Beyond the Newborn Session: Capturing the First Year of Milestones

I don’t know what it is about parenthood that makes time fly by, but I know that ever since my son was born, I’ve blinked and another year has gone by. As a mom and a professional photographer, I understand the value of portraits of my child from the newborn stage and beyond. Newborn portraits are one of the things most parents put on their “parenting to-do list”. That first year is fleeting and I think it’s so important that everyone has a chance to document their precious baby. But the documentation shouldn’t end there.

When I was a new mom, I constantly had my camera out to capture every little moment and changes in our son after our newborn portraits. Looking back, I’m so happy that I have truly beautiful and classic baby portraits of my son, in (and out) of the studio to document those stages, too. Every time he started on a new milestone or learned a new skill, I wanted to capture it forever.

Our babies change SO much in the first year of life - more than any other year as they grow. They grow their first teeth, laugh for the first time, and learn to sit up, crawl, and walk. Capturing all of those milestones truly matters. We all say we never want to forget those stages and changes - and with studio portraits, you never will. You’ll have those dimpled cheeks and baby giggles documented forever to enjoy.

As babies grow, they enter into my favorite stage, the “Gerber Baby stage”, when they’re 6-10 months old. This is one of the most popular milestone sessions in my studio. Babies are sitting up solidly, they're happy and expressive, they interact with you and play into all of the games (peekaboo, tickles) to let us capture their amazing smiles. They're not that mobile yet so they're not running away from the camera - so it works out for us. These are often some of the best portraits to capture your little one’s personality as they start to figure out who they are.

After the “Gerber Baby stage”, our babies inch even closer to turning one… and then comes the super popular cake smash session! These cake smash portraits are always a lot of fun. They’re a celebration of your baby - and of your family’s journey over the last year. I love watching babies and their families interact during their one year milestone and cake smash portraits in the studio. It’s also the perfect time to document something your baby is interested in, when you choose your cake smash theme.

Capturing your baby’s first year is so important. These studio sessions are the perfect way to document each of your baby’s milestones along the way - and a great way to ensure you’ll always have stunning portraits to remember each sweet baby smile by. Our baby’s first year always flies by… make sure you don’t miss teh chance to document it all!

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Grayson's Fourth Trip Around the Sun - An Outer Space Cake Smash

I say it every year, but I can't even believe that our sweet boy is another year older! Grayson is FOUR. I don't know where the time goes, but it really does move at warp speed once you become a parent. It feels like we were just doing his other cake smash sessions not that long ago (check out his first birthday, second birthday, and third birthday portraits here!)

Every year I plan birthday portraits around a theme that is special to Grayson. When he was a baby, his favorite stuffed animal was a llama so we did a llama cake smash -- and it's still his favorite stuffed animal to this day! At age 2, he was obsessed with school buses, so naturally that's what his theme was. Last year at age 3, he was all about the mail truck.

But now this year feels different because he's not just into things with wheels anymore. As he likes to tell everyone, he's "really into space" and "obsessed with the planets."

Our little guy is super interested in learning everything he can about space. This future astronomer first saw pictures of the planets in a little card game a few months ago, and ever since then he can't get enough information about space!

It quickly turned into trips to the library to check out informational books on space and a visit to the planetarium. He asks to read his space books multiple time a day, and his favorite ones are called "Wonderbooks" and they have a read-aloud story built right into the book so he can listen to them on his own. Grayson loves them and plays them over and over. He draws the planets on his chalkboard and rattles off a million and one facts about the planets, their moons, which ones are gassy, which ones are bigger than others, and why some are so cold. He talks about asteroid belts and comets, galaxies and the big bang. It feels like we've been living in a seventh grade science class relearning all of this information alongside him, but he LOVES it and it's amazing to see what he has absorbed and understood.

Grayson asked me to do a cake smash with him, and I told him he would have to help me plan it. Naturally, we chose a space theme for his fourth birthday! He helped pick out the decorations, he chose his outfit, and helped me get it all set up. I make his cakes because of his peanut allergy, and we had fun baking this sweet concoction.

