Bridal Boudoir Doesn't Have to be White ::: Orange County Boudoir ::: Grace and Lace Boudoir

The minute this uber sexy bride walked in our doors for her bridal boudoir, her energy matched mine exactly. That doesn’t happen all that often. With some clients, they walk in, and they’re nervous and not super chatty at first. Totally fine! I’ve got enough words for the two of us, so you don’t even have to talk if you truly don’t want to. (Though nobody has ever done that in 6 years!) But this infectiously sweet girl came in as bubbly as me and was ready. She wanted the dark & moody images that embraced her sexuality. Her wedding was just this past Saturday and I can’t wait to hear about her groom’s reaction to his gift.

In her own words:

I am SO happy I found Jeni & Sarah... they are AMAZING!! I decided to book a shoot through Grace and Lace for my fiance's wedding day gift, and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made!

Whenever I pose for pictures by myself I usually get super awkward and the pictures turn out horrible.. so I was pretty nervous about a boudoir shoot. The ladies at Grace & Lace made all of that go away. The second I walked through the door, they made me feel so comfortable and walked me through the whole process so I knew what to expect. During the shoot they are very technical and tell you exactly how to pose, so you're never stuck feeling/looking awkward in front of the camera.

Their photography style is a perfect mix of sexy, dark/moody, and classy. They capture all the best angles and lighting to make sure you look and feel your best. I absolutely LOVE the way my photos turned out, and I know my fiance is going to love them too!! It's been so hard not showing him before the wedding day!

I'm so thankful I found Grace and Lace, I honestly couldn't imagine doing a boudoir shoot any other way! I promise if you decide to book through them you won't regret it!!

Spicy Hot Anonymous Session ::: Orange County Boudoir ::: Grace and Lace Boudoir

This stunning client - I don’t know that I can say enough. I’ve personally known her for a little while and I was so excited when she reached out to us to do a session! She’s an independent, fierce, firecracker of a woman and it totally came through all of her photos. We’re only sharing the anonymous ones with you but trust me when I tell you, the others are even more spicy!!

Miss R's Second Boudoir Session ::: Orange County Boudoir ::: Grace and Lace Boudoir

This is Miss R's second time that she has been in our Orange County boudoir studio for a session. ((you might even remember her session from just 7 months ago! https://graceandlaceboudoir.com/blog/on-my-bucket-list-orange-county-boudoir)) She is the epitome of grace, confidence, gorgeousness, and kindness.  I loved the lingerie (and lack of ;) that she brought with her. She wanted something completely different for her session this time around. She recently started on a healthy eating program and felt the best she's felt in a long time, so she wanted to commemorate that!  And paired up with the hair and makeup that Sarah did, yeah, I'm DYING!  What I loved too was that she decided she would do a set of photos with very natural makeup for her husband who loves her fresh-faced but then she knew she wanted the glam look for herself. So we did both. A boudoir session with us is customizable - it's NOT cookie cutter, one size fits all around here.

The Stunning Miss K | Orange County Boudoir | Grace and Lace Boudoir

She's stunning, she's the sweetest, and she SERIOUSLY knocked her session out of the park!  Like, WAY out there! She came to the studio as a gift for her soon to be husband and, of course, herself. She had recently lost some weight but claimed she wasn't quite her goal weight yet, but she was ready to do a session anyway. I love that she didn't wait because all too often, later becomes never.  If you always wait until the "perfect" time, you'll realize that it's never coming.    

We started her session with a sweet and soft, white bra and panty set but ended it with more seductive pieces.  I love seeing the transformations of our clients from the beginning of their shoots to the end! Our clients are AWESOME! Her images just make me so happy.

I cannot say enough about Sarah and Jeni! They are truly so amazing at what they do. I decided on boudoir photos as a gift for my husband on our wedding day. I was extremely nervous and researched around a lot until I came across [them]. 

The website alone was so informative and made me feel better about what to expect. Once I met Sarah and Jeni all my nerves began to leave. They make you feel so comfortable and confident about yourself. They know what they are doing and I couldn't be happier with the photos and neither could my husband. He loved them. Probably the best present I ever gave him. I have already told several friends considering doing a boudoir session and I would recommend them to anyone. 

Overall, it was an awesome experience. Thank you so much Sarah and Jeni!

