A Tiger Jungle Themed Cake Smash with Saratoga Springs Baby Photographer

 I can’t believe Rhys is a year old! It seems like just yesterday, we were planning his newborn session and then he came in for his milestone portraits. Now, he’s a one year old and we had to celebrate with a fun tiger and jungle themed cake smash in my Saratoga Springs studio. I have worked with Rhys and his family to capture all three boys’ first year - so I knew his mom wouldn’t disappoint with another fun theme! I absolutely loved creating a playful jungle setup for Rhys to smash some cake!! 

Like his brothers, Rhys’ cake smash centered around an animal: a tiger. Both of his brothers also had animal inspired cake smashes, each one had a special significance for the baby. Rhys was born in the year of the tiger, so we incorporated a tiger into both his newborn & milestone portraits. We made sure to bring the tiger into his cake smash, too. I absolutely love how this came together with the jungle leaves and the stuffed tigers! His mom brought him in a super cute tiger outfit to tie it all together, too! 

During the cake smash, Rhys wasn’t super into his cake, but his big brothers loved digging in! It’s one of the reasons I always say “yes” to big siblings who come to join us - so someone will enjoy the cake!! Happy birthday, Rhys! I’m so happy I was able to watch you grow this past year. You’re such a little sweetheart!! 

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A red, white, and blue firework cake smash for a 4th of July baby!

Fourth of July babies are one of my favorite themes for the summertime!

Baby Axel was born on July 3, and I loved celebrating this little firecracker’s first birthday with a red, white, and blue cake smash. This gorgeous fabric flag is one of my favorite props that I’ve made (see it in last year’s cake smash with Oscar!) , and I spray painted fireworks on the floor for an extra special touch for the birthday boy.

Axel LOVED his cake! He was the happiest baby and he was all smiles and giggles once he tasted the frosting. He truly was the most efficient cake smasher that I have ever had the pleasure of photographing. I always like to look back at the timestamp on my camera for quick babies like this one, and he spent 8 minutes from start to finish with his cake, and less than 1.5 minutes in the tub! In the end we got a full gallery of smiles, laughs, and lots of cute little expressions from the birthday boy.

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An English Garden Cake Smash with Peonies

Sweet little Ellie came to the studio for her first birthday session, and it was absolutely perfect! We started her beautiful session with family portraits, and this baby girl just lit up everyone in great big smiles and laughs!

I loved planning this session with her mama to bring her dream of an English garden and tea party to life. We used a white backdrop and billowy curtains, loads of fluffy pink peonies, and a few beautiful bird cages, too! We have an itty bitty tea set in the studio, and Ellie played with her favorite stuffed animal and shared a tea party with her elephant. It was the cutest thing ever!

Ahhhhh!!! Don’t you just love how excited she is about her cake?!?! I love when babies show off their clapping skills during their first birthday sessions!

Bathtub splash at the end! Guess who wanted to eat all of the soap bubbles?!

Natalia's Cake Smash with an Amethyst Balloon Garland

Balloon garlands are getting popular for our cake smash sessions, and this gorgeous amethyst purple one might just be my favorite balloon garland yet!

Natalia came to the studio for her newborn session last year, and we incorporated purple because that was a prominent color in the nursery. Naturally, we wanted to use this color for the cake smash, too! But first we captured some incredibly sweet portraits of Natalia and her big sister together .

This sweet birthday girl was a little hesitant about her birthday cake, and spent a good amount of time crawling away from her cake at first… but eventually she really dug in and really rocked her cake smash!

Haha, this little stretch of hers is my favorite!

Big sister joined in at the end!

A Baby Shark Cake Smash by Nicole Starr Photography

Baby Shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo…

Every family that comes to the studio knows this song, and just about every family with a little one under 5 recognizes the tune. The Alexa in the studio basically plays this song on repeat!

