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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Celebrating Grayson's Third Birthday with a Mail Truck Cake Smash

Our son Grayson turned 3, and we celebrated with a cake smash in our Saratoga Springs portrait studio!

Grayson had been begging me for a cake smash for months, naturally forgetting about the two he already enjoyed for his first birthday and second birthday! He loves hearing stories about other babies smashing their cakes and he gets such a kick out of seeing their pictures on my computer and in print when I am packaging orders up for my clients. He kept telling me that he wanted to do a cake smash, so I told him that he had to help me get it ready.

We chose a mail truck theme because this little guy is obsessed with vehicles. While school buses continue to be his #1 love, mail trucks are a close second. Since he was a baby he has been able to recognize the stop-and-go engine of the mail truck from many blocks away and tell us that it’s coming. He loves watching the mail get delivered and going to check the mailbox. Naturally, this was the perfect cake smash theme for our curious three year old!

Grayson loves helping me set up for other people’s sessions, and he always asks to come down into the studio to get things ready when he knows a baby is coming in for their session. He loves helping me make balloon garlands for cake smashes, so Grayson helped me make the balloon garland and all of the other decor for his session! Because of food allergies, we aren’t able to give him cake from the local bakeries and we make all of our own baked goods for him to enjoy, so my little baker even helped bake & frost his cake, too! It all came together for a perfectly adorable mail truck cake smash, and he was one happy little birthday boy!

Check out Grayson’s earlier birthday portraits here!

We always try to go for a unique theme that represents his interests and is meaningful to him and to our family’s story. Three years in and I would say we’re doing pretty well with the one-of-a-kind ideas!

A Mint and Navy Cake Smash for Baby Gabriel

https://www.nicolestarrphotography.com/blog/2020/1/the-best-places-to-shop-for-cake-smash-outfits

https://www.nicolestarrphotography.com/blog/2019/12/how-to-choose-a-cake-smash-theme-for-your-babys-first-birthday-portraits

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A Cake Smash with a Metallic Balloon Garland

Teagan’s mama chose her cake smash theme before her baby girl was even born. She saw a birthday session of mine with an amethyst balloon garland and knew that if she had a little girl one day, she wanted something just like that for her birthday portraits. So when it came time to plan the cake smash, we knew exactly what we wanted to do!

She found this gorgeous dress with metallic hearts on it, and I coordinated the colors to match. I was thrilled to find heart confetti in the exact same colors and the exact same size as the hearts on her dress! It almost looks like the hearts spill off of Teagan’s dress and onto the floor, doesn’t it?!

Teagan loved her cake and she dug right into it! I secretly love it when babies knock the cake stand over because we get such fun photos with them playing with the cake and squishing it into the floor. Plus the “oops, was I supposed to do that?” look they give when they realize it fell down is precious!

Every cake smash session includes family portraits, and in the winter we do those in the white & cream studio. I love these classic family portraits that will match the ones we did a few years ago for big brother’s first birthday!

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Best of 2020 Cake Smash Sessions - Saratoga Springs Baby Photographer

Well this is always one of my most-anticipated blog posts every year, and that’s because it is filled with so many smiling BIRTHDAY BABIES!

Today on the blog I’m sharing a peek at some of my favorite images from our 2020 cake smash sessions.

I love it when families bring their little ones to me to celebrate their first birthday, and these sessions are a true joy to plan and bring to life. We come up with the decor together during your preconsultation appointment, pulling together color inspiration or a theme that you have in mind. Then I work hard to create a truly magical setup that your little one will love!

As you’ll see, balloon garlands were very popular this year! My soft pink peonies made an appearance in a few sessions, and custom cut-outs made with my Cricut machine, too! Everything in the setups is made by hand and I do not buy pre-made backdrops for our sessions, making each one unique and special to your family!

This year I even enjoyed not one, but THREE outdoor cake smash sessions. I loved that new option for truly classic and timeless portraits! We did one in the spring, summer, and fall, and they each have such a different look to them!

Are you looking at all of these themes and thinking to yourself, how in the world do parents choose a theme?!?! I’ve got you covered. I have a blog post that will guide you through that, plus tips for choosing your own theme or color scheme!

And I really have to hand it to this year’s families. They did a wonderful job choosing outfits for their birthday babies! I have the feeling that the link below helped them a lot! ;o)

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A Simple Woodland Cake Smash for Baby Boy

I loved this cake smash session so much! Johnathan’s mama reached out and we talked about a simple woodland cake smash for her birthday boy, complete with birch trees, greenery, and tree stumps from their backyard. It all came together so beautifully, and the twinkle lights added a touch of magic!

