A Pool Party Cake Smash for Baby Luciano - Clifton Park Cake Smash Photographer

It’s a POOL PARTY!!!!

Summer is always such a fun time, and I love showcasing classic childhood fun in our birthday sessions. Everyone always loves a pool party, and when Luciano’s mama suggested a pool party cake smash to go along with his first birthday theme, I knew exactly what we would do for his set!

Beach balls, a striped beach towel, lots of splishing & splashing, and the cutest little swim trunks and sunglasses for the tiny swimmer.

First we started with family portraits at the Hall of Springs in SPAC, Saratoga Springs. I just love how relaxed and cuddly these portraits are of one-year old Luciano with his mommy & daddy. It seems like just a short while ago that we were celebrating this sweet boy’s arrival in his serene nursery with a lifestyle newborn session, and now he’s full of smiles and giggles and turning ONE!

This adorable rocking horse is from his nursery and was in his newborn portraits, and I was so happy that they brought it to his birthday session for a few portraits, too!

Luciano LOVED the bathtub! He was all smiles once he was in the water, and I love how expressive this little guy became when he was splashing around!

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About Nicole Starr Photography 

Nicole Starr specializes in newborn, baby & family photography and has been serving families in New York and Massachusetts since 2012.  She has a portrait studio in Saratoga Springs, NY for families in the Capital Region, and she also works with families at her Attleboro, MA studio and on location in Boston and on Cape Cod. 

The portrait studio is filled with neutrals, luxe fabrics, and very minimal props to keep the focus on your perfect little baby.  Our sessions are relaxed and fun, and we’ll enjoy an hour together (or up to 3 hours for a newborn session!) laughing, cuddling, and capturing authentic smiles and belly laughs with your little ones.  

A pretty peony cake smash for twins with boston cake smash photographer

Anya & Bela turned one, and celebrated with a truly beautiful peony cake smash at our Attleboro baby portrait studio! I absolutely loved celebrating the twins’ first birthday, and they were such a joy with so much personality!

We started with family portraits at Capron Park in Attleboro to capture lots of sweet cuddles and hugs from mom and dad. This is always such a beautiful location, and I love the trees and pavilion in the background!

Next we headed back to the studio for their soft, feminine, and floral cake smash! I created a brand new backdrop for the birthday girls with these gorgeous crepe paper peonies. We even used “one” cake toppers with a cute and subtle pink floral design printed on them!

What I LOVED about this session was how differently the two sisters approached their cakes. Anya (left) was dainty and methodical, while Bela (right) dug right in, knocked it off the stand, and turned into what we fondly called “the cake monster” as she stood up with frosting-filled hands and walked towards the camera!

I love this one with Anya looking to her sister to see how to smash and eat the cake!

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Inspired by this peony cake smash? Pin this image or any from the post above!

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About Nicole Starr Photography 

Nicole Starr specializes in newborn, baby & family photography and has been serving families in New York and Massachusetts since 2012.  She has a portrait studio in Saratoga Springs, NY for families in the Capital Region, and she also works with families at her Attleboro, MA studio and on location in Boston and on Cape Cod. 

The portrait studio is filled with neutrals, luxe fabrics, and very minimal props to keep the focus on your perfect little baby.  Our sessions are relaxed and fun, and we’ll enjoy an hour together (or up to 3 hours for a newborn session!) laughing, cuddling, and capturing authentic smiles and belly laughs with your little ones.  

All Around the World - Kaylen's Travel Themed Cake Smash with Saratoga Springs Baby Photographer

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A Starry Night Cake Smash for Rylah | Saratoga Springs Cake Smash & Baby Photographer

Now this is definitely one of my all time favorite cake smash backdrops! After all, how could I not love a starry night backdrop when my last name is Starr?

I love how the gold and navy blue complement each other here, and then when we add in the adorable little birthday girl, everything truly sparkles!

Rylah came to our Saratoga Springs portrait studio for her first birthday cake smash, and we created a whimsical backdrop to look like she was floating in the night sky with her birthday cake.

Her big brother even joined in on the smashing! He really got into it and LOVED that delicious cake!

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Inspired by this starry night cake smash? Pin this image or any from the post above!

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About Nicole Starr Photography 

Nicole Starr specializes in newborn, baby & family photography and has been serving families in New York and Massachusetts since 2012.  She has a portrait studio in Saratoga Springs, NY for families in the Capital Region.  Nicole also works with families year round at her Attleboro, MA portrait studio, and on location May through October in Boston and on Cape Cod.  Nicole has a clean and classic style, and the studio is filled with neutrals and luxe fabrics.  We use very minimal props to keep the focus on your perfect little baby.  Our sessions are relaxed and fun, and we’ll enjoy an hour together (or up to 3 hours for a newborn session!) laughing, cuddling, and capturing authentic smiles and belly laughs with your little ones.  

