Boudoir Photography: How To Prepare For Your Divas Experience
The first thing to say is that this blog isn’t a list of DO and DO NOT’S. They’re all tips. I stress that because the most important guidance I can give you on how to prepare for your Boudoir experience is this - have fun with it. A Divas Experience, if I do say so myself, is a proper adventure. Don’t get lost in the idea that you can approach this ‘wrong’ - you really can’t. We’ve had people forget to bring any outfits and they’ve still walked out with a massive smile on their face.
Having said that, these tips below are a very good guide. You don’t have to do listen to them but they won’t steer you far wrong and, in our opinion and expertise, they will help make your Divas experience even more memorable. So, without further ado, here goes…
How to prepare in the weeks running up to your Boudoir Experience
1. Use the Divine Divas Group
Over years, we have created a genuinely incredible community in the Divine Divas Group. Not only is it incredibly useful (just scroll for a few minutes and you’ll find client reviews, photos, questions being answered) but it’s also a relentlessly supportive place with nearly 3000 members, most of who have had a Divas experience. You can post any last minute wobbles, your celebrations, your story - anything you want to share - and you will always be met by women who understand what you’re saying, and back you. We cannot recommend it enough as a resource, and as a generally lovely thing to have in your life!
2. Don’t multitask during your Discovery Calls
I really cannot emphasise this enough. I know I said you can’t do a Divine Divas experience ‘wrong’, and I stand by that, but ignoring this tip would be the closest you’d get to minimising the benefits of the experience for yourself. These calls are SO important. They are YOUR time; it is a space created just for you, with questions tailored to you, with this sole motivation being to help you self-reflect and connect with parts of yourself that you love before coming to us. If you half-heart these calls, you are missing out on some of the most significant preparation you can do here.
They aren’t calls to do whilst multi-tasking. You need to focus, you need to give yourself room to properly breathe into that space that is being carved out for you. You can’t do that if your mind is 20% with you, and 80% with kids running around the room, or on the food you need to buy in Tesco.
Honestly, we get it. Personally speaking, and just from a sympathetic standpoint, life is bloody busy. Trying to find five minutes can be a challenge but, and not to sound like a cheesy motivational speaker, you deserve that time. We have 2-3 calls that are about 15-20 minutes long each. So, max, that’s one hour. And if you genuinely struggle with putting those boundaries in place or finding that hour before you come in, maybe that can be for your first challenge; your alarm bell that notifies you to the fact that you need to make yourself more of a priority.
So come to the calls with an open heart, curiosity and TIME, and you’ll really feel their full potential within the journey of your Divine Divas experience.
Top tip: putting work in before your boudoir experience in any wellness aspect is so powerful. It’s a beautiful experience to have alongside therapy, or whilst practising positive affirmations or any confidence-boosting techniques.
3. Do you want anyone at the Design Consultation with you? Ask them if you do!
Do you have a partner, a best friend or a family member that you want in the room with you as you see your photos for the first time? Maybe you want your partner in your room because you live with them and you want them to make the joint decision on where the artwork goes in the home? Maybe you want your partner there so you can have the joy of seeing them react to your photos for the first time?! Or, maybe you just feel you need the support, and decision-making skills, of your best friend there with you in the room? Whoever it is, that’s totally fine!! Bring them in! It’s better that you think to ask them before, rather than getting to the day of the design consultation and feeling like you’re stuck on a decision because they’re not there.
Just call us up and we can tell you your timings so you know at what time they can come join. Plus, if they come along it means you can go grab some lunch or dinner with them and make a big day out of it!
4. Create a moodboard for your photographer
One of the things that is included in your experience is a phone consultation with your photographer. This is your chance to get to know them a bit more, and to convey your sense of style. When I had my shoot, I just scrolled through Pinterest and the Divas Boudoir page and took a screenshot of any photos that jumped out to me. By the end, I had a sort of moodboard that really helped me see what sort of style I was after. I could then show my photographer and it helped them get a clear vision of what I was after.
If you’re not sure what you’re after and you’re happy to go with the flow, do not worry either. You don’t need to do this at all; your photographer is always happy to take the lead!
Here’s my moodboard! You’ll see here that mine was made up of a lot of drawings so they don’t even need to be photos!
5. Now onto arguably the best bit of prep… Outfits!
We all have a meltdown when it comes to outfits sometimes. A ‘that’s it, I’m not going’ moment in the mirror. So, don’t worry if you do. But, grab your pumpkins and your mice friends because, Cinderella you will go to the ball. If you’re struggling with self-criticism, get a friend or partner involved who are sure to nudge you back to objectivity and a place of positivity!
