You all know I LOVE a strong, cohesive theme and for every birthday Indie has had, I have incorporated the party theme into her formal portraits! I don’t know how much longer I’ll do this… do people do formal photoshoots for birthdays beyond age 5? I barely know anyone who does them past the first year! But here we are…. four years in, and I’m going strong – because I cannot deny that I’m extra.
When I came up with the party theme, I instantly called Jess from The Deerwood Co. to build us a dreamy set… think fairy in the woods – toadstools, butterflies, baby’s breath... and of course she absolutely nailed it. I hope Indie looks back on these photos someday and appreciates all the artistry and passion that went into making her earliest birthdays so magical! One thing I have decided to make a tradition (whether or not we do a full birthday shoot each year) is that I want to document her surgery scars artistically each year as she grows. Jess took beautiful portraits of the scars during last year’s “Third BEE Day” session – and I’m really sad I didn’t think to do this for years two and one…. but even starting from age three onward will make for a beautiful scrapbook of growth when she’s big. We are celebrating this weekend with an equally tightly themed party, so to kick off the official “Fourth Birthday Weekend” I’m dropping all our photos from this insanely gorgeous shoot below!
Indie’s skirt and matching fairy wings are from a company called Oh Mee Oh Mai, based in Australia. I paired it with a simple ribbed bodysuit and re-used a mossy headband that we featured during Stevie’s newborn shoot. (Brownie points for bringing back a nostalgic piece!) Of course I looked all over for fairy wings that were subtle, gauzey, and gorgeous – because a vast majority of what I found online was cheap looking, glittery, costumey and had ugly elastic arm loops. I always feel that I have to look outside the US for pieces that are truly beautiful and unique. So glad I was able to find these based off a recommendation from another photographer that I’ve worked with in the past. At the end, we changed Indie into a basic tulle and cotton tank dress that I found on Amazon so that she could blow out her candle on camera. (I called it a practice run before the big day!) It was a steal at only 20 bucks and she’ll totally wear it again this spring/summer! It also comes in a bunch of other colors. I loved having that second “look” in my gallery! Hope these photos inspire you, whether it be the style of pho
