What to Wear for Large Group Family Pictures?

Depends where u r taking the picture...
I love black on top and denim on bottom. Depending on skin tones, I like white on top and khaki on bottom...
I love the little ones without shoes in any setting.
I've not seen one bad photo with these colors!

1 mom found this helpful

Hi, it sounds like a pretty nice sized family. I have seen family gatherings where one family would wear one color,another family, their color. I realize it's not a " get lost in the crowd thing", but it could help your parents to more easily show their friends, which kids belong to this daughter or son. It probably doesn't really matter, as long as you don/t blend into the background..
My family and I had a picture made ,mom, sis, and I at Olan Mills, years ago, each wore bright , different colors. Sis and I both had red hair,the colors were off, moms blue dress turned purple, and My hair became black, and I wore a yellow top and black skirt. Go figure?
Whatever you wear, enjoy this great anniversary, and get together.
enjoy,
BF

I used to work for a photographer.

This is what she would tell people to wear.

Khaki bottoms and light blue tops
or
Jeans and white tops

You don't want anything distracting or loud on, just neutral colors.

That being said, it did look funny when everyone dressed exactly alike--so--

Tell everyone to wear khaki and shades of blue in any combination--dresses, shorts, pants, shirts, etc.

AND GO BAREFOOT! :)

Have a blast!

~A.

I'm not an expert, but my family recently planed to take a large family picture and it fell through due to stormy weather. We'll try again in a couple of months. Some tips the photographer gave us:
-all wear denim or black on the bottom (khaki makes the women look more "hippy"
-all wear either white, pastels, or true colors on top (all solids)
-"individual" families wear all the same color (still all pastels OR trues)
-women wear 3/4 length sleeves (to hide flabby arms)
-women wear collars (we decided not to enforce this rule)

We were doing jeans and white for everyone, then changed to jeans and pastels to free everyone up more on what they could wear. We have 16 people, and not everyone had a white shirt.

Sounds fun - have a great time and I hope the pointers are helpful!

K.,

We have taken family pictures before, and here's what we did:

It was on a beach, and the photographer suggested that we all wear white t-shirts, khaki pants, and bare feet. It turned out really good.

Another time, it was in my inlaws' house. Each family wore a different color. We were the "yellow family." My husband, myself and our kids all wore yellow t-shirts and jeans. Another family wore blue t-shirts, another family wore pink t-shirts.

I realize your parents' 50th anniversary will be much more dressy than our family pictures were, so whatever you wear, make sure that no one wears prints - only solids. Will the men be wearing suits? If the mean wear suits, maybe the women can all wear solid colored dresses? Maybe the women/girls in one family can wear pink dresses, and the women/girls in another family wear blue dresses, etc. Maybe the boys can wear khaki pants and a white button down shirt? Or would the boys also wear suits? Just some ideas for you to think about. Good luck!

we did this last year and went with darks...black, brown and had a few tans mixed in and it really looked nice

we also did a sitting with summer colors bright and bold and it was beautiful as well

keep it simple..... everyone wears the same color top or all the guys wear one color all the girls wear one Samr type and color pants so maybe blue jeans ( i know it may seem strange but it will be the easiest to get all ages in the same thing. youmay also try kacki slacks

solid colors, absolutely no patterns. Choose a color theme and as everyone to stick to it (pastels look really good this time of year, green, blue, pink, lavendar) stick with jeans or khaki's. If the picture will be formal, I don't know about that...I'm sure you'll get lots of good advice.

We will be doing a similar thing later this year. We are planning on each family unit wearing a specific color. My brother's family picked red shirts with blue jeans. My family is doing green shirts with blue jeans. My parents aer doing blue shirts with blue jeans. I think you get the drift. The most important thing is enjoying the time. It may never happen again.

The best family pic we've taken we all dressed in black. It looks good on everyone. :)

I am a photographer and this is what I would recommend.
Rather than have every one be matchy-matchy with the exact same thing on (ie.khaki pants and white shirts)decide on some specific options. You can pick and choose but only within these options. Here are some examples-

khaki, denim or black skirts/pants with solid color shirts

dressy clothes in shades of black, gray, and red

"Easter" clothes in light neutral or pastel colors

Or have each individual family match each other but be different from the other families.

*it is always cute to have the adults in neutral colors (black and white etc.) and the children all in bright, vivid, fun clothes.

If having choices is to difficult the standard that will always look good and timeless is black tops with jeans.

Feel free to visit my blog or any other websites to get inspired. bmjevents.blogspot.com

Pictures always look best when everyone is coordianted. I would suggest something simple like black bottoms and white tops or jeans and white or kakhi and white. Kids can even wear t-shirts and still have the picture look nice. Another idea would be red/black. but, it's easier to get kakhi or jeans and white to all look the same. Good luck!

