The titillating Father’s Day gift
I love surprising my husband with a gift on Father’s Day as a way to thank him for being an amazing dad. A boudoir photography seemed like an unthinkable and crazy idea at first. However, after years of being parents, the process of finding a gift for Father’s Day became dull and repetitive. My hubby (Daddy as our kid calls him) couldn’t care less about anything and often tells me to “save money”! He’s not into high end fashion and luxury goods nor does he want the latest designer shoes or belts. He buys his own gadgets, which saves me the effort of surprising him with something he wanted. And as for sports games, he prefers the comfort of a couch drinking a bottle of beer than driving in traffic to get to a live event.
Yearning for Romance
This year, for Father’s Day, I wanted to do something to muse over the time we had before becoming parents. See, before having kids, we had lots of time to be romantic and playful. We would plan to go out for dinner and drinks with friends few times a week; held hands; cuddled on the coach; slow danced to the sounds of romance and slept in on weekends.
Like everyone else, the free time we had outside work and career was dedicated purely to one another. Once we had our kid, priorities changed and the free time to love each other was dedicated to loving bambino. There wasn’t that much time to rekindle and celebrate it the way it used to be. There’s always something to do – whether it is practice, homework, cooking – that by the end of the day, we were lucky to have energy for a bottle of beer! It made sense as a middle-aged couple to do something fun and saucy for Father’s Day, and that was the inspiration behind Beer N’ Boudoir.
The gift of Tender Loving… and Beer
What better gift a dad wants from his partner other than some love and beer! That was precisely what my hubby will receive this Father’s Day. This is a memorable gift he will always look back at with a smile as he takes a sip of his favourite beer (Northern Superior)! One day in the far future, we will be sitting on the couch again holding hands and scrolling through photos of a youthful past.
When I started planning how to create this photo shoot, I wanted it to include some of his favourite things and activities. For one, he really loved his beer so I went ahead and ordered Northern Superior online from the LCBO. Then I asked the boudoir photographer to take some photos at our favourite hiking trail. The other part was to figure out what to wear for the shoot without looking inappropriate but rather dreamy and playful. So I chose to wear my wedding corset for some photos and it surprisingly fit after 13 years. And of course I added my favourite shoes he bought me for our 10th wedding anniversary!
The last stage of planning was to figure out the style of photos we wanted to produce. This is the creative part of the process that does require some thought, because it wasn’t just about a photo in bed! There were things and spots we liked to include in the photos, and we wanted it to be modest and suggestive. To do so, I started brainstorming some ideas, and searching online for inspiring boudoir photos. I created a storyboard of ideas and images and tried to align all the pieces into place to make sure we didn’t miss anything. This process helped us a lot during the photo shoot, as at that point we weren’t experimenting with new ideas right off the bat. Once the storyboard was finalized and shared with the boudoir photographer it was time to book a date for the photo shoot.
To boudoir or not to boudoir
A day before the actual photo shoot, I started to hesitate about this boudoir idea and felt like I was having “cold feet”. The thought of being misjudged by family and friends was overwhelming. What would they think when they saw these photos published on my blog. Although many would criticize my decision to publicize the story, I felt it was inspiring to share it with women my age. The story is meant to empower women to try something different and exciting during a phase of our lives when we might be struggling with aging and self-image.
But when the day came, all the hesitation and self-doubt disappeared and was replaced by laughs and giggles. My husband and I felt like we were in our 20s or 30s again while posing for these photos. Plus, Northern Superior beer came in handy on that warm Friday afternoon, as we cracked open the cans to cool off and loosen up for the shoot. Best of all, my husband was amused and content with the experience and final outcome (our intimate album).
In summary, in life, we experience restrictions limiting our inhibitions to enjoy ourselves (physical and emotional). These can be cultural, social and personal beliefs which are a part of who we are and cannot just disregard them. But as we age and gain wisdom, we like to relax some rules for the sake of contentment and love for life. As long as breaking the rules does not harm us and those around us, it just feels wonderful to have some fun at any age! Therefore ladies, remember to add Beer N’ Boudoir to Father’s Day gift list this year. Your papi might thank you for this one and he will buy you whatever you desire next (wink).
