Happy 1st birthday, Ella Kate! We’ve been documenting all of her milestones during her first year as part of the Collective Membership and yet, I can’t believe she’s already one! To celebrate the end of her first year, we created a beautiful Sugar Plum fairy winter wonderland cake smash inspired by her mother’s ballet memories!

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Ella Kate’s Mom was a ballerina as a child, and she brought her old ballet slippers and pointe shoes to incorporate into the setup. I loved that sweet personal touch to the winter setup - and it was fun to sneak in something that means so much to her mom, too! Winter wonderland is always a popular theme for babies, so I love that we learned more into the Sugar Plum fairy inspiration for Ella Kate’s portraits! The setup really came together with soft whites, peachy pink, and the sweetest ballet dancers lined up across the backdrop.

As always, I incorporated some portraits of milestone portraits of Ella Kate before we even got to the cake. I’ve fallen in love with using my white wooden high chair with my babies in the studio! It’s always been one of my favorite props because it’s so classic, but it’s fun to be using it regularly again. Paired with the wooden cake (a popular prop for the babies, too!), it’s a great touch to any cake smash. After Ella Kate got to play with her cake, we also wrapped up with my favorite bubble bath setup. I’m all about sending you home with a clean baby! Plus, who doesn’t love a little one playing in bubbles?! Parents always love these portraits!

Happy birthday again, Ella Kate! Thank you for allowing me to capture another beautiful milestone for you!

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Back when my son was a baby, I did a cake smash on the beach for him the summer after he turned one. That turned out to be my first ever cake smash at the beach, and since then I’ve done many first birthday celebrations at the beach while visiting Cape Cod every summer. Our daughter celebrated her first birthday in June, which was perfect timing for a cake smash later in the summer during one of our trips to the Cape! I absolutely love creating this special memory with my babies.

We went to my favorite beach right at sunset, and we set up right in the surf where the water was coming up in gentle waves onto the sand. I love the effect it had in the portraits – completely dreamy! Adelaide looked so precious in her pink dress and enjoyed her cake. She actually dug right into her cake, and her expression when she is leaning into it with both hands and her tongue out just cracks me up! Her big brother helped towards the end and I can’t express how it made my heart swell to see my two babies playing together in the surf and the sand.

This was definitely the messiest cake smash I’ve ever done between the frosting and the wet sand, but it was so worth it! Happy birthday to my sweet baby girl!

Outfit ideas for beach portraits!