Matching Outfits for Pictures.

No prints or stripes whatsoever! If you stick to white, black, all shades of gray, and maybe denim, it will honestly look best. The more simple the clothes, hair, accessories, the better :)

We normally just pick a color scheme and try and stick with it (orange/gray, yellow/blue, red/brown). Inevitably we all have similar colors that we can pull together to look nice. As far as matching outfits, Crazy 8 has cute kids clothes that may have some "matching" type stuff. Honestly though, we just normally pick a color or two that we all own something in and go with that. Good luck!

We had professional photos done recently. The photographer met us on location (not in a studio) near the beach. Her suggestions were:
natural colors that look good on your family in coordinating/blending shades (like the mossy gray/green family, or pale blues, or black tops, etc). She said MOST people do NOT photograph well in anything with shades of red (or orange) and if you go with too many differing pastels, you end up looking like Easter eggs. Also, stay away from prints, plaids and stripes. Solids or textured material is best.

Lots of people around here (coastal GA) get their photos done in a beach type setting and wear khaki pants with a white shirt. We didn't do that, because it is so common. We went with shades of darker brown/mossy green with everyone in jeans. The photos came out GREAT.

Good luck.

20 years from now, if not sooner, you could regret it:
http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/?s=matching+outfits

As a photographer I tell people to be comfortable. Don't go with too many prints. Everyone should coordinate and wear outfits that include one or 2 of the same colors. Layers work well for portraits. You can remove a layer and have a whole new look without having to really change clothes. Try to make your pictures timeless by not wearing trendy clothes and t-shirts with cartoon characters on the front. I am partial to shades of white and grays with jeans. Adding different textures work well too.

Solids are always better.

Last Dec we had photos taken for our kids and their cousins from a Christmas present for my MIL. Ages are 3mos to 6years. I purchased all the outfits from naartjie. (If you're going with solids, you really do not have to buy them at the same place). Our palate was white and gray. I added some prints with black and white leg warmers for the girls (coordinating, not matching) and the boys just wore jeans. I only wanted a white or black background. The effect was crisp and timeless but natural too. We prefer not to put parents in studio pictures but that is just a personal preference. You can always coordinate with them as well. I can show you photos so you can see the effect just pm me.

D.

didn't have time to read the other responses! A photographer friend of mine uses these rules:

everybody in white shirts....so the faces really stand out. All black or another single color will also work, over any type of color mixup or patterns. By using a single color, the eye does not "bounce" around the photo.

long sleeves to create longer lines, instead of breaking up the lines. (it's just like not wearing white socks with black pants & shoes.)

shirts with collars will frame the face.

& no cleavage for Mom, 'cuz she just might be leaning/bending forward!

her fav is to have everyone in stonewashed jeans & white shirts, barefoot!

It all depends on what looks good on everyone. You can have all the same shirt, or have everyone choose whatever as long as it is the color you want. Or you could have the men wear one color and women wear another (coordinating) color, like have men wear red, women wear pink.

My recent favorite was a family in very different outfits (dresses, shirt/tie, suit, shirt/vest, sweater/slacks, etc) but all in the same color palate. It was all varying shades of earthy greens with black bottoms and shoes. Some wore solids, others had on subtle patterns (houndstooth, pinstripe, etc). The pictures turned out beautifully!

PS: By using the "completely lacking in any creativity, mind numbingly boring combos" such as khaki/white or denim/white, you are focusing more on the FAMILY rather than the colors of the clothes. If you wear vibrant colors, your eye will be drawn to the clothes, not the faces. (Like Mimi from the Drew Carey Show - you focus on the eye shadow, not the eyes!)

I haven't read the other responses, but I would get your kiddos outfits first. Then find a solid color for you and your husand that matches your kiddos. Much easier that way. And for pants for you and your husband...Look to see what you have, like jeans, already, unless you really want to buy some new pants too. LOL A few years ago we did a family photo where we all wore the same thing. I got our girls matching shirts and then my husband found shirts for me and him that matched and matched what the girls' were wearing also. We all wore kahki pants even though my husband and I didn't do from the waist down pictures. Our girls did and took some really great pictures. They were 8 and 9 at the time. Hope this helps. Good luck with your pictures and God Bless.