Now that he's getting older he wants to be a lot more involved in the studio, and it's really fun watching that excitement blossom inside of him. He's a pretty cool kid, and I'm excited to watch him come into his own even more this year as a four year old!

Planning your own little one's birthday portraits?

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A Music-Themed Cake smash for Baby Easton

I can’t believe Baby Easton is already one! It feels like yesterday that he came into the studio for his newborn session and now he’s a year old. I was so happy when his mom reached out to me to plan this cake smash for him. It’s the perfect way to celebrate your baby turning one! Cake smashes are completely personalized to your family and your baby, which makes them a great way to document this big milestone!

Since Easton loves going to weekly mommy & me music classes, his mom knew that they wanted to incorporate this into his cake smash. With a requested color palette of light blue, grey, and white, I was able to work on the setup. I love how all of the pieces came together - and I think Easton agrees. He was SO happy our entire session - and super chatty. We had a great time watching him enjoy his cake and crawl around the studio.

Happy first birthday, Easton!!

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My Favorite Balloon Garlands for Cake Smashes

I absolutely love balloon garlands! They’re such a fun way to decorate and build a setup for cake smashes in the studio. Today, I thought it would be fun to share a few of my favorite balloon garlands so that when you start to plan your baby’s first birthday portraits, you’ve got some great ideas in mind.

Balloon garlands are an easy way to bring some color to the studio - especially if a family isn’t sure they want an actual them. They’re festive and celebratory! Paired with confetti, balloon garlands are a super fun way to celebrate your baby turning one!

Use Garlands instead of a Theme

Some families prefer to do a cake smash with no theme, but instead they have color inspiration they would like to use. A balloon garland pulls everything together and makes it festive. Just add a little confetti sprinkled on the floor, and you’re good to go!

You’ll see that we often use balloon garlands WITH a theme, too. It’s such a fun way to pull together a more theme (like the Easter Bunny, music, and a sports team, as you’ll see below!) by adding cutouts and other decor to complete the look.

Assembling Your Balloon Garland

As I prepare for birthday sessions, one of my jobs is assembling the balloon garlands. It’s much easier than you think! My number one tip is to make sure that you mix different sized balloons for a balanced look. I also love THESE balloon clips, which help me reuse my balloons for multiple sessions. All about low waste options! When you start to build the garland, bring your balloons really tightly together and then once you add it to your setup, you can re-arrange the balloons by flipping some forward and backward to get the look you want.

Below, you’ll find some of the most popular themes and color combinations - as well as a chance to click on some of the original blog posts and see the full setup!

I hope these portraits inspire you to include a balloon garland in your child’s first birthday portraits!

Pastels

Blues

Chromes/Metallics

White with Florals

Vibrant

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A First Trip Around the Sun Cake Smash

Happy birthday, Brandon! This little astronaut came to my Saratoga Springs NY studio for his first birthday cake smash - complete with an outer space theme. When Brandon’s parents inquired and began planning their portraits with me, I was super excited about the theme they mentioned. As we dove further into possible colors and ideas, we settled on some blues and oranges, with silver accents. Everything felt super space-y and was the perfect fit for their little birthday boy! Brandon was an absolute joy to photograph. He loved the spotlight and was excited to dig into his cake from Kelly Skitchenny! I don’t blame him… it looked delicious!

We rounded out his first birthday portraits with family portraits on the sofa in my studio. I love the classic and simple feel to these portraits - just these three and lots of smiles! What a perfect way to celebrate a first birthday!!

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A Winter ONEderland Cake Smash with Blue & Silver with Saratoga Springs cake smash photographer

Happy first birthday, Leo! I recently welcomed Leo and his wonderful parents to the studio for his first birthday cake smash. Since he’s a winter baby, we went with the ever popular theme of a Winter ONEderland. This is honestly one of my favorite themes for babies born in the colder months, and I’m always looking for ways to make it unique. For Leo’s session, we decided to use blue and silver as the main palette. And you may even recognize some of the snowflakes from our holiday sessions! They were the perfect final touch to Leo’s setup.