We just took a picture like that and everyone wore their choice of browns and blues. It looked really good and everyone could pick something that looked good on them.

white ironed shirts and black or kaki pants or light blue shirts/dark or kaki pants.

We did ours in white shirts and blue jeans, it looks awesome. If your doing this in the summer, best to wear cool cloths if it's outdoors. Ours was and it was beautiful.

Love and Light,
Rev. G. Hudson

I kow a friend tha is a photographer and he sys A combition of Red, White and Black make great shots.

K., I was a photo stylist for 25 years. That means I coordinated wardrobe for professional photo shoots and made sure everyone looked their best. You want to have everyone in the same color tops and the same color bottoms. If it is a casual portrait and I think these are always best for families, jeans and white tops ( white button up classic shirts look great on all ages)/ jeans ( or jean skirts) and black tops ( turtle necks look good on everyone if you aren't outdoors shooting in 100 degree heat!) Denim tops and khaki pants/skirts, white tops and khaki pants/skirts work well. You need uniformity in dress or the clothes become distracting and your eye is drawn not to the faces of the loved ones but to their clothing.

If it is more formal, then black and white. I'd have the photographer shoot BOTH in black and white and color.

Make sure you have a photographer who is used to doing these sorts of large portraits. Interview photographers and look at their work. Don't just go by cost or you may come away unhappy.

Everything will revolve around the nap time of the youngest. You absolutely do not want a cranky baby or child to deal with. Have plenty of distractions on hand for the little ones.

You also don't want to all be standing. If you are doing this in a studio or outside, with 19 people you need to have different levels!

Fun! We've done this before too... we did men in white shirts, women in Red and younger kids in Navy blue. (Around the 4h of July).

Y

Blue jeans and white/black tops look good to me on pictures with large groups, also if there are small girls they can wear white/black sun dresses.

I am a photographer and I did a large group in white,brown and khaki. The men wore Khaki pants. the women wore white skirts and then they all had white, khaki and brown tops on. It looked wonderful for outdoor shots. Good luck.

We got a Christmas card this year for a family we've known for years. There were 5 generations in the picture and they dressed in all blue jeans, you could probably do black or khaki as well, but each family group worn the same color as each other and the great-grandparents, and great-great-grandmother were dressed in white. I thougt it was so neat because it was easier to tell who belonged to whom. It looked great. Good luck!!

If a photographer is taking the pictures, call them and ask if they have some written tips on how to make the best looking group picture. I remember a photographer telling me a few years ago that it is good to plan ahead. Choosing an appropriate background is important. Some might suggest that everyone wear a same color on the bottom (like dark blue jeans) and all wear the same color top (different styles of course) like red or green or black. You will need a family member to coordinate this so everyone gets the word and has a chance for input. (Example, some men never wear jeans except for yard word. Some people might not like a light color top or pants if they are wanting to look slimmer.) There were more suggestions, I forget them. Try a key word search too on the internet such as "Group picture tips." Don't hesitate to call any photographer to ask same as they might win your business -- or not.

I would go with a simple look jeans white shirts and no shoes in the picture. Pictures always look better outside with no shoes.

i'd go simple colors, say jeans and white shirts or black pants/skirts with a chosen color top. make it something everyone owns.

i am a photographer and i love it when big families get together for shoots! I would suggest that everyone get in jeans and black shirts or white shirts. barefeet look great too!

We have a professional family photo from 2002 that everyone wore either black or white. I tried to coordinate all the clothing but it got too hard with the grandparents. Since there weren't any real colors it all blended really well and the photos turned out great.

We recently took a large family picture with 22 people - we had the same dilemma! We eventually decided for everyone to where blues and browns. We had a variation from dark brown to khaki and all shades of blue but it turned out really well. The only thing we asked was that nobody wear jeans. That way somebody wasn't wearing "church attire" and somebody else in jeans. Good luck!

My family did this two years ago. More than 30 people, and everyone (adults and kids) wore white shirts and dark pants. The pictures were beautiful! Good luck!

i love the look of black shirts and blue jeans for a picture. It ends up looking put together and not distracting. We did this and just had different black shirts any style such as button up, different collars etc. We did specify length of pants to be at least as long as capris(legs can be a distraction). Jewelry was fine and we said black shoes but you could go no shoes if you like casual. Anyway, this looks good with different colored blue shirts too. It's not matchy-matchy but looks cohesive. Good luck!

I have seen group pictures with jeans and white shirts on everyone that looked really nice. Some of the best ones I have seen have been taken outside. And there is some variation, some women wore denim skirts and maybe a denim vest, some of the kids wore overalls, etc.

We had a family picture like that taken a few years ago and had ages 6 month's to 60+. We all wore denim. But different styles some wore skirts, dresses, jumpers, jeans , vest. We also added color to the demin. The picture looked great!