What to Wear: Maternity

You’ve scheduled your portrait session and suddenly you begin to wonder what outfits you should wear. Outfits can make or break a portrait session and shouldn’t go overlooked. After all, you want to look your absolute best! For this reason, I decided to create a series titled, “What to Wear,” in which I will give you ideas with regards to your outfits for each type of portrait session - Engagement, Family, Maternity and Lifestyle Newborn.

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Maternity Portrait Sessions

Most clients choose to purchase their maternity outfits from Amazon (great variety) or borrow one of the dresses I have available for client use from our Client Closet. Whichever outfit you choose, there are some things to consider to help you look your very best.

flattering silhouette

The number one thing to look for when planning what to wear for your maternity session is an outfit that is flattering for your silhouette. You want to look pregnant with a cute, round belly. Some characteristics to look for are:

• a dress/top that shows off your cute tummy - either tight at the top to just above the belly OR tight at the top and tight over your belly

• a dress/bottoms that are full length

color

You want to have portraits that show off your beautiful baby bump so make sure to choose a color that you love and are comfortable wearing. You want to feel gorgeous and confident! Another consideration should be the gender of your child. Most clients go one step further and take the baby’s gender into consideration when choosing a color to wear to their maternity session.

Patterns and texture

Solid colors are timeless. Many maternity dresses include texture with the solid color, such as lace or crepe fabrics. But patterns can be an amazing choice as well. With that being said, patterns can by a tad tricky. You need a nice, medium sized pattern that isn’t too busy. If you choose something too small, it can give the appearance of being too busy and is a distraction to the viewer. If you choose something too large, it is not flattering.

dress for the season

Consider the season when choosing your maternity outfit. If it is hot outside, choose a breathable fabric. If it’s cold outside, look for long sleeves and add a cardigan to your look. You can wear it off your shoulders for your portrait and then wrap it around you to warm up.

avoid matching your family

The key here is coordinate, not match. If you are wearing the same colors, you will blend together. It can seem logical to have everyone wear the same color shirt, but it really does make everyone blend together for those portraits when everyone is close to one another. There are so many great ideas on Pinterest about coordinating outfits for photo sessions.

bring an extra outfit

An extra outfit is great to give your gallery some variety. While a nice maternity dress is great for those more posed, formal images, an outfit that is more casual that truly defines your style is great for capturing you in a more natural state.

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client closet

We have several dresses to choose from within our Client Closet. If you don’t see what you’re looking for there, feel free to let me know what you are looking for. Sometimes I will buy the dress from you so I can add it to my collection.

The use of one dress is included in our “Just the Bump” maternity session. All dresses are cleaned after each use.

“No one else will ever know the strength of my love for you. After all, you’re the only one who knows what my heart sounds like from the inside.”

— unknown

The Miracles Grow

September 1, 2018 William and Victoria said, “I Do,” in front of many family and friends at their wedding in Temple, Texas. You can read more about their love story and their wedding day here.

Fast forward to March 30, 2019, another special day involving their family and friends. This time they are gathering to celebrate William, Victoria and Baby Liam with a baby shower in Groesbeck, Texas. But first, they had their maternity portrait session scheduled for that morning. And the weather was calling for showers and strong winds as a cold front was projected to move into the area. But you wouldn’t know that based on the sky that particular morning.

As I was driving to the location for the session in Personville, Texas, I kept thinking to myself that the day was absolutely beautiful and William and Victoria would have a perfect conditions for their session. The sky was cloudy, but the clouds were just thin enough to filter the warm morning sunlight. No sweater or jacket was needed. The wind was not blowing. Simply put, it was a picture perfect spring day in Texas!

I believe all babies are miracles. William and Victoria’s life is a daily reminder of a miracle. When William was 22 years old he had a brain aneurysm. He was in a coma for two weeks. Slowly he began to heal and nearly one month later he spoke for the first time…on Victoria’s birthday. And one week later he was discharged to a rehabilitation center where he had to learn how to walk, talk, write and eat again after the aneurysm and strokes from the brain injury. William is now working on earning a degree through Texas State Technical College.

Nearly four years later, William and Victoria are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their baby boy. A miracle.

From looking at these maternity portraits you wouldn’t believe it, but that storm they were predicting rolled through about five minutes after their session ended. It began to rain and the cold wind blew in! Miraculously, we were able to finish their session before the storm hit!

Miracles. They surround us each and every day. When I’m around William and Victoria I am reminded of that. And for that, I am thankful.

“If you don’t believe in miracles, perhaps you’ve forgotten you are one.”

— unknown

New Year, New Package!

Last week's blog post mentioned a new package that would be introduced.  The time has come for its arrival!  We are excited to announce our "Watch Me Grow" Package! 

Our "Watch Me Grow" Package is designed to document the first year of your child's life through several photography sessions at different stages in their development.  This package will include five sessions during the first year - maternity, newborn, six month, one year, and cake smash.  Each session will include a product credit that may be used towards prints and/or digital images.  The choice is yours!