I have a lot of friends who have multitudes of children. They just wear the same color, like for one year they all wore red shirts and jeans. The next they all wore dark green shirts and jeans.

It sure makes it easy too when they do married family pics each offsprings family gets a particular color. Like daughter number 1, hubby and kids all wear red, daughter number 2 her hubby and kids wear green, son 1 wears brown...it sure makes it easy to tell whose kids are whose and who each offspring is married to.

We do coordinating outfits but not matching. My kids are 15 years apart (one boy, one girl) so our first family picture my husband and son wore the same blue and white striped shirt, I wore a white sweater, and my daughter wore a blue flowered dress. For our family picture late last year, my daughter and I wore very similiar styled varying shades of blue t-shirt and the boys wore dark blue polo-styled shirts but we all wore jeans (nice casual shots).

When we had all the grandkids picture done for my dad, the kids wore various shades of blue.

Hanna Anderson. Their clothes are pricey but good quality. They do have stores but online offers more selection.

I like to have black pants or jeans and then same alike colors. You two have solids and the kids have prints or something like that.

This same dilema kept me awake at night for a month before our scheduled pictures. It is so hard to pick the perfect outfits. I also like the idea of having two or three of you in solids and the rest in prints. I think simple can sometimes be better for photos. A lot of photographers will tell you to layer your clothing because it adds texture to the pictures. Check out some photographers websites and look at their galleries for ideas on outfits. Two of my favorite are www.amytripplephotography.com and www.lillybellerosephotography.com. Also check out www.crazy8.com for other clothing choices. Good luck!

if your doing spring pictures do all light colors like yellows for the girls and light green for the boys with tan pants

We just did a family picture where we all wore dark brown bottoms. The girls wore sweaters with pink in them and the boys wore sweaters with light blue in them. We did a snowy/winter background. They turned out nice.

Our last family shoot was casual. DH and I wore dark jeans and black tops, and the kids wore white tops and dark jeans. We had them go barefoot, because I wanted to see their adorable feet! We had group shots, head shots (I put a big pink headband on DD for those), sibling and alone poses. We used a simple gray background at Target. They came out great, and I scrapbooked a collage on 12x12 papers. They have very nice frames that size, and I created a wall display from that photo shoot. Not that you want to do all that, but I do think that simple attire in solid colors are best for group shots. And, if you end up with a lot of shots you would like to display, it's easier to work into your decor when it's simple.

this makes me think of a funny memory. my boyfriend, 1 yr. old daughter, and I made an appt. to get our pictures done. we failed to plan what we were going to wear until the day of. so, probably about 4 hrs. before our appt., i'm beyond we were both frustrated, & i'm pretty sure i was crying. :) but anyway, my daughter had a lavender shirt, and my boyfriend had a vertical striped (the tiny stripes) shirt that had purple as one of the colors. i did not have anything however, so we decided to go buy something at jcpenney (where we were getting the pictures taken.) the only thing i could find was a dark maroonish color shirt. & we were just like, we'll go with it. we had all worn dark jeans. the pictures turned out really pretty. we all had different shades of purple, but i love those pictures. :D i know i read on here no stripes, but i guess since the shirts that my daughter & i wore were solid, my boyfriend's stripes complimented ours.

This summer for our family pics we got them all at Wal-Mart. We got polo type shirts for the boys and my hubby. Then found a dress for me and my daughter at JC Penney's that luckly matched and went get with the boys polo shirts.

I just answered a similar question so rather than retyping it, I've copied and pasted it here for you!

*****

I always offer this advice when people ask this question...

Look at TLC's website for the Jon n Kate + 8, now Kate + 8 show... they often took outdoor photos of the family, and they did a great job of creating great, coordinating color palattes - not matchy, matchy, but cohesive. And they often used nice, vibrant colors. The photo I linked is a perfect example...

http://tlc.discovery.com/tv/jon-and-kate/jon-and-kate.html

Please don't do khaki and white, or jeans with white shirts. Seriously, if I see another family picture with these completely lacking in any creativity, mind numbingly boring combos, I will be forced to vomit. Sorry if I offended anyone, but that is honestly the way I feel.