An Alpaca-Inspired Maternity Session

Excitement abounds at the Harvard Alpaca Ranch, where four alpaca mamas-to-be eagerly await the arrival of their long-limbed babies. We had the amazing opportunity to visit the ranch and meet all of the alpacas, and we decided that a maternity photoshoot was the most adorable way to do a pregnancy announcement for these fluffy ladies.

Some amazing vendors donated their wares to the event, and we couldn’t be more pleased with their additions to the shoot. All the vendor info is located below the body of this post!

Our friend Jami, a human, is also pregnant. She joined the alpacas for the maternity shoot to provide an extra dose of cute to an already delightful event.

We arrived at the ranch on the evening of May 13th and set up a gorgeous sign provided by Sage & Oak Creative. We arranged it with beautiful and elegant flower wreaths from Wild Meadow Floral. The alpacas were suspicious of the appearance of an easel in their paddock and were less than enthused about posing with it. We ended up using leashes to pull the alpacas close to the sign so we could show it off alongside the expectant alpaca mamas.

One of the pregnant alpacas was patient enough to wear a flower wreath around her neck...for about 30 seconds. You definitely can’t make an alpaca do anything she doesn’t want to do!

Our human model, Jami, was more than happy to pose wearing a flower crown and corsage. She also showed off some exquisite pregnancy announcement cookies from Colby’s Cookiery.

We set the alpacas free to roam about the paddock, where they frolicked and zoomed as a herd. They wanted to eat fresh grass instead of posing with Jami. We were able to slowly lure them closer with treats until they got to Jami, who had her own stash of alpaca goodies to convince them to stay with her.

With the consistent application of goodies, we were able to get some lovely shots of Jami posing with the alpacas, including Fire. Fire was the furthest along in her pregnancy, and on May 26th she delivered a precious baby girl alpaca. Congratulations, Fire, and welcome to baby Luna! We’re still eagerly expecting the arrival of the three other baby alpacas who are due in July, whom we’re sure will be just as cute and just as leggy.

We hung out with the lady alpacas in their paddock for a while and then went to another paddock to meet the alpaca gentlemen. The male alpacas were quite interested in investigating new additions to their home and went right up to Jami without hesitation. These alpaca gents are willing to do anything for treats, and Jami was able to escort them around the paddock with the strategic use of tasty bribes.

Jami was even lucky enough to be able to hug Ivanhoe, who is the father of two of this year’s babies, including Fire’s! Ivanhoe is a blue-ribbon winning alpaca, and we couldn’t resist sinking our hands into his soft fiber. Petting Ivanhoe was the perfect ending to our delightful alpaca photoshoot.

Harvard Alpaca Ranch is a working farm that sells exceptionally soft alpaca fiber products as clothing and gifts. They offer farm tours by appointment, so you can have the pleasure of meeting these fluffy friends. The ranch also sells alpaca “magic beans” which can be easily collected in one convenient scoop because alpacas like to poop together as a group! The magic beans make an excellent fertilizer. One of the herd members, Erik, works as a therapy animal who can visit locations away from the farm to provide people with comfort and enjoyment with his calm nature and soft fiber. Harvard Alpaca Ranch also has an Adopt-An-Alpaca which allows you to sponsor and feel close to a special alpaca.

Thank you so much to the vendors who donated their time and gifted us with gorgeous items to use in this photoshoot! Extra special thanks to Harvard Alpaca Ranch for hosting us and allowing us to photograph and pet their alpacas. We can’t wait to meet the newest members of the herd once they’ve all arrived!

A huge thank you to the esteemed alpaca whisperer, Dr. Sam Levinson, who successfully lured the alpacas towards us with special tasty treats (bribes).