And when it comes to choosing what to wear, choose what makes you feel like YOU. Don’t feel you have to pretend to be something you’re not for Boudoir. You can wear lingerie, leather jackets, your favourite cos-play outfit… whatever! Just remember to go for it. Boudoir is your time to boldly be you, to break your boundaries and give into that little voice that wants you to push yourself and wear something you’ve always dreamed of but told yourself you couldn’t… Now is the time.
I could talk about this forever so for anyone who wants to read further on outfits, check out these two blogs! ⬇️
It doesn’t have to be lingerie either, you can wear what YOU want!
6. Think about your artwork!
I totally get that it can be easy to get swept up in the photoshoot, and for good reason. A boudoir photoshoot is a bucket list experience! By all means, do get swept up! Just don’t forget that at the end of the experience we will be creating artwork together and that this artwork will be the cumulation of everything. Your artwork is your reminder, the thing that you’ll look at every day and think ‘I’ve got this’. It is what means this experience isn’t just a one day feeling, it will be what empowers you when you need it most - and for YEARS to come. And, in our eyes, the artwork we create for you is a huge part of our expertise; it’s what makes us ‘Divine Divas’ - the fact that we tailor make one-off pieces of art for you.
So, talk to us on the phones. Look at our artwork page on our website. Walk around your home and visualise where you can see it. Think about WHY you want it there.
The benefit of knowing what you’re after (wall art, treasure box or album) is that we can have that in our mind during the whole experience, e.g say that you know you want something for the wall, and you have the perfect spot in your hallway but you don’t necessarily want everyone who comes to your house to know it’s you… well we can design for that! We could, for example, create a silhouette piece that makes you feel beautiful but everyone else sees as a beautiful piece of art that you bought in a gallery. We can tailor make something for you and your home.
Having this all in mind will help you choose in your Design Consultation too! But, again, if you’re struggling to know what you want until you see your photos that’s also totally understandable and your Design Consultant is there on the day to help with those type of decisions anyway!
An example of a silhouette!
7. The other thing to think about is how you want to pay for your artwork.
Everyone has a budget and we do our absolute best to cater for everyone, however it is worthwhile knowing that Boudoir is an investment. If you think about it beforehand it gives you a bit of time to tuck away a bit of money to treat yourself, or it gives you a chance to ask us about payment plans or move money around if you want to! This is not to say you need to know exactly what you want to spend before you come in, because that may change when you see the photos but think of it like any investment you make - sometimes it’s just nice to have it in mind before you go for it! And, as with everything else, please do feel free to get in touch to ask us any questions!
8. Phone the hair salon, the nail artist, the woman who does your eyebrows… you have a big day ahead of you!
Now by all means, you really do not have to do any of these things. If you never do this sort of thing before your Boudoir experience, you don’t need to start! However, it’s just a nice excuse! And it can make a difference. For examples, getting your nails done can really make a big impact on the photos. All the details add up and, in our eyes, anything that makes you feel good is a plus!
And, alongside that, let’s talk shaving for a second. This is totally your call. If you want to cover yourself in shaving foam and come out the other side smoother than you’ve ever been in your life, that’s fabulous. If you don’t shave, also fabulous. We’ve had plenty of women come in who don’t shave armpit hair or pubic hair and that’s your call. Its personal taste and your body; do what makes you feel comfortable and know that we don’t judge anyone ever.
(A heads up, it’s probably best to avoid the fake tan. If you get a dodgy tan, the lighting can really show it up!)
On the day of Your Boudoir Experience
9. Clean face, don’t put make up on
It’s a small thing but we just ask that you don’t arrive with make-up on! We ask this so you’re all ready for your makeover when you arrive.
10. Feel the fear and do it anyway.
98% of the women who come to us are nervous beforehand. Some people are frankly terrified. For some people, they’re nervous because this is so incredibly far out of their comfort zone. And for others, it can be because of past trauma or mental health difficulties like body dysmorphia or eating disorders. But no matter what the reason, or how nervous, the nerves are not a bad thing. It means you’re doing something important; something that matters to you. And those nerves will be part of what make you feel incredible after. So harness that energy, feel the fear, know that we’ll look after you, and go for it.
And if any of those nerves are coming from being unsure on anything or having any worries, just ask us! There’s no such thing as a silly question and we purposefully have a few calls with you beforehand so you have the space to both think of anything you want to ask AND ask it!
One bonus final tip: we have a great resource called the Divine Divas Experience Planner. It has every step of the experience covered, with every bit of information we can think of!
