DIY Boudoir

When I was planning my wedding in 2008, I did what every bride would do, browsing through the ‘net, grabbing any picture that inspired me of my wedding day onto my desktop, trying to decide what I would like to do or have for my wedding, what would fit in my budget and what wouldn’t. And one of the things I wanted to do was to make a boudoir album as my gift to my husband-to-be. I even had a folder dedicated for boudoir inspiration. But it was one of those things that got pushed in the back of my mind while other things take the forefront, like altering my dress, confirming vendors, making my programs, etc. Before I knew it, it was a few weeks before my wedding day and I had not booked any photographer to do a boudoir session with me and there was no way I could spend another couple hundred dollars on one (without my fiancé knowing!) because by that time we’re already stretching every dollar we have.

But to be fair, the lack of time and money wasn’t the only reason why I hadn’t scheduled a boudoir session. My husband (fiancé then) is a traditional kind of guy, definitely clueless about wedding trends and etiquettes, and he would have no idea brides give their husbands boudoir albums all the time! So I’m picturing him opening his gift on our wedding day, and finding a sleek album covered with my indecent pictures, looking all sexy and scandalous, but then he’d know the photos were professionally done, and he would ask himself, wait a minute, who took these indecent images of my wife?? LOL! That thought never escaped me! So subconsciously, I think that’s why I didn’t get a professional photographer to shoot my boudoir pictures.

But one day, I was just at our apartment alone, my fiancé was at work all day, and I thought to myself, hmm, what if I try my hand at doing my own boudoir session? And being the curious girl I am, I pulled out all his photography equipments from the closet and started setting up the tripod, camera and backdrop. (side note: he was into photography at one point, but he got over it and passed all his equipments down to me for my own pleasure, so it was really mine anyways). And this idea is really handy after you’ve had your multiple bridal showers. Who could wear all those sexy lingeries and panties on your honeymoon anyway? (don’t answer that)

So for my boudoir session, I already had a red armchair from IKEA, a red shade lamp from Target, and this lush deep red velvet fabric for my backdrop around the apartment. After setting up my camera on the tripod and attached the automatic shutter button, I was ready to go!

One of the challenges with doing my own boudoir session was that I was all alone, and there was no one to tell me to look this way or that way, or to pout my lips, or make me laugh and capture those moments when I actually look cute and sexy. So I had to make myself laugh or think of my husband’s reaction when he sees the album. At some point, I felt a little silly doing it, but it was all for good fun.

I had no idea how I looked until I uploaded the images to my computer. There were definitely a bunch of outtakes that didn’t make it into the book, but I had a good selection, enough to make an album. I used Photoshop to edit the colors a bit, bump up some of the contrast and used Blurb to make my album. In about a week, I received my boudoir album and was quite happy with the product!

On our wedding night, I gave my husband a Victoria’s Secret box with my name on a piece of paper stuck over Victoria’s (so it reads: Henny’s Secret). LOL! When he opened it, a bunch of feathers flew out and he found my DIY Boudoir Album. The reaction? He blushed, he smiled, and we laughed together when he heard my story.

If you have your own camera (preferably an SLR camera), a tripod, some cute props and sexy outfits, and a good block of time where you can do this, I would totally recommend doing your own boudoir!

Would you consider doing your own boudoir session?