My parents 50th Wedding Anniversary is coming up. We are having a family picture taken, but we are still trying to figure out what to wear. There will be 19 people in the picture. My parents, their 4 children and spouses and 9 grandchildren (1 college, 3 highschool, 2 middleschool, 2 elementry, and 1 baby). We want this to look very nice and not cheesy. Thanks for your help.
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 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 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!
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.
I would go with a simple look jeans white shirts and no shoes in the picture. Pictures always look better outside with no shoes.
Kristine, 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!
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.
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
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!
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!
Kristine,
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!
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
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 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 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
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
The best family pic we've taken we all dressed in black. It looks good on everyone. :)
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. Gail Hudson