I worked with Minted this year for our Christmas cards and I am absolutely thrilled with how they turned out. I was pleasantly surprised by how affordable they were. There were a lot of customization options so you could definitely rack up the price with gold foil and addresses if you’d like but the base price was very doable. I did however struggle with what to wear. I knew I wanted to have one formal look and one more casual look. After all, in a pandemic, I’ll take any excuse to dress up, am I right? As I was panicking the morning of having last-minute regret of my outfit choice I thought man I can’t be the only one struggling, so I thought it might be helpful to break down some tips and tricks on what to wear for Christmas Cards.
To be honest, I have never been a Christmas card girl. It always felt like a huge waste of money especially because I share my life online. If I am being honest most of my friends and family know what I’m up to because they can just check my Instagram. It also just felt like an extra unneeded expense at the holiday time. Not only do you have to pay for photos but you also have to pay for the cards themselves and then, of course, the stamps. This year felt different though since everyone is so isolated and stuck at home I had a change of heart. If I can brighten a friend or family member’s day with a little snail mail it’s definitely worth it.
What To Wear For Christmas Cards
Jared and I do not like to be matchy matchy and I think that’s the number one and probably the easiest mistake I see with Christmas card outfits. We prefer to coordinate and go together rather than wearing the exact same thing. Instead of everyone wearing red or everyone wearing green or the classic white and khaki think about you can play with textures and colors to make everyone coordinate without looking too planned.
It’s almost like everyone just happened to be wearing something similar rather than super planned. Originally I had wanted Jared in all black and a green tie since I was wearing a black dress and green wrap but the more we looked it felt too matchy so he went with a grey flannel suit, a light blue shirt, and a green tie.
It still felt a little forced so I threw on a plaid headband to add a little bit of texture and pattern to my outfit. I think it’s really important to play with patterns and textures, so it feels natural and cohesive.
For our casual outfit, I wanted this to look like we were going out to dinner and happen to take photos. I knew I wanted to wear a classic Christmas tartan with cheetah print. When Jared suggested a plaid flannel and sweater initially I was super out off by it because I thought the plaids would clash. However, since it was just the collar peeking out it really did look nice together and felt like him. I think it’s also important to keep in mind each person needs to look like themselves and feel confident in what they are wearing. Getting in front of a camera is tough so anything to make someone feel more comfortable will help tremendously in the final result.
To share one more example of how to coordinate outfits for photos, let’s take a look at our Thanksgiving Day outfits. Of course, I knew I wanted a photo and I wanted us to coordinate. We both went with a neutral color palette and Jared opted for more textures and layers while I kept it simple. Although it would have been easy to wear similar color sweaters by playing off a few shades of beige it really looks natural and put together without being too forced.
When it comes to Christmas card or family photos, don’t overthink. Don’t go matchy matchy. Keep it natural and authentic. It takes the pressure off and everyone feels more comfortable and something they want to wear and feels like them.
For more tips on what to wear in photos, check out this blog from my family’s photos a few years back.
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