It's My Party and I'll Cry if I Wanna!

(This makes me smile every time I see it)

Oooooh the first birthday party pics.

They are quite the grand production, aren't they ?

In fact, every birthday party of a kiddos life is a celebration. A time to reflect on the fact that we've all made it through another year of growth, fun, laughs (hopefully laughs), and above all memories with our loved ones.

If the option is there to hire a photographer for these events, do it!

That way you can focus on being the hostess and the mom and enjoy the event..

for those that want the challenge for themselves, see if you find any of the following to be helpful:

 Attention to Detail
Take a few minutes right before the guests start arriving to go around the area and get some snapshots of the decorations, cake, food, etc etc.
You worked hard to get it all looking so nice, and it will be picked over and messed up within a matter of minutes when the party gets going... I like to take a few aerial shots of the entire shabang.. and then zoom waaay in for some good close ups. These really help capture the little things that might otherwise go unnoticed. If you spent big bucks on that fancy cake or hours putting together the party favors, be sure and at least get a few pictures to showcase your hard work.

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Check out this next picture... 

A customer and friend of mine, Shelley, had this on the display table for her 

daughter's first birthday party. 

This idea is presh!

Have a separate smash cake

If you are big on the 1st birthday smash cake pics, then you might opt to do a separate 'photo shoot' specifically for pictures. This way, if during the chaos of the party the pictures don't turn out quite like you had envisioned, you still have some adorable shots of em tearin into that cake! In this case, Shelley hired me for her daughters birthday bash.. and about a week prior to the party we scheduled a session for her one year pictures. She brought along the smash cake, and at the end of the pictures, we got it out and let little Patience go to town! It also created a fun picture display for her table as you can see. Great idea!

Soooo much fun

Keep in mind every child is sooo different, they really are individuals even at this tiny age.
For instance my son, was walking around everywhere on his first birthday so getting him to set still and eat this cake would NOT have turned out as cute as these.. and some babies are just more into the cake than others.. I will say there is a little trick to getting your 1 year old to do more then just look at the cake or play with it because they don't really know what to do with it.. So just tear off a tiny piece of the back of the cake and let them taste it. Once they realize wow, that's sugar and these people are letting me eat it, they typically dig in!!

The next picture is a fun way to get great pictures for this age, especially when they are learning to walk but just don't quite have it on their own.. They naturally want to be standing up, so let them.
This way, they are comfortable and feel mobile, and even though the adults hands are in the picture, the child is still the center of attention and focal point. Cutting off limbs on edges can be tricky, but with these shots I don't worry about it as much. I try to cut or crop at an angle, down the arm and not just straight across the wrist or any crucial points.

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We just celebrated my sons 2nd birthday with a semi small family party. I had read a while back on baby center that its smart to keep their first couple of parties small. As social adults we often want to invite everyone we know, and some people do. I had already started this blog post a week ago when I ran across this article randomly.. 

Check it out for some extra tips.

http://www.5newsonline.com/lifestyle/parenting/kfsm-parenting-u-birthday-parties-20120206,0,1654548.story

So, lets hear em, what are your comments ?

have any great party tips to add ?

any do's or dont's ?

email any great ideas we can share with others to mommasnaps@gmail.com