Since this is my last baby, I really wanted to do some pretty maternity photos that I can look back on in order to remember just how much my body changed while making my babies! While I took some traditional milk bath photos with flowers, I also wanted to be silly and do a Donuts & Milk Bath Maternity Photoshoot! If you want to do a donut and milk bath maternity photoshoot, I’m also sharing all of my tips and tricks!
My Donuts & Milk Bath Maternity Photos
I know the milk bath maternity photo trend is tired, but I have a white claw-foot bathtub that was just begging for a milk bath photoshoot! Plus, I was not about to go to the beach or some random field to take photos in a long, flowy dress. Don’t get me wrong, those photos are always gorgeous, but I have twin toddlers and really, I just want to stay home. So, instead, I decided to do some classic, beautiful milk bath and flower photos … but then I got a little silly and added some donuts because honestly taking a bath in milk and donuts is way more ME! So, here are My Donuts & Milk Bath Maternity Photos.
All photos were taken by the talented Ilene Squires of Ilene Squires Photography. If you’re local to Los Angeles, I highly recommend booking maternity, family, or wedding photos with her!
These photos were so much fun to take! But also, a lot of work! But since this is the last time I’ll ever be pregnant, it was so worth it! I just really wanted to document my pregnancy and the miracle that my body is going through.
And working with Ilene was great! She’s such a talented portraiture photographer! Plus, we’re friends and she’s had two babes herself, so I was pretty comfortable being half-naked in front of her and asking her to pour more milk on my boobs! Ha!
If you want to do your own Donuts & Milk Bath Maternity Photos, here are my tips:
- Bathtub: You’re gonna need a bathtub. A freestanding bathtub, not a shower/tub. And it should be white or the milk will look weird.
- Bathroom: And that freestanding bathtub needs to be in a large bathroom which gets plenty of natural sunlight.
- Lace gown: Here’s the link to my $20ish lace gown. I wore it with nude bra and underwear because I didn’t want to flash my photographer and I didn’t want my huge pregnancy nips showing in the photos.
- Hair, Nails, Makeup: If you’re hiring a photographer, get your hair, nails, and makeup professionally done if you don’t do them well yourself. I got my hair blown out and my nails done the day before. I didn’t get my makeup done, but I did get eyelash extensions!
- Milk: I used powdered milk, you can find it in the baking aisle at your grocery store. Fill up the tub first with warm water. Fill it higher than you think, you can always let some drain out. Then shut off the water and add your powdered milk and stir. Let it sit and settle for 5 minutes before getting into the tub.
- Flowers: If you’re going to do a donut shoot, shoot some photos with flowers first. They’re gorgeous and they won’t ruin the milk. You can check out my Floral Milk Bath Maternity Photos here.
- Donuts: Glazed donuts will float for about 3-5 minutes, so your photographer has to shoot fast. I bought a dozen large glazed, sprinkled donuts so we could swap out new ones if needed. Plus, they were great as props! I also purchased some smaller Hostess Donettes glazed donuts for variety, but be advised that they are cake donuts and they will get soggy and break apart if you touch them.
- Props/Tools: Have a colander/strainer, trash can, and stepladder handy. We used the colander/strainer to quickly remove the flowers when switching to the donuts and then used it again to remove the soggy donuts from the bath which we dumped directly into a trash can. I also had a stepladder ready for my photographer. And I had tons of props such as the floral crown, fresh floating flowers, pink box, and a variety of donuts.
Let me know if you do a Donuts and Milk Bath Maternity Photoshoot! Or get creative with cookies, cereal, or any of your pregnancy food cravings!!
All photos were taken by the talented Ilene Squires of Ilene Squires Photography. If you’re local to Los Angeles, I highly recommend booking maternity, family, or wedding photos with her!