After nine years together, my wife and I have created quite the life for ourselves. We have been through many ups and downs and experienced and accomplished many things. The one thing we have never acquired that had always been put on the back burner for us was having a professional photo taken; that staple in every relationship, that one item that every couple proudly places on a wall or mantle. We just never got around to taking the time to have one taken or we never had the money.We pushed it off and I kept saying I wanted to wait until we could do something other than a department store photo shoot. That just wasn't my style.

One day I was talking to a good friend and she told me about Lady Luck Pin Ups. I took the card and checked out the website. Sitting there in front of me, was the answer to my issue. I saw women of every age and body type, all happy and their beauty filling each image. It was at that moment I knew my wife and I had to become involved. I had never seen such sensual and playful  photos of plus sized women. 

I emailed Jen and told her my story.
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We are a lesbian couple with big personalities and dreams. I love art and expression and needed to be a part of Lady Luck Pin Ups. After a few discussions, through email, Jen came up with the perfect package to suit my small budget. Jen made me feel so comfortable and understood. She helped design the perfect package to gift my wife, despite my limited funds.

Jen and I spoke a few more times and met for a consultation. We became instant friends and spent the afternoon chatting and trying on clothes, clothes that actually fit my body and looked great. Then I turned and looked at my wife and was blown away by the transformation she was going through.

The day of the shoot we were whisked to Spacifix where we had our make-up done. The girl asked me how I wanted to look and I had no clue, I really don't wear make up and had no idea what to do. The make up artist started and I can't believe how relaxing and fun it was to have somebody transform my face. By the time I got to look in the mirror I felt like a million bucks and this was just the first step in my transformation.

Next came my sit down with Roberta, who is a sweetheart. I watched as she combed, sprayed and curled my wife's hair. Chatting away with us all the while, which is amazing considering my wife is an introvert. It felt like a stereotypical girls day you see in the movies. The four of us chatted about everything and anything. I felt so at home and comfortable, which is not easy for me. Normally I am a bag of nerves but Jen and Roberta had me laughing away and not worrying about anything.

Now there is something magical about Lady Luck Pin Ups. I have seen so many women transformed by the team and I was never concerned about how my hair and make up would look. My concerns were centered around my performance. How would I react in front of the camera and could Jen really make me look beautiful, like all these other women?

Finally I was all done up and had my wardrobe on. I stepped out of the change room and Jen squealed with excitement and uttered "I have so many ideas", a phrase you will never become tired of hearing her say. I could see the wheels turning in her head and became excited along with her.

The white backdrop and lights were very intimidating but suddenly I didn't notice anything. By this time my mother had stopped in to watch the shoot and it was fun to watch her reaction. Jen has this eye, where one moment my wife and I would be positioned awkwardly and with a few directions Jen would smile, and my mother would look shocked. "Stay like that" and "just one more" were now the words that I looked forward to hearing. I forgot about the camera, the lights and everything. I actually began to feel comfortable and beautiful in my own skin. 

The team at Lady Luck Pin Ups achieved something that I didn't expect. They didn't just make me look beautiful, they made me feel beautiful and that is worth more than any amount they could have asked from me.

Photography by Jennifer McCready
Founder, Owner & Photographer at Lady Luck Pin Ups

Makeup by Spacifix Esthetics Studio - Ridgeway, Ontario

Hair by Roberta 
 
Written by Gillian Barclay 

Tell us your story…

 Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.  Not in this case.  What do you do when you find out that the man you are about to marry, the one that you loved dearly and planned on spending the rest of your life with cheats on you 2 months before your wedding day?

Take a baseball bat to his car?  Smash his TV?  No, you smash some pumpkins and trash your wedding dress of course!  This is exactly the kind of thing that happens at Lady Luck Pin Ups.  Ashleigh originally contacted our lovely Jennifer here at Lady Luck to do their engagement photos.  She later contacted Jennifer again with her story about how the wedding wasn’t going to happen and why.  Ashleigh invited a couple of her bridesmaids to participate in her day of catharsis, some good old fashioned therapy and above all else, closure.
What better way to show your strength after feeling like you’re not good enough for someone then to show the world that you are in fact a tower of strength and that no one is going to break your spirit (or your heart for that matter).

Here at Lady Luck, we want you to know that you are not only beautiful but you are also not alone and most of all to have a great time.  As you can see here, there is no better way to spend the day then with your girlfriends to help close a chapter in your life with the best attitude possible.  Also, looking gorgeous and rolling around in paint helps too.

Thank you Ashleigh for coming through this experience with your head up high and showing other women that as much as it hurts when something like this happens, you can pull through and still get to wear your wedding dress and create memories of a truly amazing day.

Ashleigh has a tattoo on her foot that says, “Never Give Up”and girl, you didn’t!  Your spirit and humour and your ability to move forward with dignity is truly inspirational.  If that wasn’t enough, we hear that you have met someone special and now begins a new story to be told in your life.  We wish you the best of luck. 
                                                    
​Thanks Ashleigh for sharing your Lady Luck experience!                       
 
Photography by Jennifer McCready
Founder, Owner & Photographer at Lady Luck Pin Ups

Hair and Makeup by: Ashleigh and her girls
 
Words by Joanne Marlowe
Resident Writer at Lady Luck Pin Ups
 
Tell us your story…
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