One of the things that I love about working in Minneapolis is collaborating and working with our multi-talented community of creative people. Cora is a henna artist, she’d worked with a number of clients getting hennaed before boudoir sessions and it sparked her interest.

So she joined me for one of the first sessions in the new studio

Korissa’s photos have a secret. And a sweet story.

I met Korissa when she was searching for a photographer for her wedding, she was inspired by the idea of doing a bridal boudoir session as a really romantic gift for her fiance. She and I planned a soft, artsy session for the early spring. So I wasn’t sure what was up when she reached out in the late-fall…

I was so honored to welcome Emily for one of my first sessions in the new Illuminate Boudoir Studio. This is Emily’s second boudoir session with me. She did her first just before her wedding and wanted to return to celebrate this new season in her life.

Stacy’s boudoir session was a surprise to her. Instead of hearing from Stacy, it was her husband who first contacted me to tell me about his amazing wife. “I think my wife would love to do a boudoir session, and she deserves it,” he said. “I don’t even care if she shows me the pictures, if she does, great, but I want her to be able to celebrate herself.”

"When I look at my beautiful album, not only do I see a beautiful woman, I think of one of the best weekends of my life.  I recommend the experience, and Alyssa to all my friends, and proudly show of my album to pretty much everyone."

Emily planned this incredible session as a celebration of herself; at the time of her session, she was a few months out from getting married and wanted to honor and document her current chapter of life. 

I remember in one of my first phone calls with her when we were talking about her session, she said something that changed the way I approach bridal boudoir portraits. She said that being engaged to her partner made her excited to be married and proud of her partnership, and also made her proud of herself as an independent woman. 

J and I met last year at a wedding fair - she is getting married and wanted to do a bridal boudoir session to celebrate herself, and to share her portraits with her fiance as a wedding gift.

J wanted her portraits to feel pretty and stunning, and she brought a great variety of outfits to showcase different sides of her personality: cozy cotton layers feel relaxed, lace bra/underwear sets brought in a pretty and elegant vibe, a patterned corset feels epic, and a white detailed set feels airy and bridal. 

Bria is an amazing woman - a social justice advocate, woman-changing-the-world kind of person, she spends her days empowering and lifting up others and needed some self-care and an opportunity to celebrate herself at this moment in time. I always love working with women to create empowering boudoir portraits - especially when they are planning a session as a gift for themselves!

K wanted her pictures to feel confident and sexy and relaxed - she was so excited to incorporate her wedding dress into some pictures, so we planned a series of images inspired by how she felt getting ready on her wedding day. 

Sara is a beautiful person, inside and out. As we were planning how she wanted to be photographed for her boudoir session, she wanted her portraits to feel natural and beautiful, sweet and romantic and soft. We had a beautiful morning in the studio with lots of laughter and a little prosecco, and I'm so excited to show you the resulting images!