Preparing Your Family for a Photoshoot

We've created the following advice to help you prepare for your family photoshoot without feeling stressed or overwhelmed about it. A lot of this advice will depend on the ages of those in your family who are taking part. Babies and very young children will obviously have different needs than teenagers (though the parents of some teenagers might disagree and say their teenagers need managing as much as they did when they were toddlers!).

Things to do two weeks beforehand

find the clothes you want each person to wear,
if you're changing any clothes during the photoshoot, find those clothes too,
don't forget to find any footwear, hats or any other accessories you might want to use,
then put aside a spare hour and lay out all of the outfits on a bed, or on the floor, and check how they look next to each other - you're aiming to check nothing clashes (see our separate guide on what to wear for a family photoshoot for more advice here),
once you think you're happy, take a quick photo on your phone of all the clothes laid out together,
now hang the clothes somewhere that they won't get creased,
the next day have a look at that photo again and check you're still happy everything looks OK together - if not, play around and change a few things, as you've still got plenty of time,
if you need help, feel free to email the photo to us, along with photos of a few extra outfits, and we'll happily give you some advice if you'd find that helpful.

Things to do one week beforehand

wash and iron any clothes that you feel need some tender loving care,
clean any footwear that might need brushing, polishing or cleaning,
if you're intending to get your hair cut make sure you've done it at least a week before (we need you feeling super confident and comfortable, so now's not the time to 'wear in' a new haircut that you're not yet comfortable with),
work out how long it's going to take you to get to the location for the photoshoot.

Things to do the day before

make sure you know the directions to the location for the photoshoot and, if you're driving, where you're going to park,
work out the time you need to leave the house to get to the location in time, allowing time to find a parking space if you're driving,
depending on the location, make sure you've got plenty of cash for any parking/transport if you need it, as you don't want to spend 45 minutes when you arrive realising the ticket machine only takes the coins you don't have (we've had it happen to customers before - it just shortened their photoshoot),
get all of the family's outfits in the same place so you know you've still got everything and nothing's 'grown legs' and disappeared (it also means everyone can quickly change into their outfits tomorrow),
clean any footwear that might need that last-minute care (your children won't tell you they coated their shoes in mud yesterday afternoon!),
make sure you've got some snacks and drinks for those who might need them - if you're bring children who might be susceptible to 'food bribes' don't forget to pack 'the bribes',
top tip - decide on the time you need to leave the house tomorrow - now bring that time forward by 30 minutes and use that as your actual departure time - let any other adults know about that departure time today.

boy and his skateboard during a photoshoot in the park

Things to do on the day

if you feel anyone in your family is at high risk of getting food or drink over their lovely clean clothing, get them to wear something to protect it (or, better still, get them to wear something else while you travel - you can then change them into the final item of clothing when you arrive),
if you've got a baby, or very small children, make sure you've got a spare outfit in case of any 'accidents',
bring a spare top for any adults who might be at risk from a baby's dribble (or worse),
try not to use any of your 'food bribes' before the photoshoot - thye're best for when people need an energy-boost during the photoshoot (or, with 'little ones' some extra encouragement to get their attention),
make sure you leave the house by your departure time!

And lastly...

If you and your family turn up feeling relaxed, then your photos will look much better. So if you feel you're about to have Family Battle No. 99 in getting your Miss or Master Small-Person into that lovely item of clothing that you always wanted to see them wear in a photo, but they just point blank refuse to do so, please don't get stressed about it. Let them wear what they want (within reason) and bring 'that special item of clothing' with you for later on. It's much better if you turn up with all of you relaxed and only feeling you look 90% perfect, than for you to go for that 100% at the expense of someone's enjoyment - we can work with 90% - it's fine. We want you to be relaxed and to enjoy yourselves.

Finding out more

Read more of our helpful tips about preparing for your photoshoot.

OUR APPROACH WITH FAMILIES

WHAT TO WEAR