Boudoir Mini Shoot Event // Wisconsin Rapids, WI

Last month me and my best girls hosted our first boudoir mini shoot day and I was freaking blown away. I honestly didn’t expect anyone to sign up but it sold out in just a couple days and we even had to add an extra spot. There was so much prep and hard work that went into this and I’m just so damn proud of myself and Emily and Hannah for pulling this off. It was the most fun. Drinks, music, good conversation (graphic birth stories anyone??), laughs, dinner, and so much positive feminine energy. I love all of these women. They have incredible stories and I’m so honored that they stepped out of their comfort zones and trusted me to photograph them. I wish we could have spent even more time together. I asked them all to write a little bit about their experience and I’m just in tears over how sweet they are.

“My number one reason for doing the shoot: Me. Majority of my life I’ve always come off as this ‘intimidating’ women, or I swore too much, or whatever other crap people came up with. I considered myself to be confident, up until a few years ago. I suffer everyday with depression, anxiety, feelings I seem to have no control over. I forgot what it was like to be beautiful.. You two are some of the most incredible women I’ve been lucky to know. And this day, by far has been the greatest thing that has happened to me in a long time. I’ll never be able to repay you ladies for what you all gave me this day. The feelings are too great for words. 

My biggest fear was rejection. Rejection to myself, that I would somehow talk myself out of it because I didn’t deserve such a great thing, or I was to large for such photos of myself, what other people would say. To my surprise, none of this came true. That morning I found myself doubting if I’d be capable, but I pushed through it. I never for a second even realized I was half naked, thanks to you and Hannah, you ladies didn’t give me a second to focus on my chubby thighs, stretch marks or not so flat stomach, forever grateful for that! 

My favorite part of the shoot: You, Hannah and Emily. You ladies were all so welcoming! It made everything more relaxed, and felt safe. The way you 3 worked together was inspiring. That’s difficult to find with women. 

Doing the shoot with a group of girls was AWESOME! I never thought a group of ladies could get together and laugh, learn, and shoot the shit like we did, it was so much fun! And learning everyone’s different reasonings for doing the shoot, was nice to know you weren’t the only one in the room with ‘rejection’ to fear. 

My god these women are incredible! The one part of each of you (Chloe, Hannah, Emily) that I can’t stress enough to other women is how much you relate to us, your scars, your battles, your fears. You all open up to other women with no hesitation. You trust us, make us feel welcome, and don’t allow us to let our minds get the best of ourselves when the shoot is happening. It’s truly incredible the auras you ladies bring to a room and I want to share it with every other women I know with self doubt! You all are truly incredibly talented! Thank you to each of you, and I hope to do another shoot in the future.”

“My boyfriend helped convince me that I should do another shoot. I had been feeling really down and have felt for a while that my body is “failing me”. I did this shoot to feel empowered and as a reminder that although my body is changing in ways I can’t control I can still find some beauty and comfort with it. It’s my home and after almost 30 years it’s probably time to start loving it in the ways it deserves.

My biggest fear was that I was just nervous in general to show off my body. It’s a vulnerable experience but after being at Chloe’s house for a good 15 min the nerves wore off. She created a space that day that was safe and beautiful.

 I loved the entire day. It was much needed and a very liberating experience. I really enjoyed dinner though, getting to talk to all the women and coming together to share a meal was really amazing. Everyone was so kind and the whole space just felt really safe and supportive. Getting to spend a day with other women who were all unique but yet came together to empower one another was remarkable.

I was nervous at first. Nervous if the other girls would talk to me and how it would be getting ready in front of everyone. I think as women we are constantly looking at ourselves in flawed and imperfect ways that we think everyone else is going to see those flaws and imperfections too. This was not the case with the shoot. Everyone was so kind and supportive. It was an amazing experience and I think without the whole group it wouldn’t have felt as liberating.

Chloe is so amazing - an amazing person, friend, and artist. She is such a strong person and have had to overcome a lot herself which I think has made her such a great photographer. She doesn’t just take pictures, she does so much more than that. She is supportive and kind and makes the women she shoots feel like they are models. She gives women a piece of themselves back that they might have lost. She reminds women they are beautiful and that every flaw they think they have is beautiful. She is one of the most empowering women I have ever met. She lights up the room with her energy and. She has such an amazing talent not just for photography, but the way she connects with her clients. She was meant to do this and I am so excited to see what is in store for her. She’s the best.”

“I know lots of people think boudoir is for a partner, but I really did it for me. To remind myself that I am beautiful and sexy and in control of how I portray that. 

I was afraid I would get back my photos and I would pick myself apart seeing flaws..but I went through the entire album just floored and in love with them.  It never even occurred to me that anything was ‘wrong’ with anything I saw.  

