NEW FAMILY PICTURES

FINALLY!  I feel like I have been waiting FOREVER to get family pictures taken. Last year made it a priority, and I'm so incredibly happy I did (especially before Kaleb grows up any more!)

 

Even though I have wanted them for a long time, it's always felt like one of those big luxury expenses. You know the ones that make you feel guilty for spending the money on. You know the type of purchases that you took the money out of the "fix the roof" or "new tires" budgets?

 

Luckily enough, I found a few ways to splurge on this purchase without breaking the bank. Here are my tips!

 

1. Find all the amazing photographers in your area. Like them on Facebook, follow their blogs, and sign up for their newsletters. Most of photographers do regular sales and promotions, and that usually means BIG savings for you! Look for deals called "mini-sessions." These are often just 30 minutes and a handful of pictures, but do you really need 50 pictures to choose from in the same outfit on the same day? For me I'd much rather do mini-sessions more frequently, and have a wide range of years displayed in my home.

 

2. Look for deals that come with the digital copies. This way you can print slightly lower quality prints at Costco or even Persnickety Prints for friends and family members that request them. You can even use them for next year's Christmas card (phew! that's one thing off the list!) For us, we did them pretty close to Christmas, and opted to print several copies and frame them as gifts. Really, this saved us a lot of time and money for Christmas this year.

 

3. Outfits.... (I'll admit, I might have bought a few of our pieces), but really you don't need to go crazy on purchasing new items for the shoot. The best way to remember the family is their best selves. Find coordinating outfits that you already own instead of buying new matching ones. I created a Pinterest board to organize all of the ideas in one place.

 

4. Frames do NOT have to be expensive! REALLY, IT'S TRUE! Rather than printing your pictures in a custom size and have them custom framed (bank breaker for sure!) Print them at a standard size and hit up your local Target, Ikea or Michael's (bring your coupons too!) Pre-designed frames in standard sizes are not only cheaper, but also come in lots of coordinating styles which help build your perfect gallery wall.

 

By saving money on prints, frames, outfits, and even Christmas presents we made this session very affordable. It was the best investment and Christmas present I've gotten in a long time.

 

Shout out to Kamieo Photography for such an amazing job! We'll be back for sure!

 

all photographs in this post are copy written @KamieoPhotography.com