How to Dress for Christmas Pictures

Traditionally, knowing how to dress for Christmas pictures done in a studio or by a professional meant everyone dressed formally and wore red. You don’t have to dress that way! You can have everyone in your portrait wear blue jeans and white sweaters if that suits your family’s style better.

Here are a few ways you can dress for your holiday portrait:

• Have everyone in the family dress like Santa’s helpers – or maybe dad could be Santa, Mom could be Mrs. Claus and the kids could be the elves.
• This is a fun family Christmas portrait idea: Have everyone take a pair of pajamas to the shoot – PajamaGram.com has a cute set for Mom, Dad and the kids that match. Then make the portrait one of all of you on Christmas morning unwrapping gifts!
• You can also have the family dress in blended colors, like a candy cane theme. Have one person in a red Christmas vest, other boys or men in red ties, mom and daughters in red pants or skirts with white shirts.
• You can have everyone dress as Christmas carolers and ask the photographer to use a backdrop depicting a street complete with a gaslight. To figure out how you’d like everyone to dress for a caroling portrait, study images of carolers done in the early 1900s.
• Have the photographer use a completely black backdrop. Have every family dress from head to toe in white clothing and hold candles. At the last minute, before the picture is taken, light the candles. Of course, if you have children that are too small to handle this idea safely, then obviously, don’t try it.
• You can also have the photographer use a stark white backdrop. No frills. Then bring in the family dressed in eye-popping colors. Reds, greens, silver, and gold. Tie each color in together. The contrast between the vivid colors and the white background make the portrait both sharp and festive.
• How about everyone donning Christmas aprons over their clothes with Santa hats and being photographed in a kitchen baking scene?

You can have fun with this using Gingerbread Men, frosting and candy décor as props – along with a lot of smiles.