January is FINALLY starting to come to a close and that means that Spring is not too far off for those of us in the South! I wanted to go ahead and put together a guide to help families shop for Spring outfits! They great thing about planning for your Spring photo session is that you can likely also use these same outfits for other occasions like Easter, graduation ceremonies, weddings and more!
I opened up my LTK shop this month and am excited to share Spring finds I have discovered for the WHOLE family!! From babies, to toddlers, to girls, boys, mom AND dad! Yes, the often forgotten dad, I have even found some shirts for you! I even created 10 Styled Family examples to help you see the whole vision!
So without further ado….some styling inspiration for you!
Boys clothes can be really hard to style sometimes, the selection is definitely more limited than girls clothes, but I found a lot of adorable looks this Spring! And since Spring foliage and blooms often look so bright and colorful in photos, you will notice that I tend to lean towards neutrals and softer color tones, especially for my boys! I didn’t mean to go with sooo many stripes, but I really liked these options and don’t mind mixing a stripe with a floral print here and there! They also aren’t super bold stripes, like a dark navy and white stripe combo, so I don’t feel like they will be too distracting!
Baby girls clothes might be my kryptonite! There are so many adorable options out there and you know no matter what your baby is going to look adorable in anything you put them in! My biggest recommendation for dressing your baby is to make sure they have bloomers or shorts on under a dress! After that, I would say to make sure they are in an outfit that you aren’t going to have to constantly be adjusting over and over again while you’re holding them. Vests are one of those items that never look quite right while parents are holding their children. I also tend to prefer rompers for babies that can’t sit up yet because you will most likely be holding them the whole time. Dresses really shine once baby can walk!
One thing I love about boys clothes is that they often come in sets which makes your job easy! Having a pair of khaki pants or light blue jeans on hand can easily help you adapt an outfit for cooler temperatures too!
Will your toddler boy’s outfit get dirty during your photo session? The chances are close to 100%, but don’t worry, I can edit out dirt! What I can’t edit out is your response to your toddler’s shenanigans! I know the pressure is on for everyone to be on their best behavior, but the sooner you relax and just have fun, the better your session is going to go! And the less frown lines you will have!
I know I said baby girls clothes are my kryptonite but toddler girls clothes are righttttt on up there too! Having two girls, this really hits the bank account hard, but at least they can share! The cream dress with the olive green and light blue floral pattern on the first page (top right corner) is what inspired me to start my Spring style guide at all! I love it so much!! It does come in both a baby and toddler dress too! I’ve also been on a big denim kick! In fact, one of my family styling guides is for a full on denim family session! I think it is so playful and fun but also would look great with the greens and colorful blooms of Spring!
I am actually pretty proud of this selection because boys clothes can be so tough! The J. Crew Boys clothes are where I found the most success and I’m hoping they’ll add even more options as Spring gets closer! I’ll keep updating my LTK with my favorite find! If you have a favorite store for buying clothes for your pre-teen and teenage boys, please leave it in a comment below! I’d love to be able to offer more options in this category! The cream t-shirt on the right page (at the bottom) ended up going with so many family style guides, but I also loved the striped polo! I typically keep the boys styled pretty simply so the mama and any girls can pop with more color and patterns! I don’t think simple stripes are too distracting though, especially when they aren’t harshly contrasting.
Tell me if I’m wrong, but I feel like pre-teen and teenage girls mightttt be the most difficult to dress for family photos because they might have the most thoughts and opinions on what they want to wear?? Do you agree? I could definitely be wrong about this though because I usually have to heavily bribe my toddler into her photoshoot outfit too! If you have an opinionated child when it comes to clothing, well or when it comes to anything, I would highly recommend giving them the power of choice! Narrow down the options to a few items that you like but them let them choose! If you know they don’t like dresses, steer towards rompers or jeans and a cute top! If you know they get cold easily, give options that include denim jackets or longer skirts. Sensitive to fabric texture? Order a few options so they can feel it on their skin and return the ones that they don’t like. Using what you know about your child and giving them some autonomy in styling can help photo day go smoothly and help them to feel invested and excited too!
Mamas!! You need to feel beautiful on photo day, otherwise what has this all been for?? Okay maybe that’s extreme, but seriously, usually mom is the one who is wanting the photos the most and if you don’t like what you are wearing or feel beautiful in it, then you are not going to like the photos! This is why I always tell moms to start with their outfit first! Or at least second if you already have something picked out for a child! Buy a few options and see what fits you well (fit matters more than size, ladies) and shows off your best features! If you don’t like your underarm area, look for dresses with longer sleeves. If your size is still evolving after having kids, look for options with elastic waist bands and/or smocking/shirring at the bust! And for shoes, no need to bust out the high heels to chase a toddler around or walk through a field, but a short wedge or bootie with a little heel can go a long way! Not only will you feel a little fancier/dressier, you’ll also stand with better posture!
Can I simultaneously be thankful I am not pregnant at this time but also wish I could rock one of these maternity dresses with a cute lil baby bump? I would 100% where any of these, I love them all and I would absolutely love to photograph you in them too! And there’s no rule that says you can’t wear your maternity photoshoot dress to your baby shower too! I have even had moms who wear the same dress for Maternity and Newborn photos and guess what….nobody cares! Whenever I see bump-friendly neutral dresses (like the one in the bottom-center) I think they would also make gorgeous newborn session dresses! Plus, you just had a baby and you’ll likely still have some sort of bump, so don’t we want newborn dresses to be bump friendly and forgiving too? While we are talking about newborn sessions, I’ll also add that you may want your newborn session dress or outfit to be nursing friendly because for whatever reason, babies love to eat more than normal on these days!
Oh dads…the forgotten ones. The after thought. The old faithful khakis and a light blue button down. I see you. And I raise you three light blue button down options! Along with a few other neutrals! And even an olive green bomber jacket! I also have been loving the knit and linen short-sleeve, button-downs so I threw in a few of those too if you are feeling wild and trendy! Surprisingly, Abercrombie has a really great mens selections for items like this! And they even carry tall sizes in a lot of their clothes online! I also found a lot of these items at J. Crew which also carries some tall sizing!
Download your complete Spring 2025 Family Styling Guide for FREE right here! You’ll receive an email with a linked PDF that will include all of linked products displayed throughout this blog post as well as 10 Family Styling Examples AND my top 5 tips for dressing for family sessions!
Hey Mama!
Are you feeling inspired and ready to book your Spring or Summer family photo session?
Let’s do it! I would absolutely love to capture your family in this season of life! I have been photographing families for 10+ years and find so much joy in photographing yours!
Inquire below to let me know when you’d like update those family portraits!
Let’s chat soon, friend!