NYC Cake Smash Photos | What’s Included | Heirloom by Melissa

NYC cake smash photos with everything taken care of — outfit, cake, topper, and balloons, all at our Flatiron studio.

Everything that goes into our NYC cake smash photos

When parents see these NYC cake smash photos, the question I get most is — wait, did you make all of this?

Yes. Every bit of it.

That’s the part people don’t always realize about booking a cake smash session at Heirloom by Melissa — you don’t have to plan a single detail. No ordering a cake, no matching balloons to a color scheme, no last-minute outfit shopping. You show up with your one year old, and everything else is already done.

The outfit for your NYC cake smash photos

Every outfit comes straight from our baby closet at the studio, no shopping required. We’ve built a big closet to choose from, featuring Feltman Brothers, El Rincón de María, Paz Rodríguez, and many of the classic Spanish heirloom brands known for their smocking, hand embroidery, and timeless silhouettes. These are the same kinds of pieces parents search for when they want their NYC cake smash photos to feel classic rather than trendy — soft colors, delicate details, nothing that will look dated in five years.

We keep sizes on hand up to 24 months, so however your baby is growing, there’s an outfit ready that fits the moment. Parents are always welcome to try on a few options in the studio before we start, and if you’d rather bring your own outfit instead, that works too — the closet is simply there so you don’t have to.

The cake and topper

The cake stand, the styling, the custom topper — all handmade in-studio before your baby ever walks in. Every topper is made by hand, not ordered from a shop, which means it can be personalized with a name, an age, or a small detail that makes it feel made for your baby specifically. It’s a small piece of the session, but it’s the kind of thing that makes these portraits feel personal instead of generic, and it’s part of what makes our NYC cake smash photos look a little different from a standard studio setup.

The balloon garland and setup

Same with the balloon garland behind them — built piece by piece in the studio that morning, color-matched to the rest of the setup so everything in frame feels intentional, not thrown together. The backdrop, the florals, and the garland are all coordinated ahead of time, so by the time your baby is sitting down for cake, the whole scene already looks finished.

What you don’t have to do

Booking a cake smash session usually comes with a mental list — order a cake, find balloons, pick an outfit, hope it all matches. With our NYC cake smash photos, that list disappears. You don’t need to:

• Order or bake a cake
• Buy or build a balloon garland
• Shop for an outfit in advance
• Coordinate colors between any of it

All of it is ready before you arrive, so the only thing you’re responsible for is showing up with your one year old.

Why this matters for your first birthday photos

A first birthday only happens once. The goal with these NYC cake smash photos isn’t to hand you a checklist of things to prep — it’s to hand you the morning off. You bring the baby (and maybe the outfit changes for after, if you want them), and the rest is ready.

If you’re starting to think about your own baby’s first birthday, browse our newborn sessions to see how we carry that same just-show-up approach from day one all the way to turning one.