I was watching Rudy play the other day and, for the first time, I kept thinking that she's starting to look more like a child than a baby. Sometimes, it's a little hard for me to remember her at this time last year. I'm glad when social media reminds me that she was crawling and getting ready to take her first steps while holding furniture. Now she's an energetic toddler who runs and climbs and twirls and tries to somersault. As I watched her play, I felt myself tearing up because I have loved every stage with her, but there are so many adorable and hilarious toddler mannerisms that I'm sure I'll have forgotten in a couple of years.
We are heading off to Western Canada shortly for a family vacation and I thought it would be the perfect place to have some professional family photos taken. What better time in our lives to memorialize than when we're happy and relaxed on holiday? Right now, Rudy is at this magical age where the world is a place to explore and she's still our baby but she's on the verge of being able to do so much!
Being a planner, I wanted to manage everything long before our trip and I agonized over choosing a photographer, locations and wardrobe. I wanted our clothes to look great on us but not distract from the scenery and I wanted to be coordinated but not too matchy!
So how do you look coordinated and polished but not like your family uniform is jeans and black t-shirts? You choose a basic colour palette with coordinating colours and start there. They say that if colours are found together in nature, they'll work. They don't all need to be from the same colour family, although I find that many shades of the same colour also look nice.
I used this site for my colour palette inspiration. Some of my favourites are below. I can't say I'm surprised by the number of photos containing succulents. ;)
Our first outfits are mainly J. Crew with the exception of my dress (Gap) and Corey's Jeans (American Eagle). Shopping at the same store when they have a new seasonal line out is a great way to find coordinating colours and fabrics.
We also wanted some casual clothes for the photo shoot. We chose clothes that would be more reflective of how we dressed on a regular basis. We chose a palette of blue, teal and mint to compliment the lake and mountain backdrop of the photoshoot. The photo below is terrible (it was taken hastily at night while we were packing) but I'm actually really excited about these outfits.
For more inspiration and tips, here are two great articles on the topic by other bloggers:
http://www. kristendukephotography.com/ what-to-wear-in-family- portraits-2/
http://www.