Today we’d like to introduce you to Christian & Melissa Pleva.
Melissa, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
We are a partner team that both work and reside in the historic North End neighborhood of downtown Boston. I’m Melissa, the studio manager, second shooter, boudoir photographer and overall…the boss! Shhh…Just don’t tell Christian. I have a passion for working with couples and helping our clients feel pampered and comfortable throughout the year they spend with us in their planning process. I accompany Christian on each and every shoot and wedding to shoot as well as keep everyone to our usually tight timeline!
Christian was a toddler when photography was first introduced to him, inspired by his grandfather, who was a World War II photographer. He can remember watching in awe as he went to work in his dark room and couldn’t wait to have a camera in his own hands. For a long time it was a rewarding hobby that he couldn’t get enough of, until it got to a point that it was consuming all of his time and he decided to do it full time and live out his passion. He loves street photography, looking for emotion, gestures and irony as well as landscape and architecture. After jumping in fully he found that combining all of these elements was the perfect building blocks for wedding photography and his passion grew once he started working with couples. We moved from Las Vegas to Boston in 2013 and have been loving the city backdrops, and New England as a whole has been amazing with everything being so picturesque! Our style is not traditional, but instead we are inspired by the grit of street photography, the elegance of fashion photography and the emotion of the couples we work with. The result is an artistic flair that we hope feels unique to each of our clients and they treasure as artwork. We take pride in offering our clients the type of wedding photography they are looking for along with a boutique experience. It’s one thing to take pictures, it’s another to create beautiful art for you and make you feel relaxed and pampered in the process.
I’m a wife, mother, business partner, photographer, friend, daughter, etc…. the roles and duties go on. In the madness of day to day life I noticed the once wild, free spirited, sexy version of myself in my youth was slowly showing up less and less. Why is it that we are so tied down by our responsibilities and the pressure of daily life?
I found myself no longer caring about wearing makeup and trading in my once flirty, cute outfits for comfort and flats. Not to say that comfort is a bad thing, but as I sat back and analyzed I noticed those cute outfits, makeup and dress up were things that also made me FEEL GOOD! That is why I feel so passionate about the art of boudoir, and not just some crammed session where you show up, nervous and unsure and are out in 30 min, but I mean a complete experience. Why not treat yourself to a day of beauty, laughing, dress up and feeling great about yourself and letting that suppressed sexy temptress come out again! I want to help every woman feel that same confidence that I found, once I let go and felt free with where I was in life and with my body! We all have goals and say, “Once I lose 5 more pounds I’ll be ready,” but there is such freedom in letting go and feeling sexy and confident where you are! Let’s celebrate the women we are and reward ourselves with a day of beauty!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Of course not!!! When we began this journey we were still living in Las Vegas and were doing it on the side more as a hobby. Melissa had lived in Boston before and was anxious to get back to the North End where she loved living! We decided to pick up and move cross country, move in together for the first time, leave the two spacious homes we had separately and cram into an apartment in the city with two teenage boys, a dog and a cat. Oh yeah and then decide…Let’s open a business!!! We jumped in with both feet, Melissa quit her job and we secured a little studio space in the North End. We had no knowledge of what the wedding market was like here, where we should be in terms of pricing or how we would get our name out there! On top of that we weren’t even sure what the response to our style would be. In a market that was largely traditional, our style seemed to be a little more dramatic.
The studio we started out in was sold to a new owner, who turned it residential and we had to relocate just when we were starting to get the business off the ground. Oh yeah and then throw in that we ourselves got married this last October and we have one son getting ready for college! The trials and tribulations seem to never end! Luckily our tenacity and amazing clients have pushed us to where we are. They have been patient as we continue to try and create a boutique style experience on limited man power and have been incredible in referrals! So although the road has definitely not be easy, we have been surrounded with amazing clients, neighbors and community and our passion for what we do and to create beautiful images for our clients hasn’t wavered.
Please tell us about Christian Pleva Images/ Boudoir Boutique By Melissa.
We are honored to be a part of each and every couple’s special day, whether it is a destination wedding, a Boston based wedding or even a trip to the courthouse! Our style of wedding photography is deeply rooted in wedding photojournalism, influenced by fine-art and fashion photography. The result is creative, clean and crisp wedding photography that’s romantic, fun, and emotional. We pride ourselves on not just being photographers, but rather artists creating unique and expressive imagery. We truly try to create relationships with our clients throughout the year or more that they are planning. Being not just photographers, but consultants when needed. We want you to be excited to see us when we walk in on your day!
We believe that weddings are a social celebration of a very sacred commitment. We feel honored to be participants in every wedding we shoot and treat both the day and the people involved with the highest level of respect. Most of all, weddings are a day filled with beauty and magic that emerges effortlessly. We believe our job is to capture that magic in the most authentic way- unobtrusively, honestly, joyfully.
Our focus is on capturing dramatic, architecturally artistic images with a mix of journalistic style photography. We limit the number of posed and staged photographs and try instead to highlight the laughter, tears and passion that you and your guests will be feeling without our heavy involvement. We understand that each couple is unique in their style, personality and biography and strive to produce images that reflect that individuality.
On the boudoir side I believe in a full experience for each woman. Celebrating what makes her unique. I don’t believe in the 30 minute mini session, not because you can’t create beautiful pictures in that time, but because I want each woman to look back and think back on that day as a day of pampering as well as conquering. Whether she conquered a fear or just to accept herself the way she is. It’s amazing watching the transformation of each woman, starting the session nervous and unsure and leaving as a confident, sexy temptress! The hair and makeup is an important component of that experience. Everyone loves to feel pampered and gorgeous and few women give themselves an excuse to do that, busy taking care of everyone around them, there is never time for themselves. I love giving them that reason they think they need!
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
We define a successful studio as one that gives an amazing experience. From the minute they walk in our doors for their consultation we want them to feel comfortable and excited for their day! Honestly, our least favorite part of what we do is talking about money! Obviously it’s an important component, as this is how we survive and support our family, but we love what we do because of the impact on each couple’s lives. Watching them preview their images from an engagement session, and their glances back and forth, reminiscing about each kiss, smile or giggle we captured is so fun. We want them to celebrate who they are as a couple and really try to get them to shoot in locations that are meaningful to them so when they look back 20 years from now they still have special meaning. Additionally on a wedding day, being able to capture moments with loved ones and that sacred vow they take is absolutely priceless. Who else has a job that is so rewarding? The experiences we are able to capture are huge milestones in people’s lives and the more we can do that, the more successful we are.
Pricing:
- Full Day Wedding Coverage starting at $5500
- Engagement Sessions starting at $250
- Full Boudoir Experiences starting at $1149
Contact Info:
- Address: Christian Pleva Images
Boudoir Boutique By Melissa - Website: www.christianplevaimages.com
- Phone: 617.982.7939
- Email: info@christianplevaimages.com
- Instagram: christianpleva / boudoirboutiqueboston
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristianPlevaImages and https://www.facebook.com/boudoirboutiquebymelissa/
- Twitter: @christianpleva