Lena's Simple Peony Cake Smash

All of our first birthday sessions start off with family portraits. During the cooler months, we do these portraits indoors at our Saratoga Springs studio. We always use a simple neutral backdrop so that your family photos will look amazing in any room of your home.

I love celebrating ONE YEAR of parenthood with families! Sessions are filled with laughs, baby cuddles, tickles, songs, and games. Birthday girl Lena loved it, and she gave us the cutest little smiles!

Next up was her cake smash. We planned a simple peony garland for the decor with some white balloons to keep it festive for her first birthday. Add in a flower crown and one of our baby rompers from the STUDIO BABY WARDROBE, and it all came together perfectly!

Lena’s cake stayed on the cake stand for only 15 seconds.

She was truly a master smasher! She knocked the cake off right away, and then she dug right in! I love her huge smiles, and cute little giggles, and the way her hands filled with sticky cake & frosting so that it looked like she was wearing big mittens made out of cake.

Face first! See?? She truly was a pro!

Of course we finished with a bathtub splash, and this sweet baby girl was as happy as can be. I mean, really… cake AND a bubble bath? It doesn’t get any better than that!

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We are OBSESSED with peonies here at Nicole Starr Photography! Check out Ellie’s gorgeous cake smash with peonies here on the blog, too!

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Inspired by this gorgeous and simple peony cake smash? Pin this image or any from the post above!

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About Nicole Starr Photography 

Nicole Starr specializes in newborn, baby & family photography and has been serving families in New York and Massachusetts since 2012.  She has a portrait studio in Saratoga Springs, NY for families in the Capital Region.  Nicole also works with families year round at her Attleboro, MA portrait studio, and on location May through October in Boston and on Cape Cod.  Nicole has a clean and classic style, and the studio is filled with neutrals and luxe fabrics.  We use very minimal props to keep the focus on your perfect little baby.  Our sessions are relaxed and fun, and we’ll enjoy an hour together (or up to 3 hours for a newborn session!) laughing, cuddling, and capturing authentic smiles and belly laughs with your little ones.  

An All White Boho Cake Smash with Saratoga Springs Baby Photographer

World, meet Milani. The happiest baby girl who just turned ONE!

This little sweetheart joined me at our Saratoga Springs portrait studio for her first birthday session, and I loved celebrating with a simple boho cake smash with lots of white and just a hint of blush pink and greenery.

We used our teepee (check out our super popular DIY post here!) and some twinkle lights, and then Milani was center stage!

She was so cute and kept wanting to share her cake with her parents!

And when she clapped for herself, she melted everyone’s hearts!

Some Bunny is One! Charlotte's Cake Smash

We have another Baby Planner graduate!

I can’t believe that Charlotte is ONE! Her mama first reached out to me early last year and we discovered that our due dates were only one day apart! Charlotte came early, and then our Grayson arrived early, and the two have enjoyed a bunch of play dates & walks together this year!

We had such a great time at our Saratoga Springs portrait studio for her birthday session, and I just love all of the cute family cuddles that we captured to celebrate their first year as a family of three.

Charlotte brought her favorite little elephant and she was so sweet and cuddly with her toy! This is what ONE looks like for their sweet baby girl!

With a spring birthday close to Easter, we planned a simple floral cake smash with a “Somebunny is One” theme to go along with her birthday party theme. I love how it came together with this cute bunny cake topper!

While dainty, she was definitely cute digging into her birthday cake for the cake smash!

I think the wooden spoon was her favorite part of the whole thing! Just look at that beautiful smile!

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?!

And they're off! A Saratoga Springs Race Track Themed Cake Smash

You want to know the funny thing about our first year with our son? Most of the baby friends we’ve made were all born right around the same time as him. We have had playdates where literally all of the babies were born within days of each other, and some of us were even down the hall from each other at the hospital! It’s funny how it works out like that, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

It’s been amazing being able to connect with other parents whose babies are going through the exact same stage that our son is in, and it’s truly been one of the best parts of this first year — you know, in addition to the thousands of incredible moments and laughs that Grayson has brought to us, of course!

So we decided to get a bunch of the babies together for one big cake smash!

