It was a great pleasure covering Elias’ 1st birthday party. Being the first baby of a close friend of mine, this was extra special. And to top it off, Elias was just too cute for words. And he really knows how to make hearts flutter with that sheepish, kiddy smile of his!

The theme this time was Dr Seuss, and the party room was decorated with the theme banner, balloon bouquet, Dr Seuss cupcakes and cake pops.

I am not too sure where you can find Dr Seuss themed party accessories anywhere in Singapore, but those you see here were sourced from online websites!

As for the birthday cake, I was totally blown away. It looks GREAT, period.

Done to perfection by Fantasy Cookies, it looks so good that I wouldn’t have the heart to cut and eat the cake if it were mine! The “pen” marks around the cake and on the hat makes it look so much like a 2D drawing come to life.

Have you thought of any theme for your child’s birthday party? Share your experiences with us! 🙂

Birthday cake | Fantasy Cookies
Cupcake and cake pops | Cheri
Balloon bouquet | Party City

Dr Seuss theme birthday party celebration with a Dr Seuss cake, cake pops, cupcakes and banner!Gorgeous Dr Seuss theme birthday cake by Fantasy Cookies. Note the details in the kites and the number “1”. Even the ribbon for the name at the bottom looks awesome!Huge 1st birthday balloon bouquet from Party City.Candid moment of birthday boy Elias peering curiously into the drinking cup.Grandma carrying Elias wearing cute rabbit ears.Babies tend to go off into blank stares like this from time to time. I find it to be good photo opportunities it’s as though you get a momentary glimpse into their souls and personalities.Birthday baby boy Elias riding on his sparkling new Little Tikes tricycle.Laughing and having fun riding on the shoulders of a party guest.Elias breaking into his signature laughter. He is simply a joy to photograph!Enjoying quality and quiet feeding time with grandma.Looking like a little boss here while having his shoes put on.Smiling cheekily when he saw his selfie on the phone screen.Not knowing what to expect when receiving red packets from party guests.

Having a very soft spot for anything woody, old-school, rustic, nostalgic etc, this bakery seems like a perfect place to me to hold a family reunion, birthday party, friends gathering or celebration of some sort.

No one, especially people not familiar with this area, would have thought that such a quaint and rustic looking bakery/cafe can be found here in Tiong Bahru. In fact, I wouldn’t have known that Plain Vanilla Bakery is situated here if not for a recent birthday party photography assignment.

There’s a nostalgic feel about the place. Old bicycles from our parents’ generation greet you at the entrance. And an old-school collapsible grill gate is still in use. Even the floor tiles near the entrance are original, mosaic-like ones. A small play area for kids is right inside the entrance. A few steps ahead and you see the actual bakery. To the left side is a small function room named The Workroom.

Check out below to see how the bakery/cafe looks like, and also some of the finger food we had.

Birthday cake and pastries | Plain Vanilla Bakery

Entrance to Plain Vanilla Bakery at Yong Siak Road.Opening hours of Plain Vanilla Bakery on a board hanging at the entrance.Rustic wooden board hanging at the entrance.Products of Plain Vanilla Bakery displayed in hexagonally-shaped containers mounted to the wall. They include cutlery, mugs, bags, cups, bamboo straws etc.Interior design of the private function room at Plain Vanilla Bakery. Cassettes containing nostalgic hits from yesteryear and printed artwork lined the shelves.Private room named The Workroom provides more seating within the bakery. This room is also suitable for small gatherings such as birthday parties, private functions and friends and family reunions.Overall view of The Workroom. A couple of large rectangular work tables and benches fill the room, which should be enough for 30-40 people.Birthday cake lined with a generous serving of strawberries, blueberries and raspberries.Plain Vanilla Bakery does custom cakes for various occasions including birthday cakes so they are freshly served.Delicious looking roasted pumpkin, sage and pine nut tarts on one side, and smoked salmon tarts on the other.More uniquely looking tarts. These are ham, asparagus and gruyere tarts. Gruyere is a type of semi-soft cheese that is traditional, creamery, unpasteurised. It is named after a Swiss village.These strawberry custard tarts looked rather sweet with the sugared coating on the surface.Beautifully crafted lemon cream tarts with a homely feel.Tiny biscuits served with special toppings such as lemon cream, chocolate bits and berry dust.Birthday party favours wrapped in individual artsy boxes and ribbons.

Here’s another cute and fun jungle theme party! If you haven’t noticed, safari and animal themes seem to be all the rage recently!

It’s not easy to come up with different elements that complement well with one another, and I must say that it’s working great here!

Overall look of jungle theme dessert table and decor with accompanying stickers and balloons.

The cute tree stickers on the wall go with the real twigs and leaves on the table. Even the table sheet was very well thought out!

I can’t help but feel drawn to the woody and slightly rustic feel of the overall look (as always). Such textures and elements ALWAYS turn out well in photos.

The dessert table is practically overflowing with sumptuous-looking pastries!

Heard of “hedgehog” cream puffs and “moss” cupcakes? If you haven’t, continue scrolling down.

And check out the “tree stump” swiss rolls too.

In case you’re wondering, the dessert table and cake were done by the talented eatliaomeimei!

And I was surprised to see casuarina cones, which transported me back to my primary school days where the school field was always littered with them!

Now who wants to go pick some forest berries? Excluding bumping into grizzly bears of course (which I really did in one of my travels but that’s another story altogether!)

Dessert table, birthday cake | eatliaomeimei

Decor | eatliaomeimei and The Bitter Stickgirl

Yummy looking two-tier birthday cake in salted caramel and tiramisu flavours.

Decorated with greens and toy animals at the upper tier for that wild jungle feel.

Toy grizzly bear beside the lower tier.

Cute little chocolate cream puffs delicately shaped into hedgehogs. Ingenious idea to use the chocolate bits as the spines!Tiny cups stuffed with healthy blueberries, raspberries and strawberries.Little chocolate and ondeh ondeh cupcakes shaped into mushrooms and moss. I would really like to know how the moss is made!Chocolate coated swiss roll cake shaped into tree stumps.Freshly baked biscuits in vibrant jungle colours and finished off with names of the birthday twins.

2017 has been nothing short of AMAZING and we at Truphotos are so grateful and humbled for the trust and confidence in the work we produce. It’s truly a privilege to be able to document so many beautiful and candid moments at the parties and baby showers we have attended.

No words can describe our joy when we see how much our clients’ babies have grown when we return for subsequent sessions. Babies grow so fast that we don’t realise it until we look back at past photographs. Once gone, their growing up years will never return. So keep snapping pictures of them whenever the opportunity presents itself and continue to document your family’s legacy!

There are so many moments that we hold dear to our hearts, but here are some of our favourite unscripted ones from 2017. We look forward to another beautiful year filled with love and laughter!

Enya’s in all smiles at her first birthday party at J65, Hotel Jen Tanglin.Enya sharing a quiet feeding moment.Carrie being the centre of attention at her first party at Little House of Dreams.Being served trumps self-service.My dream is to become a superhero!Nothing but lots of joy and laughter at every party celebration. Taken at Tanah Merah Country Club.This is how you pose and take a picture of the birthday boy!Deep in thought.What happens when Pokemon joins your birthday party.Reluctance to kiss each other amidst all the attention. Taken at The Refinery.A candid expression of surprise.To take, or not to take. Life’s tough decisions. Taken at Cake Avenue.Grab that balloon quick!Here’s how I bottoms up at KidZania!Look mom, no hands! Taken at SpurBox.