Happily Ever After
Preface: I am a sucker for love and a good love story and after meeting Jackie, she did not disappoint. Only just meeting her, I could tell that Jackie held the same enthusiasm for life and love as one of her favorite Disney characters. I love it when clients bring props, accessories, and other various items of their lives to their sessions and as Jackie showed me each item she had brought to tie into her boudoir photos, I could totally imagine her under the sea, in a sunken ship, flitting around from treasure to trinket, marveling about the various items she found excitedly.
I am all about details, and I could tell that Jackie was too. She told me all about her upcoming wedding and all the unique details they had carefully created for their special day. I could tell by the way she gushed about her fiance, how much she adored him and how much their mutually shared interests were going to be incorporated into their wedding day and she had brought some of those loves with her to include them into her boudoir photos and I was all about it.
Bridal Boudoir is the majority of my boudoir bookings. It is honestly the perfect gift you can give your hubby/wife to be on your wedding day. You really can't go wrong with presenting them with an album of photos that you had taken specifically for them, to remind your partner in life to be, how beautiful, confident, playful and sexy you are! It's also the perfect gift for you to remind yourself of those traits as well!
Superman and a trumpet? Yes!! Wedding bouquet made with pages from both of your favorite books??!! YESSSSSS!!! The special wedding comb you will be wearing in your hair the day you get married the includes a dinglehopper??!!!
HECK YES WE ARE USING THAT!!
I want your bridal boudoir photos to include as much of you and your love story as possible, so yes BRING IT ALL!!
And now.....onto our Guest Bombshell Blogger's post :)
Before doing a Boudoir photo shoot for my fiancé as a gift on our wedding night, I had several preconceived ideas of what to expect - such as: “I’m going to be so self conscious”, “it’s going to be super awkward”, “I’m going to have no clue how to pose” and “it’s going to be really cold”. What I did not expect was to spend several hours laughing, having an absolute blast and by the end of the time not even care that I was half naked and having my picture taken by a stranger! After finishing my shoot with Jen I can say that none of my worries before hand were accurate. From the moment I walked in she put me immediately at ease with her warmth and humor (plus her offer of a cocktail at 9am didn’t hurt either!). She even synced up to my iPhone and played my favorite playlist which made me feel even more relaxed.
Before my appointment Jen and I corresponded over email where I shared what I’d like to get out of my shoot. She encouraged me to set up a Pinterest board and share it with her so that I could post any photos or ideas I saw. A few days before my shoot she reviewed all of my pins and organized them so that we could both easily review them on the day of. It was a lot of fun getting inspiration from Pinterest and helped me to cultivate a bag full of props and outfits I wanted to bring with me that day. I enjoyed all of the communication beforehand and by the time I got to Jen’s for the shoot I felt like we already knew each other and I was already feeling more excited than nervous!
We spent the first several minutes talking about my upcoming wedding, my fiancé and just learning a little about each other. Taking while she had me lay out all of the outfits and props I’d brought really helped put me even further at ease. We looked through and discussed what my vision was for everything. My fiancé played trumpet in high school so I’d brought that with me. He also loves Superman so of course we had to throw some nods to that in. On top of that, I wanted to capture some shots for myself with my two favorite things in the world - coffee and a good book! Of course, I also wanted to incorporate my veil and bouquet and wedding shoes - this was my “bridal boudoir” shoot after all! Jen helped me get everything organized and went over some shots to help get me comfortable in front of the camera without going Full Monty first thing! She made sure I was comfortable and at ease every step of the way and before long I was sipping coffee and striking poses - quickly becoming comfortable with her, the process and the fact that I was wearing less and less clothes the more time passed.
At no point did I feel self conscious and Jen made sure to give me lots of guidance and tips on how to pose, where to stand and how to look so that I didn’t have to worry about doing anything but what she was saying. She made regular references to the photos I’d pinned to be sure she was getting all the shots I wanted and didn’t miss anything along the way. She was always asking if I had any other ideas I wanted to try and was open to whatever I suggested. She had several ideas in mind and used a variety of poses, backdrops and angles to capture them all. Her house is set up with many beautiful and romantic spaces to really provide the atmosphere and backdrop you want in a boudoir shoot. She helped make sure I looked my best, giving me pointers on how to hold myself, how to relax my face and where to put my hands so that I didn’t look like a surprised awkward giraffe falling onto a bed.
By the end of the shoot I felt like I was hanging out with an old friend, joking around and having a good time. She never made me feel rushed or like she was anxious to get on to the next appointment. She made sure I got all of the shots, with all of the props and all of the outfits I wanted before we wrapped up. She even let me take a quick look at some of the pictures and I was floored with how amazing they turned out. I thought “is that really me?!” I couldn’t wait to see the rest! Also - she keeps her house nice and cozy and I was moving around a lot, so I definitely wasn’t cold!
Within a few days I had my proofs ready to view and I couldn’t have been happier with them! What I loved the most was that I looked natural and like myself. She has a knack for capturing you in poses and ways that are sensual but also flirty and fun. She finds a great balance and helps brings out those sides of you in a way that doesn’t look fake or forced. The hardest part of the entire process was not picking every photo for the album because I loved them all! While I originally signed up for the shoot as a gift for my fiancé, I ended up getting as much out of the whole process as he will out of the finished product! I had so much fun and went home feeling confident, beautiful and energized! I’m so grateful to Jen for the fun and friendly approach she had and for her talent and creativity! I will absolutely be going back- next time with my future husband - for another round of boudoir shots and I can’t wait!
xoxo
Jackie Bombshell
