Planning Your Maternity Session

Welcoming Your Little One to the World

Welcoming your little one into the world, is one of the most joyous and momentous times in your life, so planning your maternity session is pretty important! Planning doesn’t need to be complicated. Below are some tips and tricks to help and style your maternity session to help make your vision come alive. And, scroll down to check out some gorgeous inspo from Kathy’s maternity session!

Some suggestions to help plan your team maternity session:

Find what you love.

Before anything, search through Pinterest to find your favorite maternity session styles. Create a board with your favorite images. When looking through the images, make sure to pay attention to the photography style, the poses, editing style, mood of the images, hair and make up, details, and clothing. Pulling together a cohesive style board will help you narrow down the type of photography and style you want for your session.

Search for & decide on your photographer.

Next, search for a photographer that best matches the style you’re looking for. Use Pinterest, Instagram and Google to help with your search. When you speak to your photographer, make sure to ask:

- If they have location ideas
- Do they have experience in photographing maternity sessions
- Do they photograph newborn sessions (you may want to return to the same photographer!)
- What type of lighting do they use?
- What does the package include?
- How long is the session?
- Can you do outfit changes?
- Do they help you style your session?
  
  Book your session.
  
  Depending on the stage of your pregnancy, you may not have too much flexibility when it comes to weather and when you’ll need to shoot! You’ll want to book the session usually around 30-36 weeks.
  
  Buy your dress & other details if needed
  
  Make sure you buy your dress and details ahead of time! You’ll want to make sure that your dress fits properly and tailor it ahead of time if needed.
  
  Details
  - Bringing details to your session will help to make it extra special. Bring along any sentimental items for your baby, such as a sonogram picture, keepsakes, a book, jewelry, etc. Ask your photographer if they can take some flat lay photos of the details for you.

To help style your outfit, you can add various details like a hat, a bouquet, a flower crown and jewelry. If you’re including your children or your dog, you can also include a big balloon or something similar with the title “big brother!” or “big sister!”. Check out the session below for an example.

What to bring to your session

- - - Always make sure to bring extra touch up make up, hair spray, and bobby pins. Having a few wet wipes for yourself and/or kids helps in case you need to wipe off extra make up or clean up dirty faces. If you’re bringing kids, bring back up outfits just in case! And, if you bring your dog, bring someone along to hold them when they aren’t in the photos.
    - If you’re going to wear high heels with your outfit, bring a pair of flat shoes to walk in when you aren’t photographing.
    - Depending on the time of year, you may want to bring an extra coat, blanket, mittens, etc., if the weather is cold. And, if the weather is hot, consider bringing extra water and a portable fan.

The Proudest Big Brother!

If you want to see what the proudest big brother looks like, keep on scrolling! This New Canaan Maternity Session at Waveny House is one of the sweetest that I’ve photographed and is great for maternity inspiration! Big brother, Sebastian, was all smiles throughout this entire session as he proudly held up his “big brother” balloon and wore a pink shirt because he’s about to have a new baby sister!

For more maternity session blog inspo, check out:

Hudson Valley Newborn Lifestyle Session

Lifestyle Baby Session | Rye, NY

A Newborn Session | Rye, NY