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A bridal boudoir session is ALWAYS a good idea. We love working with brides! The months leading up to your wedding will be some of the most special, memorable moments of your life. There’s no better time to capture your beauty and confidence on camera. Plus, when you book a boudoir shoot, you’ll give yourself and your future spouse the gift of a lifetime!



Here are five reasons you should book a bridal boudoir shoot if you’re on the fence:


1. To see yourself through someone else’s eyes.

We are all our own worst critics, and what makes boudoir photography so powerful is getting the opportunity to see yourself the way your future spouse sees you, instead of through the critical eyes you usually see yourself through in the mirror. Getting all glammed up can be a huge confidence booster, and your boudoir session will probably be one of the most glamorous days of your life (second only to your wedding)! Capturing that glam - and the resulting confidence - on camera will give you images to look back on for a lifetime that will remind you how fierce, sexy, and powerful you are. Boudoir photos are especially great to look back on when you’re having days where you don’t feel so cute!


2. To get some practice in front of the camera.

You’re going to be photographed from every angle on your wedding day, so it’s not a bad idea to get some practice early on. Being on camera can be uncomfortable when you’re not used to it, and practicing for your wedding day in a boudoir setting is a more low-pressure way to get comfortable with fewer eyes on you. Your boudoir photographer will be totally focused on making you feel good and coaching you through posing your body and face; on your wedding day, your photographer is typically more focused on wrangling the wedding party. Consider your boudoir shoot to be a one-on-one coaching session before the big day.



3. To feel empowered.

One of the biggest misconceptions about boudoir is that you should wait to book your shoot until you reach your “goal weight” or that you need to walk in the door feeling super confident to book your shoot. That’s a total myth! When you see your boudoir images, you’ll realize you are beautiful exactly as you are, and that you never needed to change in the first place. Most boudoir clients walk into their sesion as a bundle of nerves, only to walk out feeling totally transformed! You’ll feel even more confident on your wedding day after having your boudoir experience and seeing how gorgeous you really are.



4. Pre-wedding is the perfect time to book a boudoir shoot.

Oftentimes, when you’re a bride-to-be, you’re doing more beauty treatments than usual to prepare for the big day - why not capture all that hard work you’re putting in while you’re feeling your best on camera?! Plus, if you receive lingerie at your bridal shower, you can take some beautiful photos with your new pieces. Your boudoir photoshoot will be all about you, which might be exactly what you need in those hectic few weeks before the wedding day. When you come to the boudoir studio, you will spend the day getting pampered while drinking mimosas or mocktails, all while the boudoir team hypes you up - and you’ll forget all about family drama and seating charts in the process!



5. Your partner will love it.

Tradition dictates that brides and grooms should exchange gifts on the big day. Whether you want to stick to tradition or not, there’s no denying that your future spouse will be thrilled to open a beautiful album filled with sexy photos of you! Your boudoir photos are a gift that you will both treasure forever.


Are you a bride near Portland, Oregon or traveling here soon? Book your bridal boudoir session in our downtown Portland boudoir studio now!


I love the whole aesthetic of Valentine’s Day, so I was over the moon when my longtime Instagram friend Ari Frye wanted to do an over-the top, all-pink-everything Valentine’s Day styled boudoir shoot with me! We’ve been talking about doing Ari’s boudoir shoot forever, but I’m so glad that we waited until Valentine’s Day to make it happen. We had so much fun creating this dreamy pink scene and Ari was game for all of my wild ideas!



THE LIGHTING

To set the mood for a glam, V-Day date night vibe, we shot this session at night. Usually I work with the natural light from the big windows in my downtown Portland studio for boudoir shoots. I was a little nervous to work with studio lighting for this styled shoot, but I absolutely love the way all of the photos turned out.



THE DECOR

Typically, the focal point in my boudoir studio is the big, shiny, gold West Elm bed that we use in pretty much every boudoir session. For this shoot, we decided to take the studio bed apart and put the mattress on the ground. We replaced our usual white bedding with pink satin sheets, covered the walls with hanging fairy lights, and lined the windowsills with flameless candles, which made the coziest, most romantic aesthetic.



THE GLAM

Our makeup artist did a dramatic hot pink eye makeup look and we went with big loose waves for the hair. I love that so many of the photos in this boudoir session ended up looking like vintage Playboy covers! The pink satin sheets, fluffy pink teddy, and the baby pink Pleasers shoes looked straight out of a 70s glamour shoot.



GET THE LOOK

I’ve linked all of the lingerie and decor that we used to create this glam, romantic, all-pink 70’s vibe below. Scroll all the way down to get the look!



PRODUCTS WE USED:

Most of these products are available on Amazon. Click on an image to shop each item.



Would you do an evening boudoir session? Let me know what you think of these Valentine’s Day shots!


Follow Me @ciarrapdxboudoir

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