8 Ideas for Your Baby’s First Holiday Season Photo Shoot

It’s your first holiday season with your little one, which makes the most wonderful time of the year all that more meaningful. Babies grow fast, so capturing early memories with your little one right now will mean more and more to you throughout the years.

You only get one first holiday, so nail your baby’s photo shoot by making sure you’re prepared by creating a plan in advance. Start with setting the scene, picking out your favorite baby holiday outfit, and, most importantly, having fun while bonding with your little one. 

Not sure what you want your little one to wear during their shoot? Not to worry, Gerber Childrenswear has plenty of adorable outfits for whichever direction you take your baby’s photo shoot!

1. Classic Holiday

Let’s start with Christmas’s traditional colors, patterns, and beauty. First, talk to your photographer about the different settings you can use. If they don’t have one you like, you can easily make your own backdrop. One idea is to set the background as a fireplace or a living room in front of the Christmas tree. You could even string floating ornaments on a fishing wire for a fascinating, three-dimensional shot.

Dress your little one in Onesies® brand bodysuits or some adorable newborn clothing with white and red stripes. If you want something dressier for your little one than a bodysuit, they could wear a baby boy outfit or baby girl outfit. There are plenty of options for babies of all ages to dress up for the perfect Christmas photo.

The easiest way to start is to pick your colors and theme. Do you want your photo shoot aesthetic to be elegant, or do you want to have some fun with some bright colors and patterns that highlight just how cute your bundle of joy is? There’s no wrong answer! After all, this photoshoot is all about bonding with your little one.

2. Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

Picture the beautiful glitter of freshly fallen snow and make it the inspiration for your baby’s photo shoot. If you want your little one to be a little dressier — say for a family photo — you can have the family dress in all white or mix the white with cream. You can dress your baby in a comfy front-zip sweater or a sweater dress with a tulle skirt for a fancy flair. Your photos will look crisp and fresh, just like newly fallen snow.

If you aren’t going to have snow, you can still make your own! Turn snowflakes into a prop your child can play with or an ornament they can hang on the tree. If you don’t have any snowflake ornaments, you can easily make your own with white paper or cardstock and maybe a bit of glitter.

3. Cozy Cabins Nestled in the Snow

Another idea would be to transform your photo shoot into a cozy cabin in the snowy woods. Think plaid, evergreen trees and boots. There’s nothing quite as cute as baby shoes. Gerber Childrenswear has cute little forest animal shoes that would go great with any outfit. So, dress your little darling in a plaid made-to-twirl dress or comfy cotton pajamas.

Button-up shirts are a great choice if you take a more formal picture — like something for a photo card. Pair it with canvas pants or a skirt, and your sweetheart will be dressed to the nines. No matter what style you are going for, Gerber Childrenswear has plenty of stylish clothing for every type of photo shoot.

If you want formal attire, you could choose a dress in a neutral tone with evergreen tree pattern all over it — and a matching headband. If you’re doing a scene with matching family pajamas or capturing your baby sleeping, a two-piece pajama set or zip-up footed pajamas would work perfectly for your photo shoot.

4. ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas…

If you want a specific Christmas photo shoot, set a scene where they’re asleep waiting for Santa to visit them while they nap. It will look like they sleeping while visions of sugar plums dance in their heads — nestled comfortably in Santa or snowflakes-patterned fleece pajamas.

Bring a basket or a cradle with warm fuzzy blankets, and make it seem like your little one is waiting for Santa to come down the chimney! Just don’t forget to leave out the milk and cookies. The pants and shirt or cotton pajamas in green, white and red would be charming and could fit the scene perfectly.

This idea is perfect for newborns, who are usually asleep or lying down in their photos. It will make the backdrop and setting seem natural and less staged than other types of photos. Add an adorable Reindeer Sleep 'n Play cap with antlers and cozy footed pajamas, and you’ll have the whole family saying, “Aww, how sweet!”.

5. Cute and Fun

After the formal photos, it’s time for the fun and goofy ones that you will look back on fondly for years to come. Clothe the best Christmas gift you've gotten in comfortable leggings and charming sweaters.

The fun doesn’t stop there; there are several other outfits you can choose. Choose from any of our many options that will have everyone laughing, smiling, and having a good time. Your little one might be a little camera shy, so bring out their beautiful smile with endearing outfits with cute animals and fun backdrop ideas.

6. Hello, Little Reindeer

Boost your sweetie pie’s cuteness level by dressing them up as delightful little reindeer: Try cute Gerber® Onesies® bodysuits with the face of an adorable baby reindeer and its tiny little antlers embroidered on the front.

If you want to get into the reindeer theme, you can dress your little one in a bodysuit, leggings and a reindeer cap set. Another option is green-and-red striped footed pajamas with a cute reindeer toy — this would be a great choice if you want to go with a Night Before Christmas theme for your photo shoot.

7. Snowbaby Fun

For a goofy and fun time, you can dress your little one up as a snowman and have paper mâché or foam snow in the backdrop. Ask your photographer if they can use any fake snow or felt to make your photo shoot into a true winter wonderland.

Then center your sweet pea in the scene adorned in snowman fleece pajamas in red and green or gray with a snowman pattern all over. There is also a soft non-footed pajama with an patterned front — perfect for newborns and babies.

8. Polar Bears Galore!

Another fun and colorful idea would be to go all in on the cute polar bears, one of the most recognizable symbols of winter. Is your baby’s best color blue? Try a polar bear romper with white polar bears and little snowflakes to tie the whole scene together. Another option for younger babies is the zip-up romper — a great outfit if you have to change a diaper mid-shoot.

If blue and white don’t fit your color scheme, choose a pajama set in red and green with a pattern of polar bears wearing a scarf. Talk about cozy! It would create the perfect classic Christmas feeling.

When planning your photo shoot, having more options and a higher number of pictures is better. That way, you have a better chance of the images coming out as you imagine. To make sure you have as many options as possible, you could always do a shoot with two different polar bear outfits.

The Holidays Are Coming Soon

The clock is ticking in the countdown to the holidays! So, start planning right away to ensure that the photo shoot for your baby’s first holiday season goes off without a hitch. Talk to your photographer now, set your theme and backdrops and pick out which type of clothing you’d like your sweetheart to wear. Whether it’s elegant whites and creams or the classic red, white and green, no matter your style, you can’t go wrong with these eight great photo shoot ideas for your baby’s first holiday season!

Image Credits

schab/Shutterstock.com

Olga_Angelloz/Shutterstock.com

happpy.designer/Shutterstock.com

Stoliarova Daria/Shutterstock.com

WinWin artlab/Shutterstock.com

Shop New Arrivals