Category Archives: Bridal

Groom’s Gift Idea | Boudoir Photography Portland Oregon

Boudoir Bridal Session Tips Thoughts On Marriage No Comments

This handsome guy is my brother-in-law, Rod. I had the pleasure of photographing his beautiful Bride-to-be, Alison. She had the album of bridal boudoir portraits delivered to him on their wedding day. I can’t imagine a better Groom’s gift idea for the wedding day!

Groom's gift idea. This is a wedding image of a man receiving a boudoir photo album as his wedding gift. For more info about boudoir photography, visit byRayleigh.com
(Wedding photos used with permission by Kirsten Hammericksen)

I love what Rod had to say about the photos.

“A few months before our wedding, my fiancée went to visit Rayleigh to have some sexy photos taken. On our wedding day she completely surprised me with a boudoir photo collection book and had her maid of honor deliver it to me just before I saw her in her wedding dress for the first time. What a great groom’s gift idea! Thoughtful, memorable, and a clever way to help with any pre-wedding jitters. The photos were tasteful and classy and sexy. As you can imagine, it was a topic of much interest and discussion among the groomsmen.”

Groom's gift idea. This is a wedding image of a man receiving a boudoir photo album as his wedding gift. For more info about boudoir photography, visit byRayleigh.com
(Wedding photos used with permission by Kirsten Hammericksen)

“She was a little nervous about getting it done, but said that Rayleigh did an excellent job of helping her feel comfortable. Really allowed her to let her own personality show up in the photos, and I can tell. Good times and great memories every time I see that little book of fun! We undoubtedly recommend Rayleigh to anyone considering doing it. And if you haven’t considered it, you should. Take it from a recently married man, it was a great groom’s gift idea.”

–Rod L.

The Bride’s boudoir photos

Wearing white for boudoir photos always adds to the bridal feel and I love the lace robe that this bride wore. Lace adds interesting texture and looks so feminine.

You might also consider bringing some wedding day accessories, such as your veil, wedding shoes, and any special jewelry.

Groom's gift idea. Boudoir photography by Rayleigh. This is a backlit modest boudoir image of a woman in a lace robe on a chase. For more info, visit byRayleigh.com

Groom’s gift idea

Having the album delivered to your groom in his dressing room while he is getting ready for the wedding is a fun idea because it adds to the anticipation of seeing his beautiful bride walking down the isle and for the fun honeymoon you have planned together.

Another option, though, is to gift the album to your groom the night of the wedding, when you are alone and winding down from an amazing day. I really like that idea, too, because it’s fun to look at the photos together. You get to see his expressions as he looks at the beautiful images of the woman he cherishes.

Want to see more?

Click on the links below to see more photos on the following topics:

Bridal Portraits
Boudoir Portraits
Session Tips

Please contact me if you’d like to chat about your bridal boudoir shoot for a great Groom’s gift idea!

Bridal Boudoir Shoot

Boudoir Bridal Plus Size No Comments

I loved working with Miss K for her bridal boudoir shoot and I was so happy that she gave me permission to share her images online. Miss K is a strong military woman who cleans up so nicely! She’s absolutely gorgeous.

Bridal boudoir shoot. This is a boudoir pose of a woman in her wedding veil, lying on her tummy on the bed. Photography by Rayleigh. For more info, please visit byRayleigh.com

Miss K’s bridal boudoir shoot experience

This is what Miss K wrote on Yelp about her experience.

Why she chose Photography by Rayleigh in Portland

“I have to say that when I first started thinking about doing a boudoir shoot (after I saw Rayleigh’s booth at the Oregon bridal show) for my husband as his wedding gift, I felt a little weird about it. What was it going to be like? Is it going to be awkward and uncomfortable? Would taking someone with me make it more comfortable? How much am a going to be willing to show in front of a stranger?

I looked into a few different places, as you always should. But there was just something about all of her information, reviews, and obviously the photos that really put me at ease. She doesn’t just use the ‘best’ photos she has taken, because all of them are AMAZING! 

I live in Washington, but our wedding was in Oregon. So scheduling was going to be really hard, I thought, since I wasn’t going to be there more then a week before the wedding and needed to hide the whole thing from my fiancé.   She made it all work.”

What she wore for her boudoir shoot

“I took a bunch of stuff with me, more then I needed really. But some of the things I took were, an NFL jersey, a shirt of his, my wedding boots, an NFL sweater, heels, a few pieces of lingerie, some really cute bras and matching undies. I’m not very good at pairing outfits of this nature together, but she has some stuff too. She helped me decided what looked good together and pretty much told me what to wear, after I told her I had no idea what I was doing, lol.”

What she said about her bridal boudoir shoot day

“The shoot itself was really fun. The makeup artist was awesome as well. The shoot was relaxed and very comfortable. She asks you if you are comfortable with poses before asking you to ever do them. The hardest part about the whole thing is, what do I do with my hands, lol, hands are awkward, but she knows what she is doing. “

Bridal boudoir shoot. This is a close up boudoir image. Photography by Rayleigh. For more info, please visit byRayleigh.com

What she said about the portrait products

“After it was all said and done, I choose the 5×7 image box, and ended up buying two additional photos because I just could NOT narrow down to 10. They were just so awesome!

I’ve seen a few people complain on here about the price. I am a firm believer in ‘you get what you pay for’, and I definitely got my money’s worth with this. So if you don’t want to pay the price and get something that you will LOVE forever, than go somewhere cheap and get some trashy pictures.”

Enjoying her portraits after her bridal boudoir shoot

“One of the many great things about my pictures is that they are not trashy. They are very tasteful and beautiful. I showed a bunch of people and had no shame because they are that good. My Step Mom was even looking at them while I was out of the room, my dad walked in and said “Oh MY GOD! is that my daughter?!” haha, so she picked out a couple that were appropriate to show him.

I really CAN NOT say enough good things about Rayleigh and what she does. She is AMAZING! She was WONDERFUL about getting me in and processing all the pictures in time for my wedding! I HIGHLY recommend her business to anyone! Thank you so much Rayleigh 🙂 Hope I can make it back for another shoot sometime with my husband. “

Want to see more?

I invite you to check out more of my blogs about these topics:
Boudoir Photography
Bridal Boudoir Photography
My beautiful Plus size clients

For the privacy of my clients, I try to post only modest boudoir photos online. If you’d like to see my full boudoir gallery, please send me a message and I’d be happy to send you the private link. Let’s chat about your bridal boudoir shoot in Portland, OR!