Johnathan loved his cake, and he really dug into it! Now that he has watched his dad cutting down trees at home, he is obsessed with chainsaws and has a toy chainsaw that just so happens to be his favorite toy. Of course they brought it to his session, and it was so funny to watch him with his chainsaw and his cake!

But the biggest smiles came when he got into the tub! This birthday boy loved his bubble bath!

Every birthday session starts with family portraits, and we captured beautiful fall family portraits with bright and colorful foliage. We found the perfect tree-lined path covered in fallen leaves, and it photographed so beautifully.

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Fall Family Portraits with an Outdoor Cake Smash

Some families love the idea of choosing a cake smash theme for their little one’s first birthday, and others want something classic and theme-free. That is why more and more families are opting for outdoor cake smashes when the weather is nice to showcase their little one in nature without any props. That is exactly what Ravi’s family wanted for his first birthday portraits, so we combined his fall family photos with a cake smash at the park, and it was perfect!

Just look at the gorgeous and colorful leaves lining this path in Saratoga Spa State Park! It was perfect with the golden sunlight streaming in through the leaves, and I loved this spot for their portrait session!

For the most simple and classic cake smash look, nothing beats a white high chair and a simple cake! A fancy cake topper completes the look, and the focus really stays on the birthday boy!

This little guy really got into it, and he had a frosting beard in no time!

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Baby Girl's Cake Smash at the Beach - Cape Cod Family Photographer

Ohhhh, I miss those warm summer beach days already!! Every summer I spend more than a few weeks on Cape Cod. Nearly every evening is spent with families at the beach, laughing & collecting seashells, running & jumping the waves while capturing portraits the entire time.

One of my favorite evenings last summer was the night I met this sweet family in Harwich for Niamh’s first birthday cake smash at the beach.

Pleasant Road Beach was the perfect spot for a cake smash with the little wooden boardwalk stretching across the sand, the waves crashing on the shore just ahead of us. We brought a few sand dollars and starfish for the decor, but kept it simple to keep the focus on the birthday girl.

Niamh LOVED her cake! I always love it when babies dig right in and take a bite out of their cake by leaning into it.

Her big sisters were eager to join in, and they waited patiently for their turn. Then everybody dug into the cake together!

Of course we also did family portraits on the beach, and I love how perfectly golden the light was that evening with the most beautiful sunset. Aren’t their sundresses beautiful and just right for summer portraits?

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Classic First Birthday Portraits with a Year of Baby Photos

Now this was a fun session! Baby Ari’s mama reached out and wanted to plan an extra special portrait session to celebrate her baby boy’s first birthday, and she was really excited about creating some truly classic and timeless portraits of her little guy. With all of the beautiful neutrals in my Saratoga Springs portrait studio, it’s easy to pull together simple setups that let your baby shine, and we did just that with Ari’s first birthday portraits!

You see the cute little stool he’s sitting on? It’s actually a custom cake stand his mama ordered for his birthday party, and it worked perfectly as a toddler bench!

Instead of a cake smash we compiled a collection of their favorite portraits from the past year and turned them into a truly one-of-a-kind backdrop to celebrate their birthday boy’s first year. I love how he pops against the black & white photographs!

No first birthday portrait session is complete without family portraits! We went to the nearby Saratoga Spa State Park for family portraits, and this little man was on the go! He was just at the brink of walking when we did his session, and it was so much fun to capture on camera!

Of course, it wouldn’t be 2020 without documenting the reality of our year: masks. For Ari and many babies, masks are just part of their version of “normal” and this will definitely get noted in their baby book. We’re all looking forward to the day when we can see everyone’s WHOLE face when out in public while still feeling safe.

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A Succulent Theme Cake Smash for Baby Elliana

I love it when parents request a unique theme for their baby’s cake smash session. When Elliana’s mom asked for a succulent theme and sent me some floral hoop inspiration, I was all over that! I went to the craft store the very next day to find succulents and gold metal hoops, and I got to work creating gorgeous floral & succulent decor for our Baby Planner.

Doesn’t she look adorable in this little dress with the Peter Pan collar? It was perfect for portraits, and the colors were so soft & beautiful.

Her mama brought a baby-sized bouquet from The Posie Peddler in Saratoga Springs, and it was the cutest little thing. I had never seen such a small bouquet before, and the succulents and lavender (from mama’s baby shower) were the perfect finishing touch.

