Chico Cake Smash Photography: One Year Old Only Happens Once
Blink and they're one. The sleepy newborn from last spring is suddenly clapping, babbling, and eyeing everything you eat - which makes this the perfect moment to hand them an entire cake and let the magic happen. A cake smash session celebrates the milestone the way it deserves: joyfully, colorfully, and yes, very messily.
What you won't get here is a generic backdrop with a grocery-store cake. Each session is built completely custom - your theme, handmade props, coordinated outfits, and a smash cake designed to match the whole setup. Dinosaurs, wildflowers, "Wild One," something nobody's done before? Dream it up and I'll build it.
My studio is in Yuba City, about 50 minutes down Highway 99 from Chico - and Butte County families tell me it's the easiest drive they'll ever make for photos this custom. Here's why: the session itself is your only trip. Theme planning, your consultation, and even your gallery reveal all happen over Zoom whenever it works for you. Drive down once, and leave the rest to me.
Begin with a simple conversation
One whole year. Let's celebrate it properly.
One year of firsts deserves more than a camera-roll photo before the party starts. This stage - the wobbly steps, the four teeth, the personality that's suddenly SO big - disappears fast. These portraits make sure it never fully does.
My Yuba City studio welcomes first-birthday families from Chico, Durham, Paradise, Oroville, Gridley, and all across Northern California - including Sacramento and Roseville. The session is your only in-person visit; everything else, from theme design to your gallery reveal, can happen virtually.
here's the thing about one
Between the party planning and the general chaos of life with a one-year-old, designing a photoshoot shouldn't be on your list. Tell me the vibe you're picturing - or let me suggest a few themes I've been dying to build - and I'll take care of the set, the props, the outfit direction, and the cake. You just bring the birthday kid.
"It turned out better than I could have ever dreamed of!
"I love the personalized cake smash themes that Megan offers! We did a Groovy ONE themed session for my daughters first birthday and she customized props for the session and it met my vision perfectly! It turned out better than I could have ever dreamed of!"
"To put it simply ... PERFECTION!
Megan is the absolute best! She eased all of my concerns and made all my requests come to life. She documented my daughters first birthday better than I could have ever imagined!"
"The setup was so unique and PERFECT!
We did a Lion King Wild One theme for my son’s first birthday. Megan made handmade props that tied in with our theme perfectly. The setup was so unique and PERFECT! My son had a blast, and the photos are adorable! Everyone needs a little bit of Megan in their lives!
How does this all work?
The Cake Smash Photography Experience
We Connect
Reach out through my contact form and let's start planning your little one's big debut. We'll talk theme ideas, timing, and all the details - so by session day, everything is ready and you have nothing to worry about.
Theme Planning
This is where the fun really starts. We'll design the whole session together - theme, backdrop, props, outfits, and cake. Every detail is custom to your vision. No two sessions look the same.
Gallery Reveal
About a week after the session, we'll meet to see the gallery together. You'll choose your favorites and select the prints and products that are going to live in your home - because these are worth printing.
Product Delivery
Your digital images arrive first so you can share immediately. Prints and albums follow in 4–6 weeks. Real artwork for a real milestone - not just files that live on a hard drive.
Cake Smash Photography
• Session fee begins at $290
• Products begin at $190
• Collections begin at $990
You Want More Than Just Photos. You Want Memories That Last a Lifetime.
Contact Megan
From our very first conversation, the details are mine to handle - theme, set design, props, and a cake made to match. Chico families just make the drive with their one-year-old and a spare outfit. Then you get to do the only thing that matters: watch their face light up at that first fistful of frosting.