Because we live in Saratoga Springs, New York, I’ve been eager to design a backdrop to go with the Saratoga Race Track that is so popular every summer when the town is flooded with people that visit just for the horse races. All of these birthday babies live right here in town, so of course we did a Saratoga Springs race track theme for their joint cake smash!

We dressed them up in the most dapper outfits with little bowties and hats on the boys, and ruffles on the girls. How sweet are they?!?!

Meet Grayson, John, Charlotte, and Corinne. Birthday buddies in Saratoga Springs.

We put four babies in front of four cakes, and it was hilarious watching them attack their cakes (or their neighbor’s cake!).

Corinne was truly the master smasher, and she demolished her cake! This sweet girl was all over the place, up and down and crawling on and off the set. She was absolutely amazing and we had so much fun and so many laughs watching how excited she was!

Haha! I just love how Charlotte is going in to swipe Grayson’s cake topper here!

John was a little hesitant to dig right in, but he made the most amazing expressions and he was very careful not to get too messy. I love how he crosses his little legs and tastes his cake with just one finger of frosting at a time!

Grayson wasn’t really into his cake. He was more interested in his cake stand or in his friends’ cakes! Either way, he was a happy boy surrounded by cake and babies! (Ha, that’s basically how I would describe myself! He is definitely my son!)

Charlotte was very dainty and methodical with her cake. She stayed put and focused on just her cake (but sometimes her neighbor’s, too!). She loved just reaching in for one tiny little bite of frosting at a time, and was happy as can be!

These four were an absolute blast! I loved this session, and I can’t wait to watch them all together as toddlers this year!

Baby Starr | A Llama Cake Smash for Grayson

Jeff and I have shared an inside joke about llamas for as long as I can remember. I think it was one of the very first weekends that we were dating when we were walking around downtown Saratoga Springs, and we saw a llama standing on the sidewalk poking its head into the windows of a bar and leaning over a table inside of the restaurant. Ever since we have spent years worth of scavenger hunts with a bonus llama category that would give us extra points.

Our family knew the llama story, so Grayson received a few gifts this year that were llama related. He has a llama for his crib, and his favorite books are the Llama Llama series — he gets so animated every time we open these books and he puts his hand down to stop turning the page so that he can really enjoy what he sees, pointing and babbling to the llamas in front of him.

So it was only natural that we did a llama cake smash with our little guy! (Who, by the way, I still can’t believe is ONE!! Where did this year disappear to?!?!)

This adorable llama cake lasted all of 25 seconds because our son is in a fun new stage of “I must knock everything over!!” The cake fell upside down off the cake stand TWICE within the first 3 minutes of his cake smash. He’s a talented little smasher!

There he is contemplating the very best way to get the cake off of the cake stand!

I will never grow tired of photographing little baby feet! His feet are already turning into muscular and lean toddler feet, and he’s losing the squishy padding that he used to have beneath his toes. Stop growing up so fast, baby boy!

The sad face was when I took away his wooden spoon! This boy loves to feed himself and he is obsessed with spoons!

Of course we finished up with a bathtub splash, and Grayson LOVED tubby time! His favorite song for bath time is “Splish Splash (I was taking a bath)”, so once it came on he was giggling and splashing all over the place.

My sweet boy! I love you so much, and I can’t believe that we just finished your first birthday cake smash! Where did this year go?!?!

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!

Happy Birthday Barratt! A Simple Studio Session

Family portraits during our first birthday sessions are always some of my FAVORITE portraits to take in a baby’s first year. This is when parents have just gotten through their first year of parenthood. There have been so many new and exciting moments, a lot of ups and downs, and plenty of victories as they get to know this tiny human they created.

These sessions are always filled with laughter and awe as they look at their little one’s budding personality, and when Barratt’s parents joined me in the studio for his first birthday session it was no different. They were so in love with their little guy, and these cuddly portraits are some of my favorites this winter!

The cream sofa in the studio is one of my favorite spots for timeless images that really let your family and their personalities shine. I always love placing a one year old on the sofa by himself and letting him sit, laugh, crawl, stand, and explore. These make for the cutest portraits of your baby right on the brink of becoming a toddler!

We did a simple white and rustic cake smash for Barratt, and his mama requested that the only decor be our shiplap backdrop and bottle brush trees on the cake. Done!

Barratt, of course, wanted to make the trees go “timberrrrrr” right away!

Such a fun session with this sweet boy! Click here to see how much he has grown in the past 12 month for a peek into his lifestyle newborn session last winter.

