First Birthday Bash and cake smash photography always Go Hand in Hand
Use these tips and tricks for a great session!
Cake Smash photography is not as easy as it looks! However, Celebrating a milestone, especially a birthday, is not complete without a cake! It is just right to turn the spotlight on your baby who’s turning one while smashing the cake. People often say that babies who turn one do not remember anything during their birthday bash. Why don’t you give your baby something to look back on this milestone?
Cake smashing initially gained popularity in America and is now known in Australia as well. It became a photography trend as it makes first birthdays more memorable to cherish. Your babies can do whatever they please to their cake: tinker, crawl on it, and even smash it! However, although most babies are easy to photograph, the process is not as smooth as it looks.
Be Prepared
- Prepare the cutest dress or suit that you want your baby to wear. Usually, cake smashing shoot starts with portrait shots before the main event.
- The second outfit has to be less extravagant as it will be covered with icing in no time. Parents who did it before usually put their babies in nappies and a cover.
- Once the outfit is discussed we can stylize the set up to coordinate with the outfit or theme. Parents who want to keep it simple that’s ok too!
- Babies experience things for the first time, and they are not always in the mood to play around with things that they are not accustomed to. Hence, make sure to practice with a cupcake at least twice or thrice before the actual shoot. Familiarize your baby with the texture of the cake, so that it will be easier for them to enjoy during the photo shoot.
- Just as we all imagine, it will be fun and messy. An entire pack of wet wipes is surely needed during and after the shoot.
Talk About the Cake
- Choose a cake in bright and popping colors to attract the attention of your baby. These colors usually match any backdrop color: pink, apple green, yellow, and white. Steer away from darker colors.
- Make sure that there are no harmful objects in the cake.
- Please do not get a cake with fondant as it can cause choking.
- It does not really need to be an extravagant cake, but since your baby only turns one once, shedding extra dollars for a more beautiful one is always worth it.
- Ensure that the cake is easy to break in by having buttercream or whipped frosting.
- Most importantly, be sure that your baby is not allergic to anything inside the cake.
All Things Nice and Squishy
- Incorporate the theme of your baby’s birthday bash in the shoot. To achieve better results, you can include some stuff that will also be used during the party.
- No party theme, no problem maybe just some great contrasting colors or a theme from the nursery.
- Colorful buntings never fail to make any space beautiful.
- Bring babies favorite snack in case baby does not like the cake after all. A favorite toy, it might come in handy to get your baby’s attention, especially whenever they turn their back on the camera.
Not all Babies Love to Get Messy
No matter how much you can prepare we really never know what the baby will do the day the cake smash photography session takes place. For the majority of cake smashes we have done baby does not know what to do with what is in front of them. A nice sized cake all for them 🙂 Sometimes a little assistance from parents is needed to help the process or like I have mentioned bringing their favorite snacks such as cereal or puffs to put in the cake so there is something familiar to them to grab and eat. At the end who is to know what they were eating? it looked as though they were eating cake and loving it too! With all this said, just in case sessions may not go as planned we always capture a few shots at the beginning before we introduce the cake and all the fun begins.
Sessions can take place as early as a month before their birthday or a few weeks after. Check out our packages and pricing found here
What are you waiting for? Let’s start planning your baby’s birthday bash today and get ready for a big Smash!