I was so excited when Wells’ mama asked for a Baby Shark/under the sea cake smash for his first birthday! This was definitely a fun theme to design, and I loved creating all of the ocean elements by hand and pulling them together for a perfectly cheerful set up with just a hint of “Baby Shark” for the sweet birthday boy.

Even the birthday cake was made to look like ocean waves with graham cracker “sand”!

Wells wasn’t totally into the cake, and we spent a good bit of time following him around the studio because he LOVED showing off his crawling skills during his cake smash session.

His big brothers and sister joined in at the end, which is always so much fun! Hahaha, he may not have been so happy about sharing that delicious cake, though!

Thankfully this baby boy LOVED the bathtub, and the smash & splash was an absolute success with so many smiles and lots and lots of splashing!

The One with ALL OF THE CAKES! | Saratoga Springs Cake Smash Photographer

Cake smash sessions are one of my favorite ways to celebrate your baby's first birthday.  I love welcoming families to our Saratoga Springs studio (and our Attleboro studio!) for a very sweet portrait session.  You have survived 365 days of parenthood, so let's celebrate!

One of the things that I love the most about our cake smash sessions is unleashing my creativity on our custom-designed backdrops and sets.  Each session is unique, so I plan a custom backdrop for every baby based on the theme that their parents give me.  

This year we saw everything from superheroes & construction trucks, to Lilly Pulitzer & Cookie Monster.  Some parents use favorite books for inspiration (The Very Hungry Caterpillar cake smash, by Eric Carle), while others come to me with a favorite quote to incorporate into their session ("Love you to the moon and back").  

Just look at how CREATIVE parents were this year in coming up with themes for their little ones' birthdays!  I absolutely adore pulling their theme inspiration into a whimsical cake smash just for your baby.  I can't wait to take our backdrop creation to a whole new level in 2017!  Just wait until you see what we have in store for you this year!

One of the challenges that I enjoy in designing these creative sessions is that every single one is unique.  Even if a family comes to me months later requesting the same theme that another family used, I make sure to plan an entirely new set up for them so that their baby can shine in his or her own way.

This year there were some tears...   (Actually, a lot more tears than just these twins!  But this is my favorite image!)

And some helpers...  I think mom & dad always enjoy the cake as much as the baby, sometimes even more so!  

And there were a whole lot of cute babies (almost toddlers!).  Seriously, I can't believe I get to spend my days with babies, cake, and craft projects.  I must have the best job ever!

Need some inspiration for your baby's first birthday photo shoot?  Here’s a list of all of our favorite cake smash themes this year!

Lilly Pulitzer cake smash

Construction Trucks cake smash

Boho Chic cake smash

Cookie Monster cake smash

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star cake smash

Floral cake smash

Make Way for Ducklings cake smash

Where the Wild Things Are cake smash

Love You to the Moon and Back cake smash

Oh the Places You’ll Go cake smash

The Very Hungry Caterpillar cake smash

Cookies & Milk cake smash

And here are cake smash themes we'd love to do in the studio in 2017 to celebrate your baby's first birthday cake smash photo shoot!  Plus, any other ideas you have for your session!

Rocket Ship cake smash

Day at the Beach cake smash

Hot Air Balloon (Oh the Places You'll Go) cake smash

Rustic Woods cake smash

Winter Wonderland cake smash

Pirate cake smash

Unicorn cake smash

Jungle cake smash

Baseball cake smash

Glitter & Gold cake smash

Boho Chic cake smash

Airplane/Aviation cake smash

Under the Sea cake smash

Floral crowns with a "naked cake" (minimal frosting) cake smash

Nautical cake smash

And a few alternate foods/items we'd love to do for your session, because remember that not every baby is all about the cake!

Spaghetti smash

Watermelon smash

Pumpkin Pie smash

Finger painting smash

Muffin smash

One thing we added as an option to our sessions this year was a little SPLASH!  Our "smash & splash" sessions are becoming increasingly popular, and who doesn't love a little tub bath at the end of their portrait session?