Figuring out Christmas family photo outfits shouldn’t be the most stressful part of the holiday season, but for a lot of families it ends up being exactly that. Everyone has an opinion, nothing coordinates the way you pictured it, and you’re not sure whether to go traditional Christmas, cozy neutrals, or something in between. Here’s the straightforward guide I give every family before their session, broken down by what to look for, what to skip, and how to make it work for your specific people.
Should We Match or Coordinate for Christmas Family Photos?
When planning Christmas family photo outfits, I recommend coordinating rather than matching. Matching outfits can make a family portrait feel overly themed, and I find they tend to date photographs more quickly. Coordinating gives everyone their own look while still creating a polished, cohesive family portrait. The goal is to coordinate, not match.
The easiest way to do this is to start with one anchor piece and work outward. I recommend starting with Mom. Choose an outfit you love and feel good in first, then use the colors, textures, and overall style of your outfit to guide what the rest of the family wears.
1. Start with Mom
Choose your outfit before anyone else’s. Don’t try to figure out the entire family’s wardrobe at once. Find something you feel confident in and would be happy seeing yourself wear in photographs for years. This becomes your anchor piece, and you can build the rest of the family’s outfits around it.
2. Build a Color Palette and Carry It Through the Family
Pull two or three main colors from your anchor outfit, then add neutrals as needed. The colors don’t need to appear equally on everyone—or even in everyone’s main clothing. Instead, look for smaller ways to repeat colors throughout the family.
For example, for a Santa session, Mom might start with a deep forest green dress and Dad could wear a cream textured sweater with camel or neutral trousers. A little girl could wear a soft cream dress with subtle green or burgundy details, with one of those colors repeated in a velvet hair bow or her shoes. A little boy could wear neutral trousers with a cream or camel sweater layered over a collared shirt, bringing in forest green or burgundy through a bow tie, shoes, or another small detail.
Think about the family as a whole rather than trying to make each individual outfit contain every color. Those small touches of color are often all you need to connect the outfits and make everything feel intentionally coordinated.
3. Add Interest with Texture and Accessories—Not Lots of Patterns
Once your colors are working together, use texture and accessories to add dimension. Think chunky knits, velvet, corduroy, subtle embroidery, layered sweaters, tights, hair bows, loafers, or a beautiful pair of shoes. These details add visual interest without distracting from the people in the photograph.
Be more selective with patterns. One subtle pattern can actually help tie your color palette together, but several different plaids, florals, stripes, or prints can quickly make a family portrait feel busy. If one person is wearing a pattern, keep the other outfits simpler and pull colors from that pattern into their clothing and accessories.
The simplest way to remember it is: coordinate, don’t match. Start with one anchor piece, work outward, repeat your colors thoughtfully, and use texture and small details to bring everything together. This makes deciding what to wear for Christmas family photos much easier while creating a finished look that feels polished, natural, and timeless.
What Colors Work Best for Christmas Family Photo Outfits?
When choosing Christmas family photo outfits, take a look at your Santa set before you start shopping. Both of this year’s sets have rich Christmas colors, but they have very different looks. Your wardrobe should complement the room without competing with everything happening around you.
Vintage Christmas Room
The Vintage Christmas Room is darker and more dramatic, with deep charcoal, rich reds, evergreen and warm golden tones. Because the background already has so much depth and color, I love bringing lighter, warm neutrals into the wardrobe to help your family stand out.
Colors that work especially well include:
- Cream or ivory
- Champagne
- Camel
- Warm taupe
- Soft gold
- Burgundy or forest green as an accent
For example, Mom could wear a champagne or cream dress, Dad a camel sweater with dark trousers, a daughter an ivory or cream dress with a burgundy velvet hair bow or tights, and a son a cream sweater with camel trousers and a subtle forest green or burgundy detail.
With holiday family photo outfits in this room, you don’t need to add a lot of Christmas color. The room already provides plenty of it.
Santa’s Christmas Cabin
Santa’s Christmas Cabin has a warmer, more rustic feel with rich wood tones, evergreen, red and vintage Christmas details. This set works beautifully with deeper, classic colors.