A Pastel Woodland Birthday Session for Karsyn

Karsyn joined me at our Saratoga Springs portrait studio for a magical first birthday session. Her mama asked me to create a floral and rustic woodland scene for the birthday girl, so we used the Lavender Fields backdrop by Heidi Hope Backdrops, along with some birch trees, hanging flowers, and twinkle lights for the perfect scene.

Like most one-year olds, Karsyn was very interested in playing with the pearl beads that we keep in the studio to keep tiny hands busy!

We finished with a bathtub splash, and this sweet birthday girl loved the water! She started splishing and splashing all over the place, and she was especially fascinated in the soap bubbles.

Thinking of a birthday session for your baby? Let’s chat!

A Pink and Silver Winter Wonderland Cake Smash for Kataryna

Winter ONEderland is always a very popular cake smash theme this time of year, and I loved pulling together this beautiful first birthday session for little miss Kataryna’s birthday! Lots of snowflakes, bottle brush trees, fluffy white snow, and pink and silver accents all came together beautifully for the most perfect first birthday photo session.

How sweet is her little ponytail?! Her mama found the perfect tutu months in advance, so I designed her cake smash decor to match.

This baby girl LOVED standing up! She was walking all over the studio, and I found frosting in all sorts of interesting spots when I was cleaning up after her session. That’s always the fun part of our cake smashes — they get MESSY and these birthday babies always have us laughing!

Kataryna finished her cake smash with a splash in the bathtub, and she even brought her own bath toys from home for a special little touch!

Nora's Pastel Cake Smash

A Simple White & Boho Floral Cake Smash for Emma

Emma’s cake smash was one of the most anticipated cake smash sessions of the year. This sweet baby girl’s mama was so excited to celebrate her daughter’s first birthday that we spent weeks pulling together all of the perfect little details for the most amazing and simple set-up for Emma’s cake smash.

I just love how it turned out!

And I’m now obsessed with three things:
1. Balloon garlands
2. All white decor
3. Floral crowns

Want to add any of those things into your little one’s session? Let’s chat! I am totally your cake smash girl!

This naked cake was perfect for her simple boho floral session, don’t you think?

I love how we can see her tiny little tooth peeking out when she smiles!

Mwah! Emma kept smacking her lips together after tasting the frosting. I think she liked it!

Pumpkins and Leaves for an Autumn Cake Smash

It’s hard to believe that little miss Evelyn is ONE! I’ve enjoyed seeing this Baby Plan sweetheart every few months throughout the past year, and I was excited to plan a beautiful autumn cake smash for the birthday girl.

We chose a fall theme because her parents LOVE everything about the fall — the colorful leaves, crisp air, pumpkins, and delicious foods, to name a few! I incorporated as many of those things as possible into Evvie’s cake smash decor, and I love how it came together with the birch trees and falling leaves, and of course the twinkle lights!

It’s not often that we get one-year olds in the studio who are standing and walking at the time of their cake smash, so it was such a treat to capture this cutie in action as she towered over her cake! The funniest part was when she toppled over right on top of the cake and hugged the cake to stop herself from falling!

A Rose Gold Cake Smash Session for Anastasia

It feels like summer wasn’t that long ago, and already I miss the warm days and gorgeous green leaves that made for such a beautiful backdrop for our family portrait sessions.

We celebrated Anastasia’s first birthday with family portraits at Spa State Park in Saratoga Springs, followed by a rose gold cake smash here at the studio! This little miss was the star of the show, and she was all smiles for her family portraits.

Her cake smash decor was inspired by this beautiful tutu that her mother found on Etsy. Sometimes the outfit is what inspires an entire set-up! I had been eager to make a balloon garland so I pulled together some gorgeous rose gold balloons and confetti for the perfect birthday backdrop.

Anastasia loved it!

We finished up her session with a bathtub splash, and Anastasia had a blast playing with the rubber duckie. I love how she looks like she’s talking to it here!!

Johnny's Cowboy Boots Cake Smash with Saratoga Springs Baby Photographer

When Johnny’s mom was trying to come up with a theme for his cake smash session, she casually mentioned that his dad had a ton of cowboy boots because he grew up in Texas. That was all the inspiration I needed, and we created a very fun BOOTS cake smash for the birthday boy!

Johnny was super excited about his cake, and he is one of only two babies EVER to completely demolish his cake during a session. Most babies pick a little frosting and cake off the top, but very few smoosh the entire thing into the floor and eat a lot, too. Johnny did! He’s a cake smash champ!

As you can tell, he REALLY got into it and took his birthday boy job very seriously!