Why Boudoir?

I started my boudoir journey a few years before I started shooting boudoir. Like so many women, I was doing this for someone else; I was getting married and wanted to do something special for my fiance. Google said a boudoir session is what some women did and I thought it was a good idea. So, I searched the internet and found the first one that was close to me. I went with a cheaper option because I didn’t know what to expect and I didn’t have any kind of consultation beforehand, just a quick survey.

I went to the MAC studio in downtown Philadelphia because the session I booked did not include hair and makeup. After my makeup was done, I tried doing my hair and was feeling pretty deflated because it wasn’t doing what I wanted.

After my makeup was done, I did feel a little better but the nerves came back fast as I entered the hotel where my session was going to take place. I was greeted by two very nice women who showed me where I would change. Within minutes of meeting them, I was in lingerie feeling…very vulnerable. The photographer verbally told me poses, some of which felt very awkward and rushed. After about 30 minutes and two outfits later, I was finished. I felt like I had whiplash it all happened so fast.

The Reveal Of The Boudoir Session

Then I was hit with the reveal of my session and at that moment had wished I had been told prior about what everything was going to cost so I could have prepared better for it. I didn’t have the option of payment plans so I left with two digital images. I loved my images and seeing myself like that was enough to make me feel differently. However, the whole experience felt very inauthentic and cheap (which it was), and thought “I can do better than this”. Thus starting my exploration into the world of boudoir.

I took all the things I liked and all the things I hated and made something completely custom. A custom luxury experience that everyone could have. I made it so hair and makeup were included not only so it takes the edge off of trying to do your own or find someone to do it. But it also gives my clients time to get to know me for an hour before they have to expose their most vulnerable side to a stranger.

Loving Yourself In A Way You Never Have

I added a client closet because I brought stuff with me that did not even fit. It was too tight and after seeing the images I was mad at myself. I want women to feel comfortable and not have to spend a ton of money on something they’ll never wear again!

To fully inform the client, I do phone or email consults before the session to discuss payment plans available and to know what their comfort level is, and if they have any medical conditions I need to be aware of so I know what poses will or will not work. I want to do the poses with them instead of giving out verbal directions. I want every single person who walks through my studio doors to be comfortable and leave loving themselves in a way they never have before.

If you’re looking through this and thinking “ I don’t know if I can do this”. I’ve been there. I was you and recently postpartum and had extra weight on me. My body felt so different. It felt foreign to me. The stretch marks, my c-section scar, it all was not what I wanted to show off right now. I was getting married and I wanted to do it for my fiancé as a surprise. and what I did not know was how it would make me feel. Granted, some of them I hated. Not because of the photographer’s skills but of how I viewed myself.

So if you’re on the fence about getting a boudoir session, take it from me. Do the photo shoot. Buy all the pictures. Celebrate you, as you are right now, and make no apologies for it. Your future self will thank you. Contact me to learn more about this self-empowering portrait session.