Thank you for trusting us, Miss K! And for seriously bringing your most seductive A game! :) 

Be Soul Food | Grace and Lace Boudoir | Orange County Boudoir

Over 4 years ago, Sarah and I sat down and had a meeting about our new business venture together.  We were not new in our prospective careers - I'd been a photographer since 2002 and Sarah had been a makeup artist for nearly as long but we were joining our two forces together.  We'd been friends for 6 years at the time and we KNEW that we wanted to do this together and so we sat down, had a meeting, and we were excited!  So excited that we came up with our business name THAT day - Eye Candy.  We'd jotted down about 10 other names or so but at that time, we didn't really have a plan of just being a boudoir studio, so to us, eye candy meant pretty things and incorporated the best of both our worlds (photography & makeup).  Well, in our naivete, we went with it.  And then realized, rather quickly, eye candy dot com is not available.  Ok.  How about eye-candy dot com?? Nope. How about eye-kandy dot com? Well, you know the answer to that. You'd think we would've moved on by now, right??  Nooooo, of course not, we were stuck on some version of eye candy.  So, we finally realized eye-kandie.com was available and so we went with it.  Now you know the backstory of our name.  Deep, riiiight?? 

So we created business cards, a logo, a website, a facebook page and we went to work.  And we started shooting everything and anybody who would let us shoot and put makeup on them. But over the years, both Sarah and I felt like we were being led to shoot solely boudoir photography.  It fit us so well, it was our speed - getting to know our clients on a deeper level, we both LOVED doing it more so than any other genre, and so we dedicated Eye Kandie to solely boudoir. Over the years, though, we started to feel like our name was amateurish and we were increasingly becoming more insecure with it.  We thought about changing it but oh! the work that would create for us.  Neither of us felt like starting over.  It's a LOT of work.  Like, A LOT of work.  But a few months ago, it started to weigh heavily on me how much I dislike our name; so much so, I wouldn't even use it in a sentence.  I struggled with this because what does that say about me? About my business?  I'm not ashamed of our business, Sarah and I have built a solid foundation and we have had some AMAZING clients come through our studio.  But I couldn't bring myself to use our name in conversation.  I just really wanted our name to mean something more.  

Then I read this quote

““Don’t be eye candy. Be soul food.””

Oh, the gut punch.  All these months of prayer over whether or not we should change our name and there I thought, did God just answer me with a quote?  Yes, He did.  I didn't think of our clients as eye candy, they were so much more than just a "pretty thing" to us. We strive for our clients to love and appreciate their bodies for all it does for her but also to see themselves beyond their physical self. We want her to see what we see and what her friends and family see.  Not just a pretty thing, but a woman who allows herself some grace and does not spend time dwelling on the past and living with regret, but works toward what she wants; a woman who values quality over quantity and understands the investment of portraiture; a woman who loves and respects her husband or fiance; a mother who teaches and loves her children but knows she should nurture herself as well.  We want her to see she is a woman of worth & beauty to us and those around her.

And so, Grace and Lace Boudoir was born.  We still have a few loose ends to tie up around here, mostly on the back side of the business but we are so happy that Grace & Lace is live and that is what we will be going by from here on out! 

Thank you to all our clients for their support along the way, for reading our blog, for trusting us with your own boudoir experience and for sending us your referrals. 

Our business is booming and it is ALL because of you!! So thank you!  We love you ALL!

~Jeni

The best choice you can make

Miss T is a woman full of life & faith, a woman who has had her fair share of struggles in life but it hasn't stopped her or even slowed her down. The instant we met her, we INSTANTLY liked her; she gave an air of gentleness and kindness.  We loved having her in the studio and I loved her curves and how she owned them! 

In her own words, here's what she had to say about her experience ...

“Hands down I had such a great experience doing my photo shoot with Jen and Sarah. I was nervous before getting there. Once I was there both Jen and Sarah made me feel so comfortable that I enjoyed every minute and did not worry about anything else. My makeup was done so beautifully. I felt like the most beautiful woman in the world. I will say my self confidence has improved greatly. When I went back to view my photos, all I could think and say was “WOW” is that me! This was one of the best choices that I made. Complete satisfaction with every step of the process. Jen and Sarah defiantly (sp) know what they are doing and are very good at their job.”

— Miss T