The Maternity Session is typically done when momma is at least seven months pregnant.  The session includes a $25 product credit.  We understand that some mothers do not wish to have a maternity session, therefore we are providing the option to exchange the maternity session with a family session. 

The Newborn Session is typically done when the baby is about ten days old.  The session includes a $50 product credit.  This session can be done at your residence if you wish, however we will be limited as to what items we can bring.  Some items such as posing beanbags are rather large and difficult to transport.

The Six Month Session is a fun session!  Babies can typically sit up on their own or with minimal assistance at this stage.  They laugh and smile....a lot!  This is such a fun age!  The session includes a $25 product credit. 

The One Year/Cake Smash Combo Session is so much fun!  We begin by taking photos for the one year portion of the session.  Often times parents change outfits and request a certain theme to match the child's upcoming birthday party. Some parents even request a certain setup for party invitations.  After the one year portion of the session, it is time for CAKE!  We get the setup ready for the cake smash portion of the session while you get your baby ready. The cake smash portion can go very quickly or it can take a long time...it all depends on the child and what they decide to do with all that cake!  After the cake smash portion of the session, we move onto the bath.  After all, do you want your child in the carseat covered in frosting??  This session includes a $40 product credit and a personalized 8x8 storyboard of the cake smash.

After all of the sessions have been completed, you will choose your favorite image from all the sessions.  This image will be given to you as an 11x14 canvas gallery wrap. 

Our normal policy for booking a session requires a 50% deposit with the remaining 50% due anytime before the day of the session.  However, since this package includes so much we are offering a payment plan for those that would like to take advantage of it.  A deposit of $89 will be due at the time of booking, with the remaining amount due divided into 4 equal payments of $89.  Each of these payments will be due at the time of each session. 

We are looking forward to watching your baby grow in front of our camera! 

Advice for New Parents - What I Wish I Could Say to My Expecting Clients

Let me begin by saying that I LOVE maternity photo sessions!  There is an unexplainable energy that gives you a certain "high" to be around.  The mom is glowing.  The dad is so proud.  They are both so excited, maybe a little scared, but definitely looking forward to the unknown.  There is so much love surrounding these two people and the little baby that they created through that love.

With that being said, I always wonder to myself, "I wonder if this beautiful couple is ready for reality?"  The reality that everything is not as cute and cuddly as we often perceive it to be.  That got me thinking about this blog post - advice for new parents that I wish I could tell them.

As I began working through Trevor and Jezebel's images from their maternity session, I could hear my small children in the background and I thought to myself, "Kids, just give me a few more minutes..."  Thoughts like this prompted me to look up some one line pieces of advice for new parents and I stumbled upon an article that had some great - and extremely accurate - pieces of advice that I'd like to share. 

Here are some of my favorites:

1. When people ask if your child sleeps through the night, just lie and say yes. It helps you avoid all that sleep advice. -Nancy

SO TRUE!  I wish I would have known about this "trick" before I had children! 

2. It’s okay to mourn your old life and think, “Dear God what have we done!” -Lindsey

Again, SO TRUE!  I have thought this several times, although I have never vocalized it until now.  There are times that I miss it just being in the bed by myself...without kids.  I miss laying in the bed, snuggled up under the covers, eating all the chocolate my stomach could handle, and watching movies.  Those quiet times are gone for now...not gone forever however.  I love having kids crawl into the bed with me, but there are times I think I'd love to watch a movie without interruptions a little bit more.  Which leads me to number three.

3. You’re not a bad mom if you don’t love every single stage of child-rearing. -Susan

There are parts of raising children that I do not enjoy.  Potty training is a PERFECT example!  And in the middle of the potty training stage, remember...

4. This too shall pass. -Bree

Even during those times of success, there will be setbacks.  It's easy to become frustrated, but remember...this too shall pass.  It is just one stage in the child's life.  There are plenty of other stages that you will enjoy more than you ever imagined!

5. Ask yourself whether what you are upset about will be important in five years or even in five minutes. -Nancy

I try to remind myself of this often when something happens, such as spilling a 6 ounce bottle of expressed breastmilk!  At that moment my world just ended as I knew it.  Then the next thing happens and I don't even remember spilling that liquid gold.  Learn to let the little things go and give it the "Test of Five" before you act on it.

And last, but not least....

6. You’ll never look back and wish you held your baby less. -Christine

Never believe any of those comments about spoiling your baby by holding them too much. Soon enough they won't want to cuddle and it's true, you will never look back and wish you held your child less.  You will wish you held them even more.

Trevor and Jezebel, I sincerely wish you the best for your growing family.  The love you two share is just going to grow more and more each day as you guide your baby girl through this crazy thing we call life.  There will be difficult times.  There will be times that you feel like crying - and that is okay - CRY!  But I promise you, the laughter and love that you are going to experience is SO going to be worth every second of it.  I'm looking forward to capturing memories for your growing family in the years to come.

To read the complete article with 21 words of advice for new parents, check out: http://coolmompicks.com/blog/2013/08/26/best-parenting-advice-for-new-parents/

What are some words of advice that you'd like to give to the soon-to-be-parents?  Feel free to leave a comment below.