Fall is a popular time to take annual fall family portraits. Between the beautiful fall colors, back to school, and cool weather, it’s a great time to capture your family. If you’re curious about other seasons, I have a whole blog post that shares more about what is the best season for your family portrait here.
If you’ve chosen fall for your family portrait, the next question is, what should you wear? I help all my clients with wardrobe guidance so that they don’t have to worry about figuring that out on their own. I’m sharing my best tips below to help you style your family portrait.
Tips on What to Wear for Fall Family Portraits
- Complement Your Home’s Style
I always start with the end in mind, so it’s essential to choose colors and outfits that will complement the style of your home where these portraits will be displayed! If your home’s style is modern and classic, choose outfits that will compliment that. The photographs will look amazing on your walls!
Bonus – I have an entire resource to help you match your portrait artwork to your home’s style here.


- Choose Coordinating Colors
We don’t need everyone to be matchy matchy but choose colors that coordinate with each other. Popular fall colors are plum, navy, and cream or navy, gray, and yellow. Lay the outfits out on your bed to see if they flow together nicely. Need to shop for new outfits? I highly recommend shopping local. If you’re in or near Oconomowoc Mission Road Boutique and Fray are both fantastic options to start. They would love to help you find the perfect clothing for your session.
- Minimal Accessories
I highly recommend keeping accessories to a minimum. Accessories can date a picture fairly quickly because styles change frequently. For example, mom and daughter wear a nice necklace but wear simple stud earrings. Too many accessories can make the outfit come across as loud in a portrait.


- Fall Layers
Of course, I think you should dress comfortably for the weather, but let’s keep a few things in mind when choosing additional fall layers. This goes along with the minimal accessories tip, but I suggest adding fall layers where it makes sense! If everyone’s wearing scarves and jackets, it might distract from your beautiful faces. A few scarves and jackets are better than everyone wearing them. Maybe a jacket for mom and a sweater for dad.

- Make Sure Everything Fits
You may laugh at this, but please make sure that everyone’s outfits fit and are ready to go prior to the day of the session. You don’t want to be running off to Target to find a new shirt for your son last-minute. Amazon 2-day shipping won’t help you! At least a few days in advance, check to make sure that everyone’s outfits fit, are clean and wrinkle-free. You’ll thank me later!


Fall Family Portrait Photographer
Find a family portrait photographer that cares about crafting an experience your entire family will enjoy and helps you create the family portrait artwork you’re dreaming of! I help my clients plan the entire family portrait session with the end in mind. We start with what you plan on doing with your family portraits so that we can plan the session around achieving that goal for you. If you’re ready to book fall family portraits, send me a message here.
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