I loved the sense of ownership and confidence that slowly crept up on me throughout the shoot.  

It was a cool thing to do the shoot with a group of ladies like we had. It was reassuring to have another 5 women that all, obviously, were supportive of doing this for yourself.  The excited vibe was infectious. There were high-fives. And interesting conversations with people you met just that day. It felt safe. 

Chloe doesn’t just tell you how to pose and take pretty pictures of you.  She sets you up to own your session and then gives you photos that highlight why you and your body are awesome.” 

“To be honest, the real reason I did this shoot was because my friend really wanted to. As soon as you came out with this marathon she asked me a few times if I would do it with her. I will say I have always wanted to do it because I think your pictures are always so beautiful, classy and elegant. I didn't want to commit to do it, as a stay-at-home mom with only one income coming in I always feel guilty about spending any sort of money on myself. Both my husband and my friend convinced me that I should finally do something for myself and for once not worry about spending money on myself and do something FOR ME! 

I needed to do this to feel good about myself again. I did the shoot to have something that I can look back on and feel good about myself. I had gone through a lot with childbirth and I did this to remind myself that my body is amazing and capable of pretty incredible things. After having a baby the focus is on the baby first and less on the mom so sometimes it's nice to have a day to do something just for yourself.

I think  my biggest fear of this shoot was looking like a fool! I've never exuded sex appeal before. Boy was I wrong and I couldn't be happier to be wrong! I never thought I could look so sexy, beautiful and like a model! I sent all my friends the pictures and didn't realize that they would love different pictures that I did.

What didn't I love about the shoot! I thought everything about the shoot was amazing. I think the way you encouraged me and complimented me the whole time. I felt like I was model!

I was hesitant about doing this with girls I didn't know, but after being there all day with them it was so fun. We were all in it together being She Wolves!!!! We were all different shapes and sizes and I think that’s what calmed my fears. Everytime one of the girls were done they couldn't stop raving about how awesome it was, so I knew I made the right choice doing the photoshoot.

I've already told so many girls they should do this shoot! I said how you made each one of us feel like the most beautiful woman in the world and give us so much confidence!” 

“I’m not super sure that I can put what I want to say into words.
We live in a time where women are scolded for feeling good about themselves. Frankly it’s annoying and I hate it. Everywhere you turn people are trying to sell you their pyramid scheme so you can lose weight and love yourself. If you love yourself exactly how you are, that’s some sort of shame? I guess that’s why I needed this shoot. I wanted to make it clear to everyone who has told me “you shouldn’t be eating that” or “aren’t you worried about your health?” that I’m beautiful and it’s not any of their damn business.
I was nervous for the group shoot but none of it ended up bothering me. All the girls there we sooo awesome..
If nothing else, I want everyone to know that Chloe and her crew are the most amazing people on the planet when it comes to hyping up others. To put it briefly they are just people you want to be friends with. I struggle with social anxiety and sometimes I honestly would just prefer to not leave my house, but these women are literally just so REFRESHING to be around.”

“After years of having bad eating disorders, I lost confidence in my body. Then I gave birth to the light of my life. A beautiful baby boy. After I was done breastfeeding, I completely lost my boobs, I lost my butt, I gained stretch marks on my boobs, my butt and my legs, and I’ve suffered with hair loss. The whole works to decrease a woman’s confidence. It did x100. When a friend of mine told me about the work Chloe does, a small voice in me said ‘Do it, you NEED this!’ Building my confidence up was needed, opening my eyes to what I have NOT lost, but also having an open mind of seeing the minor changes my body has gone through of becoming a mother. Being a mother is the ULTIMATE of sexy. 

I didn’t honestly have any fear going into this photoshoot. I mean I did have a lot of trust because we did not know each other what so ever before this. But we all created a fantastic bond at the photoshoot. 

My favorite part of the photoshoot is hard to pinpoint. There was so many good parts of that day!!! Not only did I get amazing shots of myself-proving to myself I still am beautiful. We all chatted, bonded, ate food, drank, listened to music. It was the best of a time! I would do it all over again just to hangout with everyone! 

Knowing it was a group going into this photoshoot I was sort of nervous because I did not know a single person. But I believe that was the best part about the experience. Life is all about trying new things, getting to know new people. 

I already recommended you to a friend and I told her ‘This was the best experience ever, Chloe is the best of the best photographer. She is crazy funny, down to earth, creative. It is completely worth the amount of the shoot!!’”

The next boudoir event is in the works! I’m thinking the end of January so everyone can get their images back in time for Valentine’s Day so you can give your significant other (or your damn self) the best gift everrrr. If you want to get first dibs on a spot when we announce it make sure to sign up for my email list…