Jungle Cake Smash & First Birthday Party at Spanish Tavern, Mountainside NJ
Rafael First Birthday
Jungle Cake Smash & First Birthday Party at Spanish Tavern, Mountainside NJ
A year ago we photographed a little boy named Armando turning one. This time his family came back for his baby brother Rafael — same studio, same room for the party, one year later.
I’m Ivone. Mario and I run MC Productions out of Roselle Park, and this is my favorite kind of booking. Not because it’s easier the second time, though it is. Because you get to watch a family grow, and you end up holding the record of it.
A Subtle Lion King Cake Smash in the Studio
Rafael’s mom wanted Lion King, but quietly. No costumes, no cartoon characters, nothing that would look dated in five years.
So we built it out of color and texture instead. A balloon garland in yellow, lime and soft white. Real palm and monstera leaves. Wooden crates, a little greenery, a plush lion sitting in the frame like he’d wandered in on his own. A lit ONE marquee off to the side. You feel the theme rather than read it off the wall — and that restraint is the whole trick with themed sessions. Lean too hard and you’ve photographed a theme. Lean lightly and you’ve photographed your son, with the theme sitting quietly behind him.
We shot the clean portraits first, while he was spotless and patient. Then the cake came out — a custom one, with a little lion on top, made just for him.
Rafael studied it. Touched it once. Checked whether anyone was going to stop him. Nobody did, and after that there was no getting him back. Frosting to the elbows, a fistful going straight to his mouth, and the kind of laughing you cannot direct or ask for or recreate. We kept shooting and stayed out of the way.
And Then the Bubble Bath
Here’s the part most parents don’t expect, and the part they end up loving most.
After the cake, we lift the baby straight into a white clawfoot tub filled with bubbles. Warm water, a few toys, his teddy bear parked on the rim.
Something happens in that tub. The energy of the smash drops away and you get a completely different child — calm, curious, batting at bubbles floating past his face. Those turned out to be some of the softest, sweetest frames of Rafael’s entire session. Cake smash images are loud and joyful. Bath images are tender. You want both, and you can only get them in that order.
He also went home clean, which his mother appreciated more than any of the photographs.
The Party at Spanish Tavern of Mountainside
A few weeks later we brought the cameras to Spanish Tavern of Mountainside.
The family carried the whole palette over from the studio — the same yellows and greens, a full balloon arch built against the wall of the private room. I loved that. It meant the studio session and the party read as one continuous story instead of two unrelated shoots, and it gave every family portrait that night a backdrop worth standing in front of.
I’ve now photographed two first birthdays in that upstairs room, and knowing a space changes how you work in it. I know where the light falls late in the afternoon and where it dies. I know which corner holds a big group without anyone getting cropped out. I know where to stand for the cake so I’m not in the aisle when the whole family crowds in with their phones up. None of that shows in the gallery, which is exactly the point. It just means fewer missed moments and less of me asking people to move.
Mario ran video while our team covered stills, so nothing had to be traded off.
The Whole Family, In One Room
What makes these parties for me is the people who travel in.
This is a big blended family, and they come from near and far — the ones who drive twenty minutes and the ones who get on a plane. A first birthday is one of the few occasions that pulls all of them into the same room on the same afternoon.
So we worked that balloon arch hard. Grandparents. Aunts and uncles. The full group, all of them, squeezed in and laughing about it. The cousins on their own, a dozen kids lined up in front of the balloons, then five minutes later sprawled on the floor playing together like they’d never been posed at all.
Rafael won’t remember a second of it. But this is the only photograph that will ever exist of exactly these people, together, on this day. That’s why we do the family portraits early — while everyone is still there and the outfits are still crisp — and spend the rest of the night letting the room be itself.
Two Brothers, One Year Apart
And in a handful of those frames, there they are: Rafael in his parents’ arms, and Armando standing beside them, a whole year older than the last time we did this.
That’s the part I didn’t plan for and can’t take credit for. A family comes back, and the pictures start talking to each other.
If you want to see where it started, his big brother Armando’s first birthday is here too.
Planning a First Birthday Party in Union County
A few things I’ve learned photographing these:
- Book the studio session for eleven to thirteen months. Steady enough to sit, curious enough to reach for the cake, not yet fast enough to crawl off the set.
- Do the studio session before the party. You’ll want those images for the invitations and the decor.
- Carry your colors from the studio to the party. It costs nothing and it makes the whole year look intentional.
- Build a real backdrop. A balloon arch gives every guest a place to be photographed and saves you from a night of pictures against a blank wall.
- Do family portraits in the first hour. People leave earlier than you think.
- Plan for the cake to be a mess, and plan for the bath after it. That’s the good part.
We’re based in Roselle Park and cover first birthdays across Union County — Mountainside, Westfield, Cranford, Springfield, Clark, Union, Elizabeth — and throughout New Jersey and the New York area.
First Birthday Party Photography Questions
How many hours of coverage does a first birthday party need? Three to four hours for most parties. That covers arrivals, family portraits while everyone’s together, the cake and candle, and the open floor afterward.
What is a cake smash and bubble bath session? A two-part studio session — the baby destroys a small cake, then goes into a tub full of bubbles to clean up. The bath produces the calmest, softest images of the day, and your baby goes home clean instead of covered in frosting.
Do you photograph parties at restaurants and private dining rooms? Yes — restaurant private rooms, banquet halls, homes, backyards. We bring our own lighting so the coverage looks consistent no matter the room.
Can you do photo and video together? Yes, with the same team. One booking, and you receive a full gallery and an edited highlight film rather than coordinating two vendors who’ve never worked together.
Do you speak Spanish? We do. At family celebrations where relatives travel in, being able to direct grandparents in Spanish during portraits makes a real difference in how relaxed everyone looks.
What towns do you cover? All of Union County and the surrounding area, plus the wider New Jersey and New York metro region.
When do we get everything? A private online gallery of edited images and your highlight film after the celebration, with a small preview set sooner so you can share with family right away.
Let’s Plan Your Little One’s First Birthday
If you’re planning a cake smash session, a first birthday party, or both — tell me the date and what you have in mind, and we’ll build it from there.
You can see more in our gallery of events and browse other milestone celebrations. And when the next one comes around, we photograph christenings and baptisms too. Families tend to start with us here and stay for years — Rafael’s certainly did.
📞 (908) 591-9927 · ✉️ ivone@mcproductionsnj.com · Get in touch