You never know how babies will be during their cake smashes. Some of them absolutely love the cake and others don’t. But, Leo absolutely LOVED it. He went for the cake and totally smashed it. He was definitely one of the most enthusiastic smashers I’ve ever had in the. Not to mention, one of the happiest babies! His little smiles made me giggle. Just wait until you see them!

If your baby is turning one this year, let’s talk about their cake smash portraits! I love helping families decide on the perfect theme for their little one, and making it all their own! In the meantime, enjoy scrolling through Leo’s winter cake smash portraits!

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A Baseball Themed Cake Smash with tips for your next session

Happy birthday, Skyler! Skyler recently came to my Saratoga Springs studio to celebrate his first birthday with a baseball themed cake smash. His dad is a huge baseball fan, so we went with an orange and blue NY Mets theme. It was so much fun to plan a session that I knew meant a lot to Skyler’s family. While I’ve done other sports setups before, this was my first Mets inspired portrait session. To add a little dimension to my overhead shots, I added some cutouts of baseballs and bats to the floor for his session. It really created a super exciting look for Skyler!

After our family portraits and cake smash were complete, Skyler got to play in the tub to clean up and end our time together. Like a lot of babies, he loved the tub more than his cake! Either way, we got some super cute portraits of him to celebrate his first birthday. I can’t wait for you to see them all.

If your little one is turning one and you plan to do a cake smash, here’s a few tips to help get your baby interested in their cake for their portraits:

1. Consider hiding small food in the icing like puffs, cheerios, or yogurt drops. Asking them to get those foods may help get them to taste the icing.

2. Allow them to use a wooden spoon to play and touch the cake!

3. Take a break! There’s no pressure in my studio to get a little one to eat cake right away. Let’s have a snack or some milk and try again.

4. Distraction! Play baby’s favorite song or hold up their favorite toy. They’ll feel more comfortable!

5. Blow bubbles! If your little one won’t go near the cake, try adding some bubbles. As you can see with Skyler’s portraits, they add a touch of fun to the final images!

Above all, trust that your photographer will still capture all of your little one's adorable expressions and their full personality in their portraits, and maybe even a smile or two to surprise you! Cake smashes (especially!) are meant to be fun - so there’s truly no stress or pressure!

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A baseball themed cake smash photographed by Saratoga Springs NY cake smash photographer Nicole Starr Photography

Your Cake Smash: What to Expect

Celebrating your baby’s first birthday is such an exciting milestone! Not only is your baby ONE, but there’s so much you’ve achieved as a parent, too. It’s honestly one of the reasons I love photographing cake smash portraits so much. These babies are adorable and have some incredible new skills to show off. Plus, they’re just a lot of fun! But, cake smashes are a pretty unique type of session… and since it’s meant to be fun (and not stressful!), I want to make sure you know what to expect when you come into the studio.

Let’s celebrate together.

Today, I want to share a peek into what cake smash sessions are like, how you can prepare yourself and your almost one-year-old, and really enjoy this special time!

Choose a photographer that has plenty of experience with babies & toddlers.

Let’s start with the very first & most important thing. If you haven’t chosen a photographer yet, be sure to keep this in mind because all I want is for your little one to be comfortable and safe during their session, and for you to feel at ease the entire time.

A photographer who has plenty of experience photographing babies will be able to draw out the best smiles and expressions from your little one during your session. They know how to engage the baby and get them interested in their cake, the very best angles to capture your perfect little baby, and all of the must-have shots that will come together for a cake smash session that is more than just a smattering of portraits but that truly tells a story.

Choose a photographer who’s style and creativity you adore!

Cake smashes are one of the most creative types of sessions that baby photographers can do! Most photographers create their backdrops and props by hand, pulling together decor and other elements to bring your vision to life. Study a photographer’s portfolio to see which style you adore, and have specific requests for your cake smash setup. If you’re not sure of a theme or decor style, your photographer should be able to talk you through it to help you discover the perfect theme for your baby’s first birthday portraits.

