First Birthday Photoshoot

Adeline’s first birthday photo shoot was a success! I can’t believe our little girl is officially one, but she is and we celebrated the milestone. Like most new mom’s I started brainstorming and planning our session months in advance of the big day.

Theme or No Theme

I vividly remember holding Adeline during her NICU stay and thinking of the mermaid theme photo session and party we’d host to celebrate her first birthday. If you’ve ever been a NICU parent, you know that sometimes a wish for the future keeps you going through the hard times.

As the big first birthday session approached, I scratched my plans for an over-the-top mermaid theme and settled on a classic theme that made our baby girl the focus. Don’t worry, we had an over-the-top mermaid-themed first birthday party that was pretty darn cute!

I will admit, as I watched other first birthday sessions pop in my social media feeds, I wondered if I made the right decision.

Portrait Portion

Once I picked our classic theme, I then had to decide exactly what baby girl would wear during her session. I’m a sucker for a classic look for baby girls. Feltman Brothers are one of my go-to vendors for classic baby dresses.

Feltman Brothers have been producing children’s clothing for over 100 years, and I just love their timeless silhouettes. I chose the Pearl Flower Fly Sleeve Bishop Dress and matching Ruffle Diaper Cover in blue for Adeline’s birthday dress. Feltman Brothers did not have a matching headband for our dress, so we used one of our simple headbands from Amazon.

Family Portion

We decided a few nights before the session to add family photos to the session, and I’m so glad we did. We quickly coordinated our family portrait outfits to Adeline’s blue dress. This was one of the few instances that I wore a dress from my closet rather than purchasing a new outfit. I’m infamous for buying all-new apparel for photoshoots, but this time there wasn’t enough time to go shopping.

Smash Cake Portion

If your baby doesn’t smash a cake during their photo session, did they even turn one? Smash cake photos are always adorable, but what no one tells you is that the sessions are incredibly messy! Be prepared to give your messy baby after the session! I was very fortunate that our photographer, Megan Garrison, had all the supplies on hand to clean up the baby, set, and mom! Trust me, everyone is going to be wearing cake by the time the session is over.

For her outfit for the smash cake portion of the shoot, I opted for this classic embroidered piece from Stitchy Fish and a cute little bow from my local Richmnod favorite Milby’s Just Kids.

Whatever you decided to do for your baby’s first birthday shoot, make sure you plan and enjoy curating the memories. What theme did you use for your baby’s first birthday?

Pin this post for later.