The Demke Family | Family Styled Session | Long Grove Family Photographer
Sophie, what’s this styling service you’ve been babbling on about for months now?! Well, I’m glad you asked. It’s a total game changer for me and my clients! If you’ve ever had professional photos taken, you know that one of the most stressful parts and difficult decisions are what to wear?! You’re not alone. I hear it all the time. “It was so stressful styling the whole family!” This is often Mom’s job along with organizing the whole session in the first place. This will no longer be such a heavy weight on your shoulders! This team of amazing photographers have created a magical service that immediately generates whole outfit options for each member of the family that coordinate well, photograph beautifully, fit all budgets, and the personal styling aspect is FREE!
Yes, free. You only have to buy your own clothing, which you’d likely be doing anyways, and even that part is optional. You may have a few pieces in your closets already, usually dad’s outfit is pretty easy! This service is extremely valuable to me and I’m so happy it’s here. Especially for parents who are busy with work, kids, and just life! This feature I’ve added to my business is effortless and you never even have to leave your home. The days of running from store to store are OVER.
The questionnaire is stupid simple and any additional notes and preferences you want to provide me will all assist in creating a beautiful look for your photo session! At this point, you’ve already invested quite a bit of time and money into committing to doing a session, don’t blow it on last minute outfits you’re not sure of, or even worse, don’t love or feel confident in. Before this service existed, I’ve always harped on the importance of feeling comfortable and confident in what you’re wearing for your photos. If you’re visibly uncomfortable, tugging, fixing bra straps, etc. it will quickly take away from the natural moments I will be able to capture of you with your family. I can’t even begin to tell you the amount of photos I’ve thrown in the trash when I go to edit, and a perfect, naturally smiling child is ruined by Mom fixing her straps or pulling up her jeans etc. I do my best to ask clients not to do this, but there’s only so much I can do! :)
I can now easily create a beautiful cohesive look for your whole family, big or small, in a matter of minutes. Literally. I’ll send you a few options to look at with links provided for all of the clothes I’ve selected. This is not set in stone. You’re not required to buy any or all of the things I suggest. They are just that, suggestions. I know what will look best in photos, and the more I know about your personal preferences, insecurities, etc. the quicker I can get to a look you’ll be in love with. At a bare minimum, this service can give you ideas and examples of how to dress an entire family. At a maximum, you can order every single item I’ve chosen and rock it out and be done in a few clicks! Boom! No stress, and even better, you literally don’t have to make any physical trips to a store. No one hates running errands more than me. I buy my toilet paper on amazon. That’s just a fact.
I personally feel that not enough moms wear what they really want to wear. You’ll show up in jeans and a blouse that you wear to work every Tuesday. No. Unacceptable. Wear the damn flowy beautiful dress! I know you want to and you never get to. I know it. If you truly aren’t a dress person that’s okay too! There are plenty of top and bottom options as well as jumpsuits which I’m a super fan of. The sky is the limit here, and you can look fantastic in your photos. Styling can and will take your photos to a whole new level.
NOW, for the session in this blog post... I'd venture to say that most photographers have a go-to family they use to practice new ideas, work out inspirations on, or just flat out play with when they're running the risk of photographer burn out. You may recognize this family from shoots I've done in the past, and there's a reason why. Mom, Alyssa, is my girlfriend's sister. So, I know these guys very well, as I consider them my own family. Alyssa was down for anything, and while Derek made fun of my outfit choices at first, guess what is now his Facebook cover and profile photo? Yep, happens every time. ;) The girls each tried on all 4 outfits and had fun dressing up. Luckily the outfits I had in mind for each of them, they ended up choosing on their own, so there was no power struggle there. Jess (my girlfriend) tagged along for the session and took some behind the scenes photos which I'll share at the bottom of the blog post! I'm so glad she did, and had a blast seeing what she shot. I love the realness in her captures!
I completely styled these two looks for this family and we knocked out the session in exactly 1 hour. It was 90 degrees at 7:30pm and extremely buggy out, but we did it! Dad already had his shorts in his closet, and mom had her shoes. The girls’ shoes are from Old Navy and also not from the service. The flower crown I made myself for a previous session. The girls found it in my studio and had to wear it for a few shots. Everything else was chosen using the styling service in seriously just a few clicks.
Each of the looks costed around or under $200! That’s nothing compared to the buying and returning you use to do, not to mention your precious TIME spent worrying and trying to be a fashionista, all alone with crying kids in tow.
Now, I totally went overboard on how many photos are in this blog but I really don't care.
Enjoy!
Behind the scenes photos shot by Jess Bonnot :)
