Spring Family Pictures with Lilly Pulitzer and Evie's Closet

I have a love hate relationship with taking family pictures. I love getting them but man do I hate taking them.
No matter how prepared I am or what I have said to the kids I always end up acting like an absolute lunatic while the kids test my will to live. After it’s over I am exhausted and thinking why do I put myself through this.

Then the pictures come back and they are perfection and I want to cry. It was totally worth it.

We try to take family pictures at least once or twice a year. I cherished taking pictures with my parents growing up and I love looking back at them. My mom always made sure that we had professional pictures even thought it was just me and I didn’t have any siblings. I am hoping that one day the kids will really appreciate all the work that I put into them and not hang their heads in shame at what I dressed them in.

So a few things I do to try (I stress try) to keep my stress level down…

Photographer is so important. If you have a big-ish family like mine with young kids the photographer will make or break your shoot and possibly your sanity. There are a lot of great photographers but you really need someone who knows kids and knows how to get them to cooperate or call roll with it when they don’t. Also, building a relationship by using the same person time after time is good because your kids will get used to them and will be more likely to cooperate. Melissa Breedlove Photography has been photographing our family since the kids were babies.
Prepare early. I usually pick our outfits a few weeks in advance and make sure they are steamed and ready to go along with shoes and any accessories we have. I also talk to the photographer and make sure that we have a location picked out. The less I have to do before the shoot the better for my sanity.
Talk to everyone. I make sure Justin knows what he is wearing and where we are going at least 24 hours in advance. I also try to talk to the boys the morning of and prep them for pictures. This didn’t work AT ALL this past time we took pictures but I tried. Generally I have some kind of incentive they can earn if they cooperate.
Relax. Some of the best pictures we have are the ones that weren’t planned and when the kids were either crying or not cooperating. Embracing the chaos is definitely part of our family motto but it’s still nice to catch that super formal picture now and then.

This photo shoot is part of our partnership with Palm Village Mandeville – A Lilly Pulitzer Store and Evie’s Closet. There really is nothing more perfect for spring that a Lilly Pulitzer dress, Vineyard Vines and boys in mint. The azaleas blooming behind us were just an extra blessing and a bonus because Melissa our photographer was the one who found them…