The look on a baby’s face as they’re presented with their very own birthday cake to devour — and more importantly, “smash” — is always priceless. It’s a mixture of pure joy and overwhelming excitement (that we get to vicariously live through).
But photographer Lyndsey Wright had been there, done that many times over. So instead of opting for a traditional cake smash during a recent photo shoot, she got creative. Wright suggested a “taco smash” to her clients Ben and Jordan Ogden, who were prepping for their 1-year-old daughter Stella’s birthday. After all, who doesn’t love a good taco on their birthday?!
It turned out to be the perfect fit — especially since Stella’s birthday was going to be fiesta themed.
Wright tells Babble that despite the popularity of the cake smash trend, she wanted to make things more personal.
“I was doing a LOT of cake smashes and it was getting redundant,” says Wright. “I wanted to get outside the box a bit, so I started asking __parents if their babies had a favorite table food and if they’d want to do a smash with that instead.”
So far, she’s done everything from donuts to popsicles and even an entire BBQ meal!
But one day, Wright says an idea for tacos popped into her head and “I just HAD to find someone who wanted to do it!”
Luckily, she met her match with the Ogdens.
“It just worked out perfectly that a long-time client turned friend was having her daughter’s first birthday fiesta-themed,” she tells Babble. And on top of that, Stella’s family chose the theme because of her love of Mexican food.
“One of Stella’s first foods was rice and beans,” says her mom. “We have eaten out at our local authentic Mexican restaurant ever[y] Wednesday since she was born.”
As you might have guessed by her adorable expressions, Stella loved every minute of the taco smash. (Though she “mostly ate the sides … [and] gnawed on the shells,” says Wright.)
But she’s not the only one who loved it — Stella’s adorable photo shoot has gone viral in the last week, with over 42K likes, 33.9K shares, and 18K loving comments after being shared on the Facebook page Love What Matters.
I bet we’ll be seeing a lot more creative smashes to come. Can’t wait!