How to Choose Maternity Gowns for Maternity Portraits

Your pregnancy is a special time, so why not get dressed up and wear a maternity gown? Not only does it flatter your figure, it gives your portraits an elegant feel.  The fabric can be gathered to accentuate your baby belly, and just looks pretty! Different colors look nice during each season, so make sure you consider the following things when planning your wardrobe…

1. Most importantly: what colors look most flattering on you? Choose a color that you think goes well with your skin tones and makes you feel great when you wear it!
2. Consider a dress shape that looks best on your body type.  You will find many dress styles for maternity photo sessions online. They range from casual dressy to almost “ballgown-like.” Is that a word? You can find scoop necklines, off the shoulder, flutter sleeves, long sleeves, and more.  Choose something that you’ll feel comfortable in.
3. Consider the weather, season, and the environment in which you will be taking your portrait.  These photos were taken in August and the beautiful mint color was perfect for this mama-to-be’s photos. The lace embroidered top and flowy mint gown went perfectly in the garden at this time of year.  If you have your portraits taken in the spring or summer, pastel colors always look nice. Some other suggestions include blush pink, peach blush, lavender, aqua, sage, or pale dusty blue. In the fall, you may want some fall colors reminiscent of the leaves on the trees.  Mauve, burgundy, rust, golden yellow, amethyst, jade, or Emerald green, might be a suggestion.  Neutral colors, such as cream look great all year.  My personal preference is muted tones over bright colors. They have a more timeless feel and are pleasing to the eye in environmental portraits.  And let’s face it, there are better times of year for outdoor portraits, if you aren’t a fan of freezing temperatures.  Most maternity gowns are sleeveless or if they have long sleeves, they tend not to be super thick.  Since we aim to take maternity photos around 28-36 weeks pregnant, it is always nice when that timeframe doesn’t fall during the winter months in Maryland.  But if it does, you can always take your photos a little earlier during the month of November, or add a faux fur winter coat to your winter portraits.
4. Where to shop.  Maternity photoshoots are so popular, there are companies that rent dresses, like mamabumprentals.com.  This is a great place for inspiration.  They have a wide variety of styles.  You can even find gowns with long trains that we can work with during your session.  Your partner can hold it up in the air and let go while I snap photos as it flies in the wind.  You can also purchase your own gown from Pink Blush and Etsy.com.  I love choosing gowns, so ask me for assistance and I’ll be happy to help.  On a personal note, I ordered many outfits from Pink Blush during my last pregnancy.  Their clothing is beautiful and well made.
5. How will you dress your spouse and children? Mom, you are the star of the show for maternity portraits, so you get to pick your outfit first.  Please ask your husband to wear a solid color shirt.  If he wears plaid or a pattern, guess where our eye goes first when we view your photos? You guessed it; the busy plaid shirt.  And often times this is the largest article of clothing in the photoshoot – making it even more prominent. We like plaid shirts, but plaid is casual and maternity gowns are dressy, so they just don’t quite fit together for this purpose. A simple button down dress shirt or pullover solid color shirt will be perfect with your gown.  A pair of Khaki pants and voila! Easy! I usually will say neutral color shoes, like brown, tan, or gray for him. For the kids, you can probably get away with a soft pattern because their clothes are smaller than the adult clothing.   Little girls might wear a muted floral dress or a solid color dress with texture.  Personally, I’m always a fan of textured details.  And your sons can wear something similar to dad, but not identical.  They don’t need to match; they should simply complement each other.

I hope this is helpful for my maternity clients or anyone thinking about outfit coordination for regular family photo sessions.

Now about this lovely couple whose images are featured in this post.  I loved working with them because they brought a great energy to the session.  You could tell by their actions that they really care about about each other, and that shined through in their images.  During your session, my goal is to help you relax and feel at ease.  I do some light posing for some of the session, but most of it involves prompts and I let you interact with your significant other.  If you can laugh and have fun together, then I think that makes for a more enjoyable session. It is great to see your personality and genuine emotions in your portraits.