by Kat Ballew

Created on: March 04, 2010

Creating memories by getting everyone together for a portrait at Christmas time is often a tradition for many, and choosing how to dress the family for holiday pictures is important. While everyone is juggling schedules and preparing for the busy season, once the attempt to get everyone together has been accomplished, there are other decisions that will need to be made in order to make the best picture possible.

While each person has his or her own style, dressing for a portrait should be a compromise. In addition, a theme should be agreed upon. This can be traditional, with everyone dressing in holiday colors, casual, with everyone dressing down or dressy with everyone wearing dress clothes. The background also plays a part in how to dress the family for holiday pictures.

Keeping these ideas in mind, the way each person dresses should be uniform, and somewhat matching. If the background is a Christmas scene, such as a Christmas tree, a fireplace with stockings or a snow scene, the colors of Christmas would be a good choice. However, if some wore jeans and a t-shirt and some wore buttoned-down collars and ties, the portrait would look off-balanced. So dressing in the same fashion makes a better picture.

If going to a studio to have family holiday pictures made, the backgrounds are usually limited. A uniform look for everyone could be casual pants, such as khaki pants and red and green sweaters, or black pants and white shirts. Other clothes could be taken in case they are needed for a different scene, such as jackets and ties.

Pictures made at home offer a more relaxed atmosphere, and will not seem as rushed or inconvenient. It will also allow for different backgrounds, and will add a more personal touch to the picture.

For example, if taking a picture on the porch with a Christmas wreath on the door in the background, everyone could dress in sweaters, scarves and winter hats. The Christmas tree could make another picture inside with everyone wearing jeans and solid colored t-shirts or Christmas sweatshirts. Still another scene could be with everyone standing on the stairway that is decorated with garland and everyone could wear suits and ties, dresses or skirts.

Dressing the family for holiday pictures does not have to be difficult, and everyone can choose their own style. However, the important thing is to make everyone aware of the color choices, the background ideas and the theme, such as dressy, casual or festive. Different poses, different locations and different backgrounds make family portraits more interesting, and offers everyone more choices to choose from. Perhaps the hardest part of all will be trying to decide which one to send as a Christmas card!

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