When you arrive at the studio


When families come to my studio I have them take their shoes off at the door to keep the floors clean for the babies and toddlers that we have in our space. I let parents settle in on the studio sofa and I show them where the snacks and drinks are, and if big brother or sister is there we spend a little time in the toy corner to help them get acclimated to the new space.



Parents can change baby into their outfit for family portraits (this is usually a different outfit than we use for the cake smash). Sometimes baby will need a little more time to acclimate, and we don’t rush things! There is plenty of time for cuddles, a snack, songs, and playing before we begin your portraits.

First up come family portraits!


We start with family portraits to ease the baby into the new situation, and being in mom and dad’s arms helps make that a smooth transition! We capture a mix of family portraits, sibling portraits, and individual portraits of the baby. In the cooler months we do these in the studio in our white room setup and on the loveseat. In the warmer months we often meet at a nearby park for the family portraits before heading back to the studio for the cake smash.

Then it’s time for the cake smash!


After the family portraits we change the baby’s outfit. I usually capture a few portraits of baby on our setup without the cake before we bring out the cake. Parents are on baby duty to bring a moving baby back to the setup when they crawl off the backdrop, and we coax the baby to get comfortable with their cake. Sometimes a parents will sit right by their side if the baby prefers to be close to them, and often a parent will show them how to take a bite of the frosting or put a little on their lips to show them that it is food. Some babies need a little more help to dig into their cake, and we hide puffs or yogurt drops in the frosting to get them to dig in. I also have a wooden spoon that we pull out, and babies LOVE playing with the spoon. This always gets the biggest smiles!

Finish up with a bathtub splash!


The baby will let us know when they’re done with the cake, and we take off their outfit and get them ready for the bathtub. I fill the studio’s tiny clawfoot tub with warm water and bubbles, and then the baby gets in! This is an adorable opportunity for happy baby portraits, and I always love the smiles that we capture at the end of the session!



After we have captured a variety of portraits of your little one, we are all done! You have time to change and dress your baby, and if you need to give them a snack again before getting in the car you can absolutely do that, too!

After the session


If you’re comfortable with a sneak peek on social media, I usually share that 4-5 days after your session.

Then we will get together about 2 weeks later for your ordering appointment! We’ll choose your favorite family and baby portraits to hang on your walls, and select your favorite images for an album or a collection box. This is always my favorite part when families fall in love with the images we created of their birthday baby!

Once I send everything to print you’ll get it back in 2-6 weeks — certain products take closer to the 4-6 week mark, but others are always ready much, much sooner. When everything is ready I will either come drop it off or put it in the mail to you, or you can come pick it up at the studio. Then you’ll start enjoying your images right away at home!

Any questions? I’d be happy to chat with you about your little one’s portrait session. Click on the button below and let’s connect!

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Tiffany & Co Cake Smash for Baby's First Birthday

I cannot believe Giuliana is already one! She’s a Baby Plan graduate so she’s no stranger to the studio! I’ve loved watching her grow up. We started her portraits before she was even born with her mom’s maternity session then once she arrived, we captured her newborn portraits and milestones, too. And most recently, she came into the studio for her Tiffany & Co cake smash!

This session was so much fun to design. I love the colors of Tiffany & Co… I mean, who doesn’t?! Giuliana’s mom brought in boxes and ribbons from her own collection of Tiffany gifts, so it was perfect. Not only did everything look amazing but it was so personalized because this are her mom’s! How special is that? I actually learned how to tie a Tiffany bow using the ribbon and it was so fun! I’ll definitely be using those bows moving forward because they’re actually knotless bows and so easy to untie!

Giuliana definitely brought her fun personality to her portraits. I loved watching her explore and get a taste of that teal icing. She kept making me think of her newborn portraits when she was posing with her hands under her chin. We used a similar pose when she was a baby. What a fun little throwback! Enjoy a peek into this sweet Tiffany & Co cake smash for Giuliana’s first birthday!

