A Decade of The Adore Girls
We truly can’t believe it’s been an entire decade since we started The Adore Girls Boudoir Photography Studio. In the past ten years we have transformed over 2300 women into confident and empowered Adore Girls. Read on to learn how we are kicking off the celebration, and how you can enter to WIN a Dream Session plus images worth $2k, but first…here’s a little bit of our story.
a Brief Backstory
Jamie Pfister, owner/photographer and myself, the little sister, Lindsey, photographer/set designer/social media started this whole thing with the idea of creating a business that had the potential to give us purpose, serve as a creative outlet and hopefully make us some money so we wouldn’t have to “work for the man”. Little did we know that we were about to embark on a journey that would change not just our own lives, but the lives of thousands of women from all over the United States too. It began when Jamie, who at the time had been a stay at home mother for quite a few years, finally found herself with a bit of free time after her kiddos were old enough to both be in school all day. I was more than happy to help my big sis explore the world of photography by getting in front of her camera or setting up test photoshoots with some of our friends. It also helped that I love to design spaces and that I (at the time) just so happened to live in a warehouse loft downtown with amazing natural light that made for an excellent first studio for us. By 2012 Jamie and I had found the genre of photography that made our little creative hearts happy, Boudoir Photography. After a hilarious trip to google to figure out the proper pronunciation of the word boudoir, Jamie proceeded to make The Adore Girls a real business and it was off to the races from there. The business grew quickly. Only after a year of my old loft being our makeshift studio, we moved into our first official studio in East Nashville. The next few years brought more and more Adore Girls through our door. So many, in fact, that there was a need for another photographer.
Insert Courtney Bell here. In 2014 Jamie and I held our first-ever workshop for other boudoir photographers to attend and to learn how we were doing things in Nashville. Courtney traveled 361 miles to attend our workshop, along with a handful of other photographers from all over the place. What none of us knew then was that we would love Courtney’s work and personality so much that Jamie would present her with a full-time photographer position by the end of the year. Fast forward to the beginning of 2015 and Court had packed up her boyfriend (now husband), her dogs, her camera equipment and basically her whole life to move to Nashville and become a integral part of The Adore Girls team and the success of the studio as a whole. Court came packed with 10 years of photography experience and one hell of a tolerance for working with two sisters who perhaps, just maybe, from time to time, haven’t always seen eye to eye on everything. Those are stories for another time my friends.
Jamie & I doin’ our thing, circa 2013-ish in the east Nashville studio.
Here’s an oldie, but a goodie from the first studio, A.K.A. Lindsey’s old loft, circa 2012-ish. The original wings. These wings were cute, but the ones we have now are waaaaayyyyyy better!
Shot in the old East Nashville studio.
We had huge floor-to-ceiling windows in this studio. Gorgeous light, but only room for two sets, we out grew this studio quickly.
We had a bright, cherry red wall in our first two studios. Should we bring it back?
Y’all I’ve been fixing thigh highs for 10 years now!
Moving On
With Court on board, the phone ringing off the hook and a very full calendar, by 2017 The Adore Girls had once again outgrown the studio we were in and it was time to move. This time a little further from downtown into a bigger space with more room for sets and growth. The Haywood lane studio would be the catalyst for the development of our beloved “dark and moody” style of images. As we came to the end of the lease for that studio, we weren’t sold on the idea of moving. However, a new, magical, and massive studio found it’s way in front of Courtney’s eyes online. This too good to be true studio was what we had always dreamed of. In 2019 it was time to pack up and move again.
One of the first images with lots of mood mixed in, shot in the Haywood Lane studio.
This was always one of my favorite images Court snapped in the Haywood Lane studio.
The upstairs at the Haywood Lane Studio had some really fun light that peeked in.
We have now been in our current studio since spring of 2019. This studio has a separate room for each of our 5 indoor sets. We even have a space outside for a private-outdoor patio set in the warmer months. My little design-loving heart lives in a dream world inside this studio. The variety we are able to get out each session is endless. We can dedicate a different set to each of the outfits our Adore Girls bring in for their sessions. All of the available options for sets also makes us unique from other boudoir studios in our area. Not to mention, PARKING, we have a giant, free parking lot! Free parking is a big deal after being downtown Nashville for so many years. Our studio now is a private, 3,100 sq ft historic home, built in 1897 and is nestled in the heart of Smyrna, TN. Below are images from each of the sets we offer today.
The Collage Room
The Upstairs Hall
The Black Sitting Room. This room has a fireplace too.
The Dark Room
Private Patio Set (seasonal only)
Bodyscape Set
The Gray Bedroom (This bed has a blush pink headboard)
Gratitude
The things we have to be grateful for are immeasurable. The three of us have laughed, cried, supported, tolerated (that’s Courtney tolerating two sisters for co-workers), grown, and learned so much from one another and from all of The Adore Girls who have graced the other side of our cameras. With every single Adore Girl that walks into our studio, is another opportunity for us to have something to be grateful for. We are grateful for the trust women have in us to do what we do, the trust it takes to get in front of our camera in lingerie or even less with someone they don’t know, and the trust they have that we will make them feel beautiful, comfortable and worthy of a boudoir photoshoot. We are grateful for the opportunity to do what we love for a living, and grateful for every kind word that has ever been spoken about us and our studio. Photographing over 2300 women is somthing we are so damn proud of and so empowered by ourselves by hitting such an incredible milestone. Here are a few of my all time favorite reviews from past Adore Girls (and one husband) from over the years:
“I loved the entire experience! I’ve always been so self-conscious of my appearance and for the first time I now have MANY photos of myself that I actually like! I’ve told my husband we’re just gonna have pics of me all over the place haha. From the hair/make up to the posing...everything was fun and light hearted and made me feel so at ease!”
“These ladies love what they do and it shows! They make you feel so special during your photos and do an amazing job!”
“She now sees herself as I have all along, beautiful outside as well as in. Thank you for helping her find her beauty, confidence and her true self.”
“This was so far outside my comfort zone, so thank you to all the beautiful ladies who came before me and shared their gorgeous photos and stories. I was dealing with body confidence and difficulties feeling worthy. Y’all have helped in healing my heart and my head!”