The Week Before Your Boudoir Photo Shoot: How to Prepare

Wondering the best way to prepare for your upcoming boudoir photo shoot?

Here are my top tips for preparing the week before your shoot:

7 days before your shoot: Drink plenty of water and gently stretch out your muscles.

Stretch, hydrate, and moisturize! Drinking plenty of water helps make your muscles more flexible, and it is going to reduce bloating and even plump and clear up your skin. It can even help you feel less tired! Under-eye bags? We don’t know her!

A boudoir session is a serious workout! I know it doesn’t seem that way, but holding the poses can really engage muscles that you don’t use very often! This can lead to sore and achy muscles the day after your shoot. The best way to avoid this is by starting to stretch prior to your session (a month before would be even better!) and drinking tons of water! The sooner you start these practices, and the longer you use them prior to your session, the better you will feel after! It doesn’t hurt to run yourself a nice, hot bubble bath after your session too!

Please AVOID trying any new skincare products or changing your skincare routine at this time. If you have a skin reaction, it will likely not have time to heal before your session.

5 days before: Get your roots touched up and wax (if you do).

Got roots? Now is the time to get those touched up! Five days before your session is a great time for a color refresh, but I don’t suggest trying a whole new hairstyle or wildly different color than you are used to.

What about “hair down there”? Natural is totally fine, shaving or waxing is also perfectly acceptable. However, trying something new in sensitive areas can sometimes cause a reaction like ingrown hairs, rashes, or red rash bumps. I suggest doing whatever you normally do! If waxing, 5 or so days before your shoot is normally ideal to reduce any prevailing redness or bumps.

2 days before: Get a fresh manicure (at a salon or diy) and shave and moisturize.

When you are thinking about your nails for your photo shoot- don’t think too hard! Sometimes simple and clean is the best! However, if you want your personality to shine, make sure you will love whatever color you choose 5 or even 15 years down the road! Natural nails are perfectly fine for your shoot, as long as they are well-maintained and clean. For colored nails, I suggest soft, neutral, or jewel tone colors.

If you prefer to shave, do so the night before your session to calm down any inflammation and make sure to moisturize your skin.

The day before: Layout and pack your outfits and accessories. Also, get plenty of rest!

It’s the day before and we’re so excited to have you in the studio! You’ve been planning out your outfits for weeks and now is the time to get them together. Layout each outfit separately so you can make sure you have all the pieces. Don’t forget the jewelry or accessories like stockings and shoes. If anything needs to be steamed or ironed, now is the time to do that. If you would like a copy of our packing list, visit our What to Wear blog post: https://michelleburroughs.com/what-to-wear-to-your-boudoir-photo-shoot/

Lastly, get plenty of rest the night before your shoot and wear loose fitting clothing to your session to prevent lines on your skin. Drinking lots of water helps with this too. Now get ready to have some fun!

Bridal Boudoir Photo Shoots are a Gift for You Both

Something Blue Lingerie Bridal Boudoir Photography on White couch (4)

How a bridal boudoir photo shoot is a gift for you both. The ultimate self care experience before your wedding day.

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Why You Should Consider a Bridal Boudoir Session

Grand Rapids Michigan Bridal Boudoir Photography Studio

How a bridal boudoir session can help you de-stress before your wedding day and get you ready to be in front of the camera

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Why You Should Consider a Couple’s Boudoir Session

West Michigan Boudoir Couples Intimate Photography

Boudoir photography isn’t just for women! It’s also a chance to reconnect and get intimate with your partner. Just like with women’s boudoir, you don’t have to be a certain age or a specific weight to do a couple’s boudoir session. All you have to bring is the love you share (and a few outfits) and a willingness to be open and vulnerable. All love is beautiful and you should celebrate yours!

Here’s Why You Should Consider Doing a Couple’s Boudoir Photo Shoot

Feel comfortable in your skin

One of the most wonderful things about being in a loving relationship is learning to see ourselves the way our partner sees us. As a gorgeous, sexy, amazing woman. Instead of focusing on “flaws” when you look in the mirror, you can remember that you are loved and perfect just as you are! And this goes both ways! Men struggle with body issues just as much as women—they’re just less likely to talk about it.

A couple’s boudoir photography session is the perfect way to see and reconnect with your beautiful self (and your partner!) in photos that remind you how great you two are together. Enjoying the intimate and vulnerable experience of a boudoir session will create greater intimacy and joy in your relationship as well as being a great reminder of how your partner sees you and how valuable that feeling is.A boudoir session can be an opportunity for both of you to feel more comfortable and at home in the skin you’re in and learn to love yourselves a little bit more.

Couple's Boudoir Session in Grand Rapids Michigan

Celebrate a beginning

Want to celebrate the beginning of your new life together? Engagement photography isn’t the only way. A couple’s boudoir session can be a beautiful way of capturing and celebrating the intimacy and love you share and a way to mark your new beginning as newlyweds. While you probably won’t share them with all your friends and family, you’ll treasure the photos that capture a very personal and intimate and sexy side of your love for each other.

You can also use boudoir to mark other milestones in your life, like the birth of a child or a major change in your relationship. Couples choose to do boudoir photography for any number of reasons or without a reason at all. Maybe you just want some intimate photos of how much you adore one another, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that!

Capture a love that has lasted years

Love and marriage can be challenging in a variety of ways, and it’s important to be grateful for the person who has stood by your side through it all. Celebrate your love with a couple’s boudoir session and remind each other how much you appreciate one another and how glad you are to have the other person in your life.

Reconnect with one another

Whether you’re going through a difficult transition in your life or you’re starting to feel distant from one another, a couple’s boudoir session can offer you an opportunity to reconnect and re-center your relationship around one another. Maybe you’ve been through a traumatic experience and just need to remember the love that has held you both together.

Whatever your reason, boudoir photography can offer a unique chance to be vulnerable and open with one another and to rekindle the intimacy you may struggle to feel at times.

Grand Rapids Michigan Couples Boudoir Photography

Remind yourself of your sexiness

Being sexy is not limited to a specific age or weight. And there is nothing sexier to you than the person you love. Boudoir photography allows you to celebrate your physical connection and the sexual attraction that drew the two of you together at the beginning of your relationship. Seeing couples celebrate the unique ways they love one another is one of the many joys of boudoir photography.

Interested in learning more about a couples boudoir session?

Contact Me and I’ll send you all the details!

Black and White Couple's Boudoir Photo Shoot

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Boudoir Photo Shoot Packing List

This boudoir packing list shows my top suggestions for what to bring to your shoot. In a previous post I covered what to wear to your boudoir photo shoot, you can check it out here: https://michelleburroughs.com/what-to-wear-to-your-boudoir-photo-shoot/ You can also watch my video below where I go into more detail and show examples of what to wear to your next boudoir shoot. Hopefully this boudoir packing list will make it easy to prepare for your upcoming photoshoot! Download it and fill it out as you shop and decide on outfits.

Plan to bring at least 3 outfits of different colors, textures, styles, fabric and fit and make sure you try them all on before your shoot! Nothing is worse than planning on a gorgeous outfit only to realize it doesn’t fit in a flattering way, especially if you order online where sizing can vary greatly between makers. Also pack a nude thong for a white sheets or implied nude set as well as a pair of closed toe heels (either black or nude).

Jewelry to match your outfits should be kept to a minimum to not distract from your beauty. Keep it simple and classic. You do not want to see large dated necklaces and bangles in your photographs later on. The same applies to props. They should enhance rather than distract from you. A couple of props is fine if they hold special meaning, but resist making them the focus of the shoot. Once you’ve tried everything on, you are all set! Just relax and get ready to enjoy your shoot!