESSORIZE! 

Wear Accessories!

 

YES TO ACCESSORIES! It is the little things that make the BIG difference! Cute hats, mittens, scarfs, Jewelry, belts, fun boots … You name it. Feel free to bring a couple of accessories with you to switch up your looks and add variety to your session. You can never wear too many accessories!

 

Fur Babies Welcome!

 

Puppies are all part of the family. Your fur babies are welcome to any of my Holiday Sessions. All dogs MUST BE LEASHED while on the property though. Just remember, this is a MINI session and if you think your dog will just add too much stress & complication to the shoot, I recommend leaving them at home. Dogs will remain in the car for the beginning of the shoot and then join us in the last 10 minutes of the session. They can often be a distraction for the toddlers, so I just want to make sure I get those great family & kid shots first. If you plan to bring your dog, please let me know in advance so that I can prepare for those photos!

Please be respectful of the private property and bring your doggie-bags and clean up after your pup. 

 

 

FINAL TOUCHES

 

Give your self plenty of time to get ready for your session that day. If you have kids, you know that dressing the family is never smooth sailing. You want your day to be enjoyable and not tainted by the stress of having to get out of the house on time. Have all your outfits out and ready the day before. If you have something you THINK you would like to incorporate into your session, bring it! It is better to have it, than wish you had brought it. The day is meant to be fun and I want to capture some happy moments between your family that you can look back on in years to come!

 

BE ON TIME!

 

Remember, these are mini sessions and they run back to back. If you are late to your session, I can NOT extend your session time. Your session will be cut short by the amount of time you are late. There are no refunds or rescheduling due to lateness.

I hope this has been helpful! Feel free tor each out to me if you have any questions or need another eye. Happy to help with your wardrobe decisions!

 

Natalie xoxo

 

 

 

Natalie Buck Photography is Connecitcut’s leading family mini session photographer. Her sessions are fun, candid and utilize exotic vintage props that you will not be able to find anywhere else. Capture some fun fall and holiday memories with your whole family. Contact Natalie for more information