Denna and Jon scheduled their Couples Boudoir session right before the holidays as an extra special Christmas gift to themselves!
“Jon and I did our session just before Christmas as a way to reclaim the holiday for ourselves and make it a holiday we could enjoy,” explained Denna, who brought along a cute little Santa hat and holiday lights to add some festive cheer to their photos. Santa baby!
But in all seriousness, we love this idea. Holidays can be so tricky to navigate between the high expectations and childhood trauma so we love it when we see couples taking the lead and redefining what the holidays mean for themselves and their own chosen families.
“We’ve never enjoyed it previously and so we went all out this year and I’m so happy we did because it truly set the vibe for the rest of our holiday weekend this year. Having the images to look back on each year is going to be so much fun!” said Denna.
About Denna and Jon
Denna and Jon, who share a five-year-old son and a small but growing farm, have been together for nearly half their lives now (and married for nearly nine of those years).
“Jon and I met when I was 19 and he was 22. We’ve been through a lifetime of highs and lows in that time and truly have grown up and become ourselves together,” says Denna.
“It’s a remarkable thing to share all that life throws at you with another person who supports you through the lows and is your hype person through the highs. It’s a gift of being comfortably vulnerable with another person.”
Denna, a photographer herself, used to work in the original studio Allebach Photography shared at the time with several other photographers and has had her eyes on Mike’s work ever since.
“I honestly fell in love with everything Mike was pursuing and creating. It’s magical,” she said.
So when Jon suddenly expressed interest in doing a session with her, Denna jumped at the opportunity.
“I set up a call that day!” she said.
Denna and Jon’s Experience
Denna admits that she, like many photographers, is more comfortable behind the camera rather than in front of it.
“I have always been super self conscious about my exterior shape and look,” she said. Still, she gave her and Jon over completely to Mike and Erika, trusting the process.
“I didn’t have any expectations for the session honestly, I trusted that whichever way it went would be perfect and it was.”
Jon and Denna had so much fun, laughing (all the way ;)) through their entire session and feeling both free and relaxed, whether they were wearing their more formal wear, their lingerie, or their Santa hats!
“Mike and Erika have created the most welcoming and judgment free environment and experience within the walls of their studio. They take people coming into their space very seriously (though not too serious) and make you feel safe, cozy and welcome from beginning to end,” says Denna.
Denna had a fantastic experience in spite of not being at her ideal size for their session.
“I did this session at my heaviest weight and not feeling 100 percent due to ongoing health issues, but you cannot see that in my photos and you wouldn’t have known if you were in the session either. That day, those issues didn’t exist to me. It was great.”
When asked about her photos, Denna says, “I love the emotion each image shows, love, joy, silliness, laughter, sexy looks. I felt like I looked fabulous even when I caught glimpses of parts I’m not huge fans of (like the fluffy middle). I felt like a billion bucks.”
Jon and Denna created some prints and an album to remember their session by, so they can pull them out and look at them for many Christmases to come (or even just whenever).
“Just do it. Honestly, if you want it you will figure everything out. You don’t need to lose weight or tone up or whatever. It’s a magical experience that is difficult to describe unless you walk through the studio doors yourself.”
Ready to make some holiday magic for yourself? Reclaim your holidays by doing something out of the norm this year like a boudoir session! Give the Allebach Photography studio a call at 610.539.6920 or visit http://allebachphotography.com/contact/ to get started.