Last fall, we had the pleasure of photographing Luisa and Douglas’s dreamy desert session to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Complete with a bouquet, flower crown and bed of rose petals you just have to see (click here for that!), that when Luisa emailed for another one when they’d be back in town from Texas, we thought there was NO WAY we could top it. As we got closer to the session, she emailed us again. With a BIG secret. They were pregnant! She asked us to turn the 2019 anniversary session we already had scheduled… into a gender reveal. WE. WERE. SO. IN!
Luisa ordered an at-home blood test to determine the gender, and then created a fake email address that only we had the password to, so the results would be sent directly to us, and they wouldn’t have a way to find out until the big moment. When that email dinged. We read it again (and again) JUST TO BE SURE we were reading it right. We didn’t want to be responsible for messing that up! No, thank you! This was the first time we’ve ever known the gender of a baby BEFORE his or her parents! And it was so fun! And so nerve wracking!
A few days later, we arrived to the private estate in North Scottsdale where Luisa and Douglas were staying. Per usual, they looked fabulous. Those Europeans really know how to dress! We hugged and reminisced for a bit, but were all feeling the nerves, and didn’t want to wait any longer than we had to! So we started walking through the nearby desert to a picture perfect spot. Douglas handed us two boxes of smoke bombs. One with pink powder, and one with blue powder. We double checked our email one final time, so we didn’t have a mixup, then set the boxes down (out of sight).
We positioned Luisa and Douglas side by side and asked them for one final prediction. They both said the same thing, “Healthy.” Amen to that. After exchanging glances one more time, they covered their eyes. Amy backed up and readied her camera. Jordan pulled the (correct) smoke bombs out of the box, lit them and started circling the mom and dad to be, surrounding them with smoke. Once it had filled the air, we told Luisa and Douglas to open their eyes. IT WAS PINK! They’re having a girl! We LOVED their reactions and feel so honored we got to be the ones to reveal the good news to them and capture the whole thing!
After we all celebrated together, we headed off to the desert to celebrate with an anniversary session — their last one before they become a family of three!
Luisa and Douglas, we are so happy for you. That one is blessed little girl that God chose you to be her parents. Thank you for trusting us with such a sweet moment in your family history. For years to come, we hope you look back on this moment as the first day, of the best chapter, of the rest of your life.
