Cake Smash Session Preparation Guide

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Cake smash sessions are a great way to celebrate your baby turning one! It’s such a fun and important milestone so what better way to do this than with a smash and splash session so you have lots of fun images to look back on for years to come! Here are a few tips I’ve learned along the way to help us to have the best cake smash session possible ☺

 

➢ Choose an outfit in advance. It is important for me to know what you would like them to wear so that we can coordinate backdrops/props/themes and of course- the cake!

➢ If you choose the package with cake included- please let me know ASAP if your child has any allergies.

➢ Let your baby have cake at least 2 times in the weeks leading up to the cake smash session. This way they will be familiar with cake and more excited about it rather than being in the exploration phase. Its also a great chance for you to find out if there are any allergies or sensitivities from the cake or icing coloring and if they even like the texture of icing…believe it or not, a lot of babies
are put off by the texture of the icing at first so if they can get used to it before hand, it should result in a happier session.

➢ We will do some non-messy birthday pictures first before the Cake smashing gets underway. It’s best if I can make your little one smile so that they are looking at the camera, but if one parent wants to help feel free to get in my personal space! Squat down right beside me and the camera
when trying to get those precious smiles ☺ It works best when only one person is trying to make them laugh at a time, because if too many people are yelling things to the babies they tend to get
overwhelmed.

➢ For the majority of the cake smashes I’ve done, the action doesn’t last long, or can be a slow starter. Usually the parents have to get in on the fun by handing some of the icing or chunks of cake to the baby and encouraging the mess.

➢ Some babies love the cake, some haven’t been as eager to dig in- but with a little assistance from the parents, you end up with photos of a very animated cake smash and a baby who looks like they love cake. Another option is to have some of your baby’s favorite dry finger food on hand(ie puffs) to stuff into the cake as this can help to get them more interested whilst rummaging around.

➢ Don’t worry if the baby keeps trying to walk or crawl away. If this is the case, its best that I carry
on taking photos whilst parents place baby back in to the scene, this way we won’t miss potential photos.

➢ The cake smash part of the session might go quickly but this isn’t anything to worry about. I will know if I have enough photos