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A Beach Theme First Birthday Cake Smash

I cannot believe Oliver is already a year old! He came into the studio for his newborn portraits just yesterday, I swear! :o) Now, he’s a year old and came back to the studio for a beach inspired cake smash. His family recently moved to the beach and he absolutely LOVES it there - so it was definitely a perfect theme for this little guy. His parents brought a beautiful cake from Kelly’s Kitchen to bring this setup to life and it was just stunning!

Despite the delicious looking cake, Oliver wasn’t quite sure about it all when he actually got to the studio. Even though he wasn’t too fond of the cake, we managed to capture some great expressions! I’m all about capturing your little ones as they are - happy, sad, or in between - when it comes to their smashes. Even if your baby isn’t too sure about their cake or the icing, I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve for their time in the studio!

Worried your little one won’t be interested in their cake? Try one of these tips:

• Hide snacks in the frosting that they love! They’ll dig for them, trust me.

• Let them play with wooden spoons - they can eat from them or just bang them around!

• Play their favorite songs on Alexa!

• Take a break and grab a snack or their favorite toy.

• Have the parents hang near the edge of the backdrop so they’re nearby.

• Lots of breaks for hugs and kisses!

• Toys and rattles on hand for distractions can be a great option!

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Where the Wild Things Are Cake Smash

Well this was definitely a fun session! We planned a “Where the Wild Things Are” cake smash to go along with the theme of Jacob’s first birthday party. His mama found the most adorable romper at Zara and it went perfectly with the greenery in the decor. The little golden crown with fur (just like Max wears in the book!) was the perfect finishing touch for the birthday boy’s outfit. Find more tips for choosing a cake smash outfit here!

The last time I had this theme request was probably 5 years ago, so it was fun to pull together a brand new backdrop and create something beautiful for this sweet boy’s birthday celebration!

Wondering how to choose a theme for your baby’s cake smash? Check out these tips!

Jacob LOVED this cake, and he especially enjoyed it when his big brother Jonas joined in. I have been photographing this family’s milestones since big brother was a newborn, and it’s always so amazing to see how much they grow and change over the years. Look at how sweet he is feeding his little brother here!

We began the session with family portraits in Congress Park in downtown Saratoga Springs. Summertime colors were in full bloom and it was absolutely gorgeous!

The happiest baby you ever did see!

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A Racetrack Themed Cake Smash in Saratoga Springs

When your family moves to Saratoga Springs from across the country and most of your first year is spent in your new city, of course you want to reflect that in your choice of cake smash theme! Cameron’s family moved to the area during Covid and wanted to honor their new hometown with a racetrack themed cake smash. They dressed him up in his most dapper outfit (I looooove the colors in his shirt!) and brought a beautiful cake from Kelly’s Kitchen.

This little cutie was all smiles and he loved the attention he got while smashing his cake, but what really got him smiling were the bubbles that we blew! Look closely and you might just see a few bubbles in the corners of the pictures! ;o)

We started their session with family portraits in Congress Park in downtown Saratoga Springs. I love this colorful spot in the park, and it was perfect for these cuddly family portraits. Cameron adored the hugs and tickles from his parents, and he was beyond happy for the family portraits!

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A White and Green Football Cake Smash

We had such a fun football-themed cake smash for Oliver’s first birthday! I loved designing a simple football setup with whites and greens to match his custom jersey onesie, and this birthday boy had a blast digging into his cake!

His family truly loves football, and everyone has their favorite team they support. From mom and dad to big sister and grandpa, everyone has a different favorite team that they root for, and this little boy was born into a family of football fans! I know what he’ll be doing every Sunday this fall!

Click to read this blog post with ideas on how to choose a theme for your baby’s cake smash!

Just look at that SMILE!!!! Such a joyful birthday boy!

Touchdown! Love this pose he did himself during his bathtub splash!

