The power of putting yourself first this Mother’s Day
If you’re a mum, or if you’re googling ‘Mother’s Day gift ideas’ right now, this is for you.
Does this sound familiar? You (or your wife, or your mum) runs the household like a fine tuned logistics operation. You manage endless to do’s, pouring yourself constantly into everyone else.
You might have looked at a boudoir photoshoot, and thought ‘that looks beautiful, I wonder what that would be like,’ – but then quickly closed the tab because someone needed a snack and the school forms are due tomorrow.
This Mother’s Day, what if you went ahead and booked it in? Forget the flowers. Forget the candles. What if you gave yourself something that’s actually, properly for you?
Not mum-you. You-you. The real woman who existed before the nappy bags and the school runs and the endless mental load of keeping everyone else’s life on track.
Meet Nadia Baker: An empowering boudoir photoshoot 20 years in the making
Nadia thought about doing a boudoir photoshoot since she was a teenager. She carried it with her for over twenty years, filed away in the back of her mind. Always figuring she’d get to it ‘eventually’.
When she felt more ready. More confident. When the timing was right.
But here’s what we know: the ‘right time’ doesn’t really exist. And the perfect moment is only the one you create.
So she booked it anyway.
“Honestly, this has been in the back of my mind since I was a teenager. I remember seeing a friend’s older sister do this gorgeous glamour-style shoot and it just stuck with me. I always thought I’d love to do something like that one day, but I never felt ready. Not confident enough, not the right time, always some reason to put it off.”
“Saying yes felt like I was finally doing the thing that teenage version of me always wanted to do.”
To give the gift of seeing yourself in a completely new way – in the power and beauty that belongs uniquely to you – is one the most special and meaningful Mother’s Day gifts there is.
The nerves didn't last long
Was she nervous? Of course. You’d be the exception if you didn’t have a few butterflies walking in. But here’s the thing about nerves: they melt away very quickly once you’re actually in the studio, the music is on and you feel the warmth and support of our all-women photography team hyping you up.
“I was nervous. Properly nervous. That whole stepping-outside-your-comfort-zone feeling was definitely there. But once we got going, something just shifted. I stopped worrying about how I looked or what I was doing and just let myself be in it.
By the end I felt so at ease with myself. Confident in a way I really wasn’t expecting. It caught me off guard, actually, how good it felt.”
This is the magic of a Verve Intimate boudoir photoshoot. There’s always a moment where something clicks. The shoulders drop. The laugh gets louder. The woman who walked in apologising for her arms or her stomach or whatever tiny perceived imperfection she’d decided to focus on – suddenly lets go, and feels free. That’s when the magic happens.
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This is the magic of a Verve Intimate boudoir photoshoot. There’s always a moment where something clicks. The shoulders drop. The laugh gets louder. The woman who walked in apologising for her arms or her stomach or whatever tiny perceived imperfection she’d decided to focus on – suddenly lets go, and feels free. That’s when the magic happens.
More than a lingerie photoshoot
Nadia is at that moment in her life where the full-on mum years are making way for something new, and she’s figuring out what that looks like. Her boudoir photoshoot felt like part of that story.
“It meant a lot, more than I thought it would. My son’s almost 21 now, so I’m in a really different place to where I was even a few years ago. After so many years of being completely hands-on as a mum, there’s this shift happening where I’m coming back to myself a bit.”
“The shoot wasn’t just about the photos. It was about carving out space to reconnect with who I am outside of being a mum. My own wants, my own identity. And doing that while still being his mum, just in a different way now.”
Whether your kids are tiny or grown, that longing to reconnect with who we are outside of ‘mum’ is universal. Because as mums, we give so much of ourselves that somewhere along the way, our own identity can feel a bit… buried. Not lost. Just pushed to the back, under the to-do’s, waiting to be rediscovered.
A boudoir photoshoot is your moment to change that. To come home to the real you. To remember that you’re a whole person with your own energy and your own beauty and your own story, separate from everyone you look after.
Her advice? Don't overthink it.
We asked Nadia what she’d say to women sitting on the fence. The ones who feel curious, but keep talking themselves out of it.
“Just do it. Seriously. We spend so much time putting everyone else first, or telling ourselves we’ll do it when we feel more confident, or when our body looks a certain way. But that moment never really comes, does it? There’s something really powerful about just saying yes now, nerves and all, and letting yourself actually have the experience instead of just thinking about it.”
The most common thing we hear from almost every woman we meet is they wish they did this for themselves sooner.
A new perspective
Nadia has experienced health challenges. And they’ve shaped the way she thinks about her body in a way that feels powerful and honest.
“It’s changed so much over the years. When I was younger, confidence was all about how I looked and what other people thought of me. But after everything I’ve been through with endometriosis, the surgeries, the health stuff that’s still ongoing, my relationship with my body is completely different now”.
“I’m not chasing some ideal anymore. Confidence for me now is just feeling settled in myself. Appreciating what my body has actually carried me through rather than picking it apart.”
This kind of deeper confidence is what we aspire for every woman to experience when she leaves our studio. Not just “I looked hot” (although – holy wow, yes, you absolutely will!) But that deeper feeling.
That peace of feeling proud and powerful in your own skin. Appreciating your body for everything it’s done, not only what it looks like.
That kind of transformation is exactly what drives us at Verve.
What she wants other women to know
“I just want women to know they don’t need to wait for some perfect version of themselves before they’re allowed to do something like this. There’s no right body for it. Soft bits, stretch marks, scars, whatever you’ve got going on, it’s all part of your story and it all deserves to be seen.”
“You don’t need anyone’s permission. You’re enough right now, exactly as you are.”
And when we asked Nadia what the shoot reminded her about herself:
“That I don’t have to overthink everything. That I can actually let go and be playful and just enjoy something without my brain running a hundred miles an hour. It reminded me that I can look at myself differently, with a bit of kindness, you know? And just appreciate my body for everything it’s been through and everything it still does for me, instead of always focusing on what I’d change.”
This is so powerful – doesn’t every incredible mum deserve to feel this?
What you actually want for Mother’s Day
One of the biggest surprises our guests have is when they realise that their stunning boudoir portraits are only one part of this gift. The other part is the feeling.
Walking in nervous and walking out tall. Remembering that you’re powerful and beautiful. That you’re allowed to take up space and enjoy it and feel incredible about yourself, without apologising to anyone.
The photographs become the touchpoint that reminds our guests of this powerful truth.
So if you’re thinking about what to give or ask your family for this Mother’s Day, and every ‘gift for mum’ list you’ve seen feels generic – or if you’re a mum yourself reading this thinking ‘but that’s not for someone like me,’ – we promise you, it is.
Nadia thought the same thing for twenty years. She walked in nervous and uncertain, and walked out feeling unstoppable.
You don’t need to feel brave. You don’t need a ‘right time.’ We promise, you’ll be fully supported and guided the whole way through. No posing experience needed.
So when you’re ready to take the leap, our supportive female photographers are ready for you.
Book your own empowering Verve Intimate boudoir photography experience at one of our luxury studios in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane.
Or buy this experience for someone else (the most powerful and unforgettable Mother’s Day gift)
You’ve got this, and we’ve got you!
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