I am a Christian, completely devoted to my Savior, Jesus, and I am also a beauty and boudoir photographer. Every once in a while I’m asked about how I can be both. As the boudoir photography industry becomes more popular, a lot of Christians are asking, “Should a Christian woman do a boudoir shoot?” I wanted to share with you some of my thoughts on this.

What is a boudoir shoot?

Boudoir is pronounced Bu-dwah or Bu-dwar. It is technically defined as, “a woman’s bedroom or private room for dressing or resting.” So in the photography world, that involves a portrait shoot that a woman does privately for her man, usually in lingerie.  Oftentimes, the motivation for a shoot is to create a gift for your husband, however, you’ll find that a portrait shoot with Photography by Rayleigh is a very pampering experience. It creates a space for you to feel feminine, lovely, and even sexy. Women spend far too much time comparing themselves to other women they see in magazines or on TV. Often feeling “blah” about themselves. Especially tired mommies who feel more like a mom than a woman, most times. Do you relate to any of this?

Men are visual.

God created men to be highly visual. They can’t help it, it’s the way they were built. They are bombarded with images of sexy woman all the time and no matter how much they try to look away and avoid lusting after the women in those images, it’s inevitable that some of those images are going to get in, and stay there, and even pop up from time to time. How great would it be if his memory was chalked full of lovely images of his wife and the majority of the images popping up in his mind were images he could cherish and feel good about?

A full marriage.

When your man chose you to be his wife, he, hopefully, chose you based on your Christ-like qualities like patience, kindness, humility, faithfulness, honor, trust, truth, and hope. Those are the basis of the truest love, as we see in 1 Corinthians 13. As a bonus, God wants us to also enjoy our spouse’s body and to enjoy physical intimacy. 1 Corinthians 7:3 In a healthy, Christian marriage, a woman should feel sexy, desired, and appreciated for all aspects of herself, including her body. Even with it’s imperfections. When a woman doesn’t feel good about the way she looks, she doesn’t bring to the marriage that needed energy that can really help fuel physical intimacy. A glamourous photoshoot can give a woman that much needed confidence. It’s really amazing what a little sexy confidence can do for a marriage.

Should a Christian woman do a boudoir shoot?

As you can tell by now, I’m a fan of boudoir shoots. Many of my Christian friends have enjoyed giving sexy photos to their husbands. However, it’s also true that I do have a small number of Christian friends who believe that wearing lingerie in front of someone who isn’t your husband, including a photographer is something to avoid. I love and respect those people and their thoughts on this. So I think this is just something for each woman to pray about and see what God is telling them about how to answer this question.

Maybe a beauty shoot is more up your ally. If you don’t feel comfortable wearing lingerie for photos, I 100% get that. You absolutely don’t have to wear lingerie in your portraits to feel feminine and lovely. A beautiful dress can be just as empowering, while being modest. I invite you to check out my beauty gallery to see more photos like this. In fact, I’m falling more in love with beauty shoots and have recently expanded my focus to include all kinds of beauty sessions instead of focusing solely on boudoir photography in my business.

The who, what, and when of it all.

Boudoir or beauty photos are an amazing gift to give to a Groom on the wedding night. Valentine’s Day, birthdays, and wedding anniversaries are other occasions when glamorous portraits would be a very special gift.

There are a lot of amazing photographers to choose from for your shoot and you should find the one that is the best fit for you. As a Christian, I encourage you to hire a female photographer if you are wanting sexy portraits.

My boudoir style is very conservative, as far as this genre of photography goes, so if you are more on the shy side or you just want to keep things tame, I’m the photographer for you! My boudoir images are sensual but beautiful and tasteful and not over-the-top sexual.

Will my photos end up on your website?

Although, I used to share boudoir photos on my website, with permission from my clients who felt comfortable with that, I’ve recently felt more inclined to keep my client’s more intimate photos private. So now, when talking about boudoir photos, I try to share photos that have a sexiness to them but are still modest. Like what you see in this post. I have a private link to more photos, for those who are interested in doing a boudoir shoot. Of course, I only share photos with permission from my clients who feel comfortable with it.

Conclusion

So, should a Christian woman do a boudoir shoot? Please pray about this and determine what kind of shoot might be right for you. Whether you feel that a boudoir shoot would enrich your marriage or if a beauty shoot is what would give you the confidence boost you need, I’m here to help. If you’d like to learn more about what a shoot experience is like and what to expect in my studio, please check out my video about that.

If you are ready to schedule your beauty or boudoir shoot, or if you have any questions, please contact me! I’d love to talk about it more with you.