I’ve always wanted to go back to Belize for our honeymoon where we could spend more time to explore the area and relax on the beach. While, I do still plan to do this one day (even though  it’s been a 6 year marriage and we still have not honeymooned, LOL) why have I made the reason to only go for our honeymoon?

I’d admit, traveling to another country, or anywhere other than the states, I tend to make a reason for it. It is outside my comfort zone, being somewhere totally foreign gives me some anxiety, but it shouldn’t have to be that way! Traveling there IS the occasion.

Thinking of doing a boudoir shoot is the same for a lot of women. We need to justify this investment with an occasion and weddings are just one of those reasons. And it’s not that you need to justify it, I think it’s that we feel like now we have a really good reason to do it and there really isn’t an excuse you can tell yourself to put it off.

S decided to do her boudoir shoot for her wedding and when she was looking for a photographer, the style, quality and feeling comfortable was top on her list.

After looking at numerous websites in the area, I was the most attracted to Julie's. I loved the style and quality of her photos, and when we had an introductory call, I found her to be someone I was comfortable with, which was obviously very important to me for such an intimate experience. I also really appreciated her empowering attitude!

My biggest fear was honestly my face. I do not normally wear a lot of makeup, but wanted to do more than usual for the shoot. I also was not a fan of my 'serious' faces in my engagement pictures, and since boudoir is definitely less smiley than most photo sessions, I was worried that between the extra makeup and trying to be seductive during the shoot, I would come off looking ridiculous. 

Thankfully, that didn't happen! Julie and her make-up artist worked with me to make sure I was comfortable with the makeup, and during the shoot, Julie made me feel super confident and comfortable, so I wasn't focusing so much on my facial expressions. When I got the photos, I thought that my expressions in them looked natural, not the forced serious faces I had in my engagement photos, and the makeup looked great!

The session overall was just fun! It felt great to be able to get dressed up (or down!) and take pictures that were all about me. The session made me feel confident and sexy, and kind of bad-ass, and Julie was a huge part of what made me feel that way.

Go for it! Julie is absolutely amazing, you will have a blast, and the final product is superb. Julie works with you every step of the way to make sure you are getting exactly what you want. She does a personalized photo reveal with all of her clients, where they go through all of the pictures to pick exactly the ones they want (which is tough because there are so many good choices). Her process is so much fun, and ensures that the final product is perfect.

Let’s chat!

I get asked a lot, “Why boudoir? Why would women want to do something like this?”

And I don’t have a “cut to the chase” short answer for that, only because Boudoir photography is so much more than beautiful portraits.  I sometimes say the photographs are actually the souvenir of your experience. An AMAZING souvenir, I must add.

I can’t say enough the importance of self-acceptance.  This doesn’t mean you have to be complacent of who you are and how you view yourself.  That’s an easy way out, sure.  But there’s always room for improvement whether it’s mentally, emotionally or physically, BUT you MUST love yourself along the way.

Changing yourself physically whether through a rigorous workout out routine and diet or going under the knife, none of that will matter until you change how you talk to yourself, treat yourself and view yourself. And being someone whose done all the diets and the workouts and I’ve realized that for myself, the reason they don’t stick is because I haven’t trained my mind to love and accept myself.  And that’s what the last 3 years have looked like for me.

I wrote a post about self-love last year after I went on a trip to Mexico with some friends and how that trip really helped me work through some self-negativity.  I actually wore shorts and shirts without sleeves – something I’ve NEVER done! And something else that stuck out in my mind was this instance I walked with my friend to a little shop at the pool with no cover up coming straight from the pool. I remember standing in that shop with just my bathing suit and feeling so exposed and embarrassed of my gigantic thighs, but there were other people walking freely in their bikinis with bodies like mine. I wasn’t judging them, I was actually in awe of them because of how confident they seemed and I wanted to be that too.

It’s been 3 years of baby steps to changing my perspective. By all means I am still a work in progress, but instead of bashing myself for taking this long,  I have to celebrate the milestones along the way. It’s the journey not the destination, right?

2 years ago, after some self-discoveries and realizations, I celebrated myself with my own boudoir session, big thighs and all, and I never felt so powerful.

All that to say, boudoir is a celebration of YOU, no matter where you are in your life. Women do this to change their negative self-perceptions and to learn to love themselves unconditionally. And to see themselves in way that others see them.  Plus who doesn’t want to get glammed out and where lingerie (or nothing) and feel beautiful?

The first photo on the right page is the photo sneak peek from my photographer and right away, I started bashing and loathing my thighs. But after looking at this photo more and more, I couldn’t help but see a confident, powerful and sexy woman in that photograph and because of boudoir photography, I was able to see that… FINALLY!

I'm so glad I did this boudoir shoot for myself because not only am I look back and remind myself of what I babe I am, but it also highlights a special time in my life and I'll always remember that time with this session. Thank you to my friend and awesome Atlanta boudoir photographer, Sarah of Own Boudoir. 

Talk to me, boo!