It has been an amazing seventeen years together and we finally decided we were ready for the next chapter in our lives. Yes, it took us (well, mainly me) seventeen years to decide on having a baby. It’s no surprise to our friends and family, though (because it took me thirteen years to FINALLY decide to set a date for our wedding). So when we found out that we were expecting we knew exactly what we wanted to do with our maternity photo shoot – DISNEYLAND!!!!
We are HUGE Disney fans and spent many of our first dates as a couple at Disneyland – way before when Carsland even existed and Pixar Pier was called “Paradise Pier”. Also, being maternity and newborn photographers ourselves, we knew we wanted to do it all on our own just to make it extra special. This means we had a whole lot of planning to do. Trust me, as the date drew near to the photo shoot, I was on the cusp of hiring someone else and ditching the whole “extra special” sentimental feels of the whole session. But as always, my amazing and supportive husband, Bao, reassured me that it will all be “fine”.
How did we accomplish all this? It wasn’t easy and it took a lot of patients and waiting around. We decided to pick a day that we thought would have the least amount of people; therefore, it had to be in the middle of the week. We also knew that we needed to bring an assistant with us (to be our human tripod) to get the photos with both of us in it. It turned out; our good friend was available on a Thursday and was willing to spend the day with us at Disneyland. So we went to scope out the park on a Thursday, two weeks before our planned session date, and came up with a game plan.
Our friend/assistant/”human tripod” did a wonderful job at getting the “couple” shots for us.
Did I mention that it was hot and humid? The weather just killed my hair but the makeup by Mayra Beauty Prints held up so well!
We also had to keep a few other details in mind. For one, Disneyland does not allow commercial photographers but you’re more than welcome to do photography on your own. If you’re looking for a professional photographer to come with you to the park and get some great photos for you, Disneyland offers a service for that. Since we were not doing this for commercial purposes and it is just for our own memories, we didn’t feel like we were breaking any Disneyland rules. After all, we were very mindful of our equipment and didn’t bring large light boxes or reflectors. We just brought our essentials and made it work. We were also mindful of other guests and tried not to get in their way or asked anyone to move so that we could get our photos. We just patiently waited.
This was the first picture we got by Snow White’s wishing well. I had to rush over, get into the pose while my husband quickly fluffed my train and took the shot. As soon as we clicked our camera, Aladdin and Jasmine came out for their regular scheduled appearance and we had to vacate the well for true Disney royalties.
We started out at the Snow White’s Wishing Well to the right of Sleeping Beauty’s castle. This was the prefect location since our maternity session theme was Snow White. This was a tough location because Disney characters are scheduled to appear in this area every half hour, on the hour. So we had to wait for the crowds to clear and use the small window of time (5 to 10 minutes) we had just to get a few pictures at a time. We literally were hanging out there for about 3 hours just to get all the poses we wanted. Oh, not to mention, on the day of our photo shoot, there was a planned engagement!!! So we were very courteous and stood back and watched a proposal play out right before us. We also used a few people-free spots around this area to get extra pictures that we didn’t really plan for but turned out great.
After our venture by the castle at Disneyland, we had some lunch and took a much-needed break and I changed into my more “casual” gown before heading over to Disney California Adventure. Of course we had to get some photos at the iconic Pixar Pier. This was a bit difficult because the sun was blaring by the time we got there and there were a few people in the background. But we were still able to get some really nice shots the first ten minutes before it got a bit over crowded.
Overall, we were very happy with the results and can’t wait to bring our baby back for his very first visit. We’ll probably turn it into a photo opportunity, as well.