Warning: Do not read this post if you are uncomfortable with talk of women’s underwear and “bathing-suit area” photos of the author.

Before blogging for Wedding Bee, I had no idea what “boudoir photos” were. The first time I heard them described, I thought the idea was really, really strange. I mean, why would your husband need sexy pictures of you if he’s just going to see you naked anyway?

I started googling to find out more about the tradition, and right there on the first page – BAM! – was a link to a Seattle boudoir photographer’s website, complete with boudoir session info. Her name was Kate McElwee, her work was GORGEOUS, and I was terribly impressed. After reading more about boudoir pics I was less skeptical and more intrigued.

As an amateur photographer, I often find myself behind the camera, which means I have barely any pictures of myself, much less sexy pictures – I’m most commonly photographed sweaty and rugged during a hike, bike ride, or race. Boudoir photos started to seem more appealing. And, when I thought about what to get Justin as a wedding gift, my mind started to come back to a particular image… a little, black, unassuming photo album filled with saucy pictures.

So, that’s what I made!

(Ignore the pillow fort – I ended up working on the book in the hotel room at Lake McDonald Lodge a few days before the wedding due to time constraints. Justin was napping on the bed because I told him not to look. The pillows were to make sure he couldn’t see anything if he did.)

Now, it’s not like Justin hadn’t seen me in lingerie ever before. In fact, he’s seen me in much crazier stuff than that. But the sweet, sexy simplicity is what made boudoir seem appealing.

According to Wikipedia, “The term boudoir comes from a lady’s private dressing room and, as a style of photography it often features implied nudity, undergarments or the hint of undergarments, or, more recently, full nudity.” I think boudoir photographs must have had their origins in more puritanical times, when it was uncommon for men to see their wife’s underthings before the wedding, and were perhaps meant to be a teaser for the wedding night. I also imagine that boudoir photos must have been popular during wartime as a reminder to soldiers of what was waiting back home.

Personally, I started to think of boudoir as immortalizing my “golden days” – because I’m sure that eventually, I won’t be quite as toned and taut… but not any time soon, thankyouverymuch.

So, less than 24 hours after I found Kate McElwee’s website, I booked a session with her about a month before the wedding. Her rates were good, her online portfolio was gorgeous, and she had a quick turnaround. If you visit her site, you can see samples of her work in boudoir and wedding photography. But be warned, the boudoir sections of her site are not entirely worksafe.

Kate’s a real character and we had a great time during the shoot. Her studio is in her house, which is quite comfortable, and her excellent sense of humor put me right at ease – even though I don’t have much modesty to begin with.

She shot for longer than our allotted hour, and I ended up with about a hundred beautiful photographs in color and black and white, which she sent to me on CD only a few weeks later. Here are a few of my favorites shots (click to enlarge, probably NOT worksafe):

For presentation, I purchased a black on black Kolo photo album off of Amazon, ordered matte prints from Adorama, got some adhesive photo corners, and made the photo book you see above.

And yes, he loves it!

Filed under: Honeymoon, Photos on November 13th, 2008