Well, family photos have certainly changed over the years. When I look through old photo albums (remember those??) at my parent’s house it’s a blaring reminder that times have changed. Gone are the days of heading to the mall, standing in front of a stagnant photographer with a white screen in the background… and then returning a few hours later to choose the appropriate family background. I think my favorite memory, and the one that tends to get inserted into family text chains around this time of year, is a photo of my sister, mom, and me all in stirrup leggings and oversized (knitted) Christmas sweaters. I insisted on having my mom put my hair in sponge rollers the night before (bless her for allowing that hot mess….) so my hair is in these obscenely tight ringlet curls that probably took days to relax. My dad, well, he looks normal (as men most often do….). I mean, just have a look below….. I sacrificed my family so you could have a little Tuesday laugh…..

 What hasn’t changed? Mom forcing everyone to get the heck dressed, get out the door, and take the dang photos (with at least an attempt at a genuine smile….)….. Our family included.

How did we take these photos?

With a tripod + self timer (how we take most of our family photos… unless my mom is around…)
I artfully negotiated (that’s the reframe my mom gives to “bribing” and I truly appreciate it….) with Harper that if she cooperated she could watch TV when we got home….
Our outfits were picked out last minute, last Thursday to be exact….
And all the smiles you see are likely in between cringing of some sort to just get everyone to look happy.
So, if we’re being honest, this obviously isn’t a blog post on how to curate the “perfect family photo….”

I wrote this blog post to make anyone, anywhere, feel certifiably normal if
(1) Your family hates taking family photos
(2) It was a hot mess when you took them
(3) You love taking them, but never know what to wear…..

And for #3…. maybe you can find a little bit of inspo here (because I have nothing inspiring to write about the behind the scenes of these….).

For these photos I opted for a very neutral color scheme and then just selected pieces from there. I stumbled across this sweater dress a few weeks ago and it was exactly what I was looking for (I’m also planning on wearing it to Camille’s baptism in a few weeks). I also love this sweater dress  (if you’re wanting to wear jeans I love this poncho sweater + this top as beautiful, neutral options). Matching dresses for the girls is made easier by H&M’s selection. I love that I can shop the 4M-4Y tab and get the exact same look for each of them without exerting more effort than necessary. These deer printed dresses with the matching faux fur vests were perfect to maintain the neutral theme… yet playful enough for their ages. And TJ was the easiest… a neutral sweater, to go with shoes he already owned, and he was ready….

And, at the end of the day, no matter how they turn out… just remember you’ll have a good story to tell… years later… when you can look back and laugh!
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(Outfit Details || My Dress | My Boots | TJ’s Sweater | TJ’s Jeans (30% off) | TJ’s Shoes | Girl’s Dresses | Harper’s Vest | Camille’s Vest)