Consider:
- Deep forest green
- Navy
- Burgundy
- Cream
- Warm brown
- Muted red accents
- Denim for a more casual look
Mom might wear a forest green dress, Dad a navy sweater with neutral trousers, a daughter a cream dress with subtle green detailing or a green velvet bow, and a son a cream or navy sweater with warm brown trousers and coordinating shoes.
When deciding what to wear for Christmas family photos, you can also think about how formal you want your images to feel. Holiday pajamas can create a fun, casual Christmas-morning look. Dresses, velvet, sweaters and collared shirts create a more dressed-up holiday portrait. Or choose something right in between.
Keep the Color Palette Simple
One of my favorite Christmas photo outfit tips is to choose two or three main colors plus neutrals. You don’t need to incorporate every traditional Christmas color into your clothing—the Santa set is already doing some of that work for you.
A few Christmas family photo outfit ideas:
- Vintage Christmas Room: cream + camel + burgundy accents
- Vintage Christmas Room: champagne + warm taupe + forest green accents
- Santa’s Christmas Cabin: forest green + cream + warm brown
- Santa’s Christmas Cabin: navy + burgundy + cream
Use these as inspiration rather than rules. The goal is to choose colors that work with your Santa set and still feel like your family.
What Should We Avoid Wearing for Christmas Family Photos?
Keep it simple. When choosing Christmas family photo outfits, there are really only a few things I recommend avoiding:
- Too many patterns. One pattern is usually plenty. Too many plaids, stripes, or prints can compete for attention. Use texture and accessories to add interest instead.
- Logos and graphics. Skip large logos, characters, wording, and novelty holiday shirts. They can distract from the people in the photograph and quickly date your images.
- Bright white. I prefer cream or ivory instead. The warmer tones work beautifully with Christmas sets and tend to photograph softer than stark white.
- Uncomfortable clothing. This is especially important for kids. If it itches, pulls, rides up, or needs constant adjusting, choose something else. Comfortable kids are much more likely to relax and enjoy the session.
Parents: Come Dressed Just in Case
Even if you’re only planning Christmas mini session outfits for the kids, come ready for a photograph yourself.
I see this often during my Philadelphia Santa sessions. Parents plan to stay out of the pictures, see how adorable their children look with Santa, and decide they want one family photograph after all.
You don’t need another elaborate outfit. Simply wear something that coordinates with what your children are wearing. Then the option is there if you want it.
Families come to my Glen Mills studio for Santa photos from Philadelphia, the Main Line, Wilmington, and surrounding areas, and one thing I always recommend is giving yourself the option to be in the photographs. You may not plan on it, but you might be very glad you did.
What Should Kids Wear for Christmas Family Photos?
For kids, comfort comes first. Our Santa sessions move quickly, and I want those minutes spent interacting with Santa—not fixing an outfit, adjusting shoes, or trying to convince a child to wear something they already decided they don’t like.
A few things I’ve learned over the years:
- Have them try everything on before session day. Let them sit, walk, and move around in the outfit. Something that looks adorable on a hanger may feel completely different once they’re wearing it.
- Be careful with new shoes. I’ve seen a great outfit quickly become a problem because new dress shoes hurt. If you do buy new shoes, let your child wear them around the house first. And with Christmas pajamas, I usually prefer bare feet anyway.
- Test the hair accessories. That beautiful headband isn’t worth it if your daughter keeps pulling it off or it slides down into her face. Have her wear it ahead of time so you know it will actually stay put.
- Don’t save surprises for session day. New clothes, new shoes, and a new headband all at once can be a lot for a little one. The more familiar everything feels, the easier it is for them to forget about what they’re wearing and focus on Santa.
When Should You Start Shopping for Christmas Photo Outfits?
Start planning early, but don’t assume you need to buy everyone a new outfit. Putting together Christmas family photo outfits can be much simpler—and more affordable—than you think.
Shop Your Closet First
Before you buy anything, see what you already own. Most families already have plenty of cream, camel, navy, forest green, burgundy, or other holiday-friendly colors in their closets.
Start with the pieces you love and fill in only what’s missing. A neutral dress for your daughter may only need festive tights, a velvet hair bow, or a beautiful pair of shoes to feel completely different for Christmas.