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A Lake George and Adirondacks Theme Cake Smash

This was such a fun cake smash theme to put together! When Henry’s mama reached out about planning a cake smash session for his first birthday, she told me how much their family enjoys spending time at Lake George. She wanted to reflect the lake & Adirondack mountains in his cake smash, and she loved the idea of a watercolor mountain backdrop. I found the perfect blue mountain backdrop and added twinkle lights for stars, a little wooden dock, and a tree (from my Christmas props!) for greenery. Mix in a sailboat and an Adirondack chair, and the cutest little striped romper that was reminiscent of an old-fashioned swimsuit, and it was perfect!

Wondering how to come up with the perfect theme for your baby’s first birthday cake smash? I have a whole blog post filled with ideas and recommendations! Click here to read it!

Henry loved his cake! It took him a little while to dig in, but once he did he started massaging it and he smashed it to smithereens. The ombre frosting on the cake went beautifully with the water/mountain theme, too! Click here for some tips for choosing the perfect cake for your baby’s cake smash!

Big sister Emma joined in for a few bites, and she took her cake eating very seriously. Love these sibling shots!!

There he goes destroying his cake! A true cake SMASH!

Every cake smash session starts with family portraits, and in the warmer weather we head outdoors for those. There are so many cute little sidewalks in neighborhoods of Saratoga Springs that I love for these portraits, and we found a colorful area for this family’s summertime portraits.

This walking portrait is always a favorite moment to capture in our first birthday sessions! I love it when everyone is holding the baby’s hands and he is looking right at the camera!

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A Colorful and Playful Dragon Cake Smash - Saratoga Springs Cake Smash Photographer

Can we stop and appreciate my super creative clients that completely ROCK IT when choosing a theme for their baby’s cake smash?!?!

This sweet boy’s middle name is Draco, so we incorporated a dragon into his newborn session and also did a dragon cake smash with hints of their favorite color — green!

I loved how the whole setup came together with the fluffy cotton clouds, the twinkly lights, their little dragon stuffed animals from home, and the fire-breathing dragon decal on the wall. Just perfect!

Tips for choosing a theme for your baby’s cake smash!

The birthday boy loved his cake, and he dug right into it! There are a few things that make a cake extra-smashable and extra-photogenic for a cake smash.

• the type of frosting

• the flavor of the cake

• the color of the frosting

• how many layers

Want to learn all my secrets for choosing the perfect cake for your cake smash? Check out this super helpful blog post and jot down some notes so you’re ready to order your smash cake soon, too!

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A Mickey Mouse Cake Smash with Gray and Cream Accents

This sweet family reached out to plan Baby #2’s cake smash, and they wanted a Mickey Mouse theme to coordinate with his nursery bedding. The mom sent me a photo of his bedding set, which is a cream and gray Mickey theme by Lambs & Ivy. So we skipped the classic red and yellow and went with soft neutrals, which as anyone that has seen my works knows, neutrals are much more my style!

Since I had photographed this birthday boy’s big brother’s cake smash two years ago, we wanted to setups to complement each other so I incorporated the balloons and marquee letters in both, and a similar style with the character cutouts, too!

Click to see big brother’s Snoopy cake smash here!

This little man wasn’t afraid to get messy and he dug right into his cake! Head first! He loved it and we had so much fun watching how happy he was. By the end, he was completely covered in buttercream frosting and he couldn’t stop smiling!

All of our birthday sessions also include family portraits! This is such a fun way to celebrate your whole family’s year together, and a great opportunity to capture beautiful portraits of each of you with the baby. In the warm weather, we do these family portraits outdoors before heading back to the studio for the cake smash. I love the happy expressions we captured on the boys in these ones!

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A Fiesta First Birthday Cake Smash

I always love when families choose a meaningful theme for their baby’s cake smash session. Sometimes it’s a favorite book or song, a favorite toy or a nursery theme, or something that reflects the family’s background. Anaís’s mama chose a colorful fiesta theme for her daughter’s first birthday cake smash to honor her Mexican heritage, and I absolutely loved pulling it all together for the birthday girl.

