Anna Park
5/5
Our family had the most amazing Saturday - hanging out with MarElly and David of Happy Thoughts Studio! Anytime I tell the family we have a photo shoot coming up, I usually get a room full of groans and complaints. This was a completely different experience - fun, playful, intimate, intentional, and memorable family time - captured incognito by the talented and artistic, MarElly from the comfort of our home. She helped me plan some fun activities centered around what our family loves to do, like eating together, baking cupcakes, reading, dressing up, make-believe magic, and playing outside. She made sure to alternate high energy fun with quiet, calming activities to keep everyone from getting too hyper or loosing steam and melting down. Genius! I will use this tip for the rest of my mothering years. She gave us ideas on outfits and even brought over a bunch of cute clothes to try on. My four children especially loved all the elegant and whimsical dress up clothes MarElly “surprised” them with. No one was telling us to look here, or let’s all get into this awkward position and force a fake smile. No one needed to tell anyone to smile because we were having fun and enjoying one another. At times we forgot she was even in the room, and other times all the kids were surrounding her and showing off their outfit or their sword fighting skills. She spent time getting to know each kid and had a way of making even my shyest child blossom from behind the lens. Everything felt very organic, stress free, relaxed, and it most definitely shows in the extraordinary photos. She took a simple family day at home and made it into something magical that we can now visually treasure forever. My kids are already asking when their new friend, MarElly, will come back to play with them!