You Don’t Need to Shop at Expensive Boutiques
I always love supporting local businesses, but beautiful photo outfits don’t have to come from high-end boutiques. Target has great, affordable pieces, and Amazon can be perfect when you need a specific color, accessory, or last-minute addition.
Spend where it matters to you, but don’t assume a higher price tag will photograph better. It’s much more important that the colors work together and everyone feels comfortable.
Give Yourself Time to See Everything Together
If you do order online, give yourself a little extra time. Colors can look very different on a screen—and two pieces both described as “red” may not work together at all. A bright Christmas red next to a deep burgundy, for example, can look more mismatched than coordinated.
Lay everything out together before removing the tags. If one piece isn’t working, don’t start over. Keep what you already love and replace only the piece that’s throwing off the overall look.
The goal is to make this easy. Shop your closet first, add a few festive details, and buy only what you actually need.
What a Christmas Family Session Looks Like When You Work with Jamie Englert Photography
Once your Santa session is booked at my Glen Mills studio, located near West Chester, I’ll make sure you have everything you need before session day. Families visit me from Philadelphia, the Main Line, Wilmington, and surrounding areas for Santa photos each year.
Before Your Session
You’ll receive a styling guide to help with Christmas family photo outfits, along with a session reminder that includes the studio address, arrival information, and everything you need to know before you come.
If you have questions about outfits or anything else before your session, just reach out. I’m always happy to help.
Want Santa to surprise your child with something special? You’ll also receive instructions for dropping off a gift or letter ahead of time so Santa can give it to your child during the session. It’s a simple way to make their visit more personal.
After Your Session
Within about a week, you’ll receive an email with a gallery of unedited images from your session. This is your selection gallery—you’ll choose the images you want included in your package for final editing and the ‘magic’ added.
Once your selected images are edited, you’ll receive a final online gallery where you can download your finished digital images.
If you purchase printed products, I’ll email you when they’re ready to be picked up at the studio.
If you’re planning to use your images for Christmas cards or gifts, be sure to make your selections as soon as you receive your gallery. The sooner I receive your favorites, the sooner I can begin editing them.
My goal from beginning to end is to make the process simple so you can enjoy the experience with your family.
Get Your Christmas Family Photo Outfits Sorted Before Your Session
Choosing Christmas family photo outfits doesn’t have to be stressful.
Start with what you already own, keep your color palette simple, and give yourself enough time to make changes if something isn’t working. And if you’re unsure, you can always reach out with questions before your session.
A little preparation ahead of time makes a big difference on session day. When the outfits are ready, the kids are comfortable, and you know what to expect, you can arrive relaxed and actually enjoy the experience.
Once you’re here, let me take over. Sit back, watch your children interact with Santa, and enjoy seeing the experience through their eyes. You don’t need to worry about getting everyone to look at the camera or making sure everything goes perfectly. That’s my job.
One More Thing: Prepare Your Kids for Santa (especially the little ones)
What your child wears is only one part of preparing for their session. Their age, personality, the time of day you choose, and how comfortable they are meeting someone new can all make a difference—especially for babies and toddlers going through a stranger-danger phase.
I put together another guide with simple ways to help prepare your child so you can arrive feeling ready and spend less time worrying on session day.
Tips for choosing the right session time, preparing little ones for meeting Santa, and helping your child feel comfortable before they arrive.
Ready to Plan Your Santa Photos?
Now that you know what to wear and how to prepare, take a look at this year’s Santa sessions. You can see the session options, Santa sets, what’s included, pricing, and available dates. New time slots have been added.
A conversation about “reindeer milk” brought out this expression—and plenty of giggles from Mom and Dad. It’s these little unscripted moments with Santa that make the experience so special.
Meet Jamie
As a former elementary teacher for 12 years and a photographer who has worked with children for more than 10 years, I understand that every child responds differently to Santa. Some run right up, while others may be a little more hesitant.
I follow your child’s lead and adjust when needed. Parents are always welcome to reach out before their session with any concerns or anything that may help me better understand their child.
Most of all, I want your family to enjoy the experience and capture a little of the magic of Christmas along the way.
The magic happens when we let them be little.
They won’t believe in Santa forever.