Psssst…. wondering how to choose a theme for your baby’s cake smash? Check out this blog post!

This adorable birthday girl LOVED her cake and she had us laughing the whole time she was digging in. From great big bites to putting her feet in the cake, and having a major interest in the confetti instead of the cake, Anaís was such a joy and I really loved photographing her first birthday portraits.

Her beautiful outfit was handmade to match the theme, tying together the traditional Mexican styles of a serape skirt and an embroidered tunic, and it was so perfect on this sweet girl! Plus, I love how the papel picado banner coordinated beautifully with the garlands on the cake. Too adorable!

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A Pink and Gold Cake Smash with Balloon Garland and Confetti

Another cake smash, another balloon garland!

I absolutely love how festive balloon garlands are for birthday portraits, and the variety that can be created with them is amazing. I recently learned about double stuffing balloons, which is when you put one balloon inside of another to create an entirely new hue. I did that for this session and I loved the soft pink, gold, and peach hues for this garland.

Brooke’s white & gold cake from Coccadotts was perfect for this session, and it tied in with the gold confetti beautifully. This was a fresh take on a classic cake smash theme - pink and gold!

Her romper was chosen from the studio’s Baby Wardrobe, and it was the perfect fit for this little birthday girl! This particular romper was handmade in Australia, and Brooked happened to be the very first baby to wear it!

All of our cake smash sessions also include family portraits, and we started off Brooke’s birthday session with cuddly family portraits in the studio. I love capturing classic baby portraits on our white couch. They are simple and sweet, and really let each baby’s personality shine. And of course, the wooden birthday cake prop captured the birthday girl’s attention, too!

We couldn’t resist a few portraits in our springy egg chair, which was all decked out for May’s Celebrating Motherhood sessions. I love the variety it lends to their gallery!

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Choosing the Perfect Cake for Your Cake Smash

Planning a cake smash to celebrate your little one’s first birthday? I’ve got all the tips for the perfect photo-ready cake for your baby’s portraits. Read on for more info, and be sure to save this post to have all of the tips handy when it comes time to order your little one’s cake smash cake.

1. Opt for a smaller cake. 4-6” cakes are perfect for a cake smash.

If you go any bigger than that (a traditional 8” for example) and it’ll just look too big next to your little baby.

2. Triple layer cakes (instead of double layer) have that “wow” effect on camera.

3. Skip the fondant and go for the buttercream frosting.

Buttercream is soft and easy for little ones to dig into. It makes a big mess, and it’s a lot of fun for them to play with. Fondant can be a choking hazard, plus it doesn’t make such a mess and it won’t give you that messy cake smash fun that everyone loves.

4. Opt for lighter colors of frosting.

Avoid red (looks like blood) and chocolate (looks like poo). Bright blue often stains babies’ skin, so a lighter blue is recommended. White, pale pink, pale purple, and any soft, light colors work best for frosting.

5. Bring your cake to room temperature before the session.

Don’t pull your cake out of the fridge and come straight to the session. Your baby will not have any fun trying to smash a cold, hard cake. It’s easier if it’s at room temperature, so you can put it out on the counter for an hour or two before the session to let it warm up a bit. However, don’t keep it out of the fridge for too long or the frosting will get runny and you will risk the layers sliding apart before we even begin the session.

Looking for more cake smash tips? Learn about how to choose a theme here, and where to shop for cake smash outfits here!

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A Musical Cake Smash for Miles' First Birthday

I loved planning a musical cake smash for Miles’s first birthday! This sweet boy music and he is always dancing and bopping to the beat, so it made sense to incorporate it into his first birthday cake smash theme! We used blues to match his nursery, and I made the music notes by hand to hang on his backdrop. We incorporated white balloons to match his big sister’s cake smash from two years ago (check it out here!).

Want to see how much this sweet boy has grown? Check out his milestone and newborn portraits here!

We had so much fun capturing these playful family portraits, and I’m so excited that they’re going to be adding them to their gallery wall in the living room. This will surely make them all smile every time they see them!

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