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!

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.

  • West Michigan Boudoir Couples Intimate Photography
  • Couple's Boudoir Session in Grand Rapids Michigan
  • Grand Rapids Michigan Boudoir Couples Intimate Photography

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!

Couple's Boudoir Session in Michigan

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
  • Grand Rapids Michigan Couples Boudoir Photography
  • Grand Rapids Michigan Couples Boudoir Photography
  • Black and White Michigan Couples Boudoir Photographer
  • Black and White Michigan Couples Boudoir Photographer

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

New Flower Wall for the Boudoir Studio

Flower Wall Spring Lingerie Photo Shoot (2)

I absolutely adore the Spring in Michigan when flowers finally start to pop out of the ground and bloom into beautiful colors completely erasing any memory of Winter and the snow. I’ve had the makings of this gorgeous flower wall around forever, but recently cabin fever hit me hard during the Michigan Winter and I just had to make something to remind me that Spring is right around the corner.

  • Spring Flower Wall Lingerie Photo Shoot (4)
  • Spring Flower Wall Lingerie Photo Shoot (1)
  • Spring Flower Wall Lingerie Photo Shoot (3)
  • Flower Wall Spring Inspired Boudoir with Roses

Measuring a bit larger than 4 ft x 6 ft this flower wall took a LOT of flowers. Each individually hand-placed onto the backing. I did add a few extra rose garlands for interest and depth, but it took a lot of time and the help of my amazing assistant, Maria, to get everything in place. But the end result is well-worth the time and effort it took. I love the soft but bold colors and delicate look of the boudoir photos I’ve taken so far using it as a backdrop.

Some of the cool effects you can see in these photos are from differently shaped prisms I’ve collected over the years. Prisms are a great way to add fun miniature rainbows or even reflections and blurred special effects into your photography.

Want to be photographed on this gorgeous flower wall? Shoot me an email at hello@michelleburroughs.com or use the form on my Contact page.

Tips and Tricks for Your Boudoir Photo Shoot

Tips and Tricks for a Boudoir Photo Shoot

Here are my top tips and tricks for an amazing boudoir photo shoot:

  • Wear loose clothing to your photo shoot.

    This will prevent any lines from forming on your skin. Drinking plenty of water in the weeks leading up to your shoot will also give your skin that healthy, glowing look.

  • Bring 3-5 Outfits.

    Black is always classic but don’t be afraid of beautiful colors that flatter your complexion. Different textures (satin, lace, leather, etc.) and details also add interest. Don’t forget a pair of black and/or nude heels and a nude thong for a white sheets set! I’ve got a whole blog post about what to wear if you want more inspiration: https://michelleburroughs.com/what-to-wear-to-your-boudoir-photo-shoot/

  • Wax/Shave a few days before.

    If you don’t usually bother than don’t think you have to for your shoot, but if you do, do it a few days before so you don’t have those little red irritation bumps. The same applies to a spray tan or facial! If you don’t usually do them, then definitely don’t do one before your shoot, but if you do, make sure to get it done a few days ahead.

  • Bring fun props!

    While we definitely want the focus to be on you, it can be fun to add a couple of props to your shoot. Your wedding veil, garter, masks, handcuffs, leather jacket, your significant other’s favorite team jersey or button down shirt, etc. If you have a favorite hobby or something that really defines you as a person, definitely bring it!

  • Fresh polish, please!

    It seems like a minor detail but in close up photos can really make a difference! No chipped nail polish! Either do without entirely or add a fresh coat before your shoot. Neutral colors work best but if you’re into the colorful look, just make sure they match the colors of your outfits.

  • Don’t worry about being nervous!

    Just be confident that you are an amazing creature and you will have a fantastic experience.
Found these tips and tricks helpful? Sign up for my 7 Top Tips email and and I’ll send you even more tips for an amazing boudoir photo shoot that will have you looking forward to getting your photos taken.

The Love Language of Touch for Your Boudoir Experience

Grand Rapids Michigan Boudoir Photography Studio | The Complete Boudoir Experience

Touch, taste, smell, feel. From walking into the studio, being pampered with hair and makeup, having a drink or eating chocolates, and getting into your lingerie – everything about the boudoir experience is tactile. Lingerie is made to entice: by sight, by touch, by feel. The color, the fit, the lace, the satin. Every piece of it is a sensual and tactile experience.

Throughout a boudoir photo shoot, you’re having fun, laughing and letting all of the nervousness fade away as excitement takes its place. You’re admiring, enjoying and loving on your own body. Feeling your hair and skin, playing with your lingerie or gripping fresh clean sheets and thick fur rugs. Relaxing and falling into the moment while creating beautiful photographs that you should be able to hold and touch and admire.

The end result, the remembrance of your experience needs to be as tactile as the boudoir experience itself. I offer albums with luxurious linen and acrylic and thick gorgeous pages to flip through, fun viewfinders to play with and laugh about, glossy metal wall art to hang on your walls and admire every time you walk past. The more time you spend touching something the more you fall in love with it. Don’t be afraid to fall in love with yourself and your sense of touch.

Email me today to learn more about a life-changing boudoir experience.