child lights candles in a neutral holiday centerpiece while mother watches

Cozy Holiday Lifestyle Session in Charleston

Documenting your family through the years is so important, but it’s extra special when the photos are in the place you do life together, your home. Of course take those beautiful outdoor portraits, but think about a lifestyle session where you are YOU. What does your family love to do? Bake cookies (or eat them!)? Make that the theme of your session and capture a real picture of your family at this stage of your story.

The M family invited me into their home for a session exactly like this. They baked cookies, snuggled under their favorite blankets, and shared a meal at their family table.

Christmas tree decorated with gray and blush gifts and neutral theme

family bakes cookies together at their kitchen island all wearing pajamas

mother helping son bake cookies in the kitchen in their jammies

black and white image of cookie cutters and baking tools scattered on a marble countertop

father and mother hug while their son bakes cookies

close up of a little boy's toes as he stands at the kitchen island to bake cookies

mother helps son cut cookies with a cookie cutter while dad smiles and watches

mother helps son roll out cookie dough while father smiles and watches

close up of family's hands as they use cookie cutters to cut cookie dough

christmas cookies on a tray with hands rolling dough in the background

mother hugs her son while he laughs and snuggles both wearing jammies

family laughing together while mother tickles her son

table set for three with neutral christmas place settings white ivory smoked glass and black centerpiece

angel placecard holder with mama place card and blush wax seal

glass bottle of Sassanach whiskey on a bar cart with crystal glasses

husband and wife pour drinks at home in their pajamas

black and white image of a hand lighting a candle

Neutral Christmas place setting with pink wax seal and wooden angel

family of three holds hands while they say grace around a holiday table

black and white close up of holding hands

neutral Christmas table centerpiece with blush and ivory candles and a black base

wooden christmas sign hung on twine on a christmas tree

family decorates the christmas tree with blush and gold and green ornaments and wooden christmas sign on twine

gifts wrapped in gray snowflake paper with rose ribbon and blush wax seals

family cuddles together sitting on the floor in front of their christmas tree

boy has a huge laugh while laying under a blanket by his dad's feet

husband and wife sit on the floor together beside the christmas tree

I can’t decide which part of the day was my favorite (probably when they baked cookies), but I loved all of the snuggly, joyful moments between them.

Ideas for your own at-home session:

Cook or bake together! What is your family’s favorite thing to eat or make together? Pizza? Cookies?Make whatever you love!
A cozy session in bed! Snuggles and blankets, plus maybe a fun pillow fight for the whole family. Sessions like this are perfect for staying in jammies! (also an excuse to get cute jammies for the whole family, dad too!)
Take everyone out to the backyard and have a cookout! The kids can run like wild things, and parents can enjoy each other while grilling and sharing a drink.
Do a craft together!
Play a boardgame, or a non-boardgame (ie. hide and seek, tag, etc)

There are no bad ideas. The whole premise is to do something that you would normally do together as a family. These photographs are all about preserving your family’s stories. Remember that time you were baking together and Dad knocked the whole bowl onto the ground? Or little brother kept sneaking cookie dough? Or remember that time you took every blanket in the house into the living room and built a fort? Those are the memories that light up conversation at the dinner table twenty years down the road, how beautiful to have them documented through photographs.