Boudoir Recap

As I am working my way through the boudoir photos, I thought I'd talk a little bit about the process for those of you who haven't done them or would like to know more. I heard about the idea a couple of years ago and thankfully, the first couple photographers work I saw was classy and elegant and not at all trashy or pornographic. I loved the idea of gifting the husband with the photos for a couple of reasons. The first was that he had something that showcased how sexy I could be, even though he doesn't see me all glammed up too often, plus he has a little reminder to take with him if he's traveling. :) The second reason is that I loved the idea of capturing my body where it is now, post-college, post-youth but pre-pregnancy and pre-children. I was very careful to select photographers who I would feel comfortable working with. The first boudoir shoot I did was one that I worked on arranging for more than a year. The Regetis are a husband and wife photography team (though they have other associates) and the moment I saw some of their work and read through their process description, I knew they were what I was looking for. For my experience with them, the husband (Srinu) was behind the camera, while the wife (Amy) did all the arranging and posing and light adjustments, etc. She also helped me style my wardrobe, which leads me to my next part.

When I was preparing for the boudoir shoot I packed all the typical lingerie, sexy underthings, garter belt, corsets etc... But I also packed a couple of the hubby's dress shirts and ties, a few vests, short skirts and dresses, tuxedo, tight jeans, custom designed retro apron and lots of stockings and thigh highs. In addition to the outfits, I packed a ton of accessories:

• All different kinds of jewelry, including a few jewelry pieces that I designed specially to compliment a few outfits.


• Several vintage cocktail rings that I've been collecting for a little while. The fun pops of color really looked awesome with some of the outfits that I wore.


• I stopped by Target and purchased a couple fedora hats on sale, these ended up being really fun to play with and I used them in a lot of the photos!


• A black birdcage veil purchased from Something Bold.


• A couple different fascinators that I made out of feathers, silk petals and crystals.
  
• A TON of shoe options, including pointy toe stilettos in both patent and leather, patent leather booties, lace up oxford stilettos, several pairs in varied colors, black and champagne ruffle pairs, numerous pairs of boots in scrunch, suede stretch and patent leather varieties.

Obviously, I took a lot of stuff but I guess my point with all of this is that it's good to have a lot of variety and a lot of options. Plus, when talking with Amy Regeti, she said that generally a lot of the typical lingerie is not necessarily going to be the most flattering in the photos, as it doesn't always translate to showing off your "assets" very well. Needless to say, the two of us had a lot of fun rummaging through my suitcase and instead of shooting for an hour and a half we ended up shooting for more than 5! It was truly amazing working with them and it was quite the learning experience as well!

My second boudoir shoot was with Megan Elliott. This was more of a last minute decision. The amazing Amie Decker who did my make-up for my wedding was partnering with Megan for a boudoir marathon and it was Megan's first (but definitely not her last) boudoir marathon, really one of her first time's shooting boudoir! I was dying to work with Amie again and we had even talked about doing a boudoir shoot while she was making me pretty the day of the wedding! I had never worked with Megan before but the timing and price were perfect and the location where they were shooting was the very place where the husband and I honeymooned in the U.S. before leaving for Saint Lucia. Needless to say, when I heard all the details I was like, where do I sign up?!? At the time, I didn't know how many outfits I would get the chance to do with the Regetis so just in case we only had time for a couple of outfits, I figured I could add a little more variety with Megan. Obviously, this ended up being completely unnecessary due to the extended time with the Regetis but I had a blast with Megan and Amie nonetheless! I was so relaxed with them and I think that really showed in the photos. Since I was the last person for the boudoir marathon, Amie was even able to come out and help the style the shoot! Seriously I could go on forever!

Ok, enough chit-chat. I will leave you with just a couple of teasers from the Regetis (I don't have the disk from Megan yet) below, would you like to see more?

***All Photos by the Regetis, please don't copy or re-post these pictures without my permission***