Some of our cake smash babies are walking by the time of their session, and I always love capturing them standing with their cake! It’s a great way to show their size, and also their new (often wobbly!) skills on their chunky little baby feet!

Elliana loved the tub and she did some major splashing in the studio! Like most babies, she’s happiest in the water and the bathtub brought out all of her very best smiles!

All of our cake smash sessions start with family portraits. In the warmer months we head outdoors for these before the cake. I loved the colors that this family chose for their portraits, and especially the softness of mom’s tulle skirt. Don’t they all look amazing???

So proud of her newfound walking skills!

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First Birthday Portraits with a Camping Theme

When your family loves camping, you do a camping theme for your first birthday portraits! Ryder celebrated his first birthday in style with a studio session that highlighted his family’s favorite summer hobby. We used buffalo plaid, birch trees, a campfire, and a camping lantern to create the perfect whimsical setup for their little boy.

Ryder did such an amazing job and he was so happy the entire time. Such a little sweetheart!

This little guy was all smiles, especially by the time we pulled out the bathtub!

Every birthday session includes family portraits, and we went to the nearby Spa State Park for some family portraits at sunset with Ryder’s three big sisters. I’ve been photographing them for years, and it was wonderful seeing how comfortable and excited they were in front of the camera.

And then when the camera was turned back around to Ryder, he was thrilled!! He is one lucky little brother to be so loved by all of his sisters.

The sunlight was perfect streaming through the trees. We really had the best sunset that evening, and it gave these portraits a beautiful golden glow.

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A simple white and floral cake smash for Baby Isla

Now that is the face of a baby who loves her birthday cake!!!

We chose a simple theme for Isla’s cake smash with white balloons, twinkle lights, and a hint of blush florals and greenery. This let her really stand out in her perfectly adorable blush pink romper!

I’m going to tell you a secret. Isla didn’t really love the idea of a cake smash the first time we tried to do her portraits. We had finished up her family portraits in the park and headed back to the studio for her cake smash, and like many of the post-quarantine babies, she had a little heightened stranger anxiety and was a bit nervous in the studio. After pulling out all the stops and doing all of my usual tricks to help her feel comfortable, it just wasn’t her day so we decided to reschedule and try again a few days later.

And wow, am I glad we did! Just look at her huge smiles! Isla was so happy on the second day and she did amazing with her cake. We captured so many adorable smiles and laughs, and she really had so much fun.

Sometimes that’s all it takes — hitting the pause button, working around the baby’s mood, and trying again later. No big deal!

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An Ice Cream Cone Cake Smash for Ella's First Birthday

The first solid food Ella ever tried was ice cream, so naturally we chose an ice cream cone theme for her cake smash session! This sweet girl’s first birthday portraits were delayed due to covid closures, but we got her in the studio as soon as we could to celebrate the start of the toddler years. This little cutie pie LOVED the camera, and I can’t get over how adorable her little pigtails are!

Ella dug right into her cake, and kept looking at her big brother and sister to see if they were going to sneak in there for a bite! We let them join in at the end, and it was so cute watching the three of them together enjoying the birthday girl’s cake.

Her little dress was from our studio wardrobe. Isn’t it the perfect color on her?

All of our cake smash sessions begin with family portraits, and in the warmer months we’re lucky enough to head outside to nearby parks for family photos! We captured a good mix of portraits of the whole family, letting each child’s personality shine. These are going to look amazing on a new gallery wall above their sofa!

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A Georgia Peach Cake Smash and Family Portraits on a Porch Swing

Wondering how to choose a theme for your baby’s cake smash photo shoot? While we have a whole blog post filled with tips that you should check out, the first thing I always recommend to families is that you look at your baby and your family and find something meaningful or symbolic to you. That’s what we did with this session!

Meet Baby Georgia. Her cake smash theme was GEORGIA PEACH, and it was perfect for this August baby who was born in peach season!

We started talking about a cake smash theme for this sweet girl during her newborn session last summer, and when her first birthday rolled around we knew that we simply had to do a peach theme for their little girl!

We chose to do it in a similar style to the greenery and florals that I so often do in my studio sessions — all white, simple, whimsical, and classic. It came together so beautifully! I added a “Sweet as a Peach” cutout in the background and it tied everything together perfectly. The best part? Georgia LOVED playing with the peaches in the setup, and she looked so sweet in her peach romper!

But truly my FAVORITE part of this entire session was the beginning. We met at the family’s house for family portraits on the front porch. The same front porch where we did their lifestyle newborn portraits. It was incredible to see this family one year later in the exact same spot with their little girl, one year stronger, one year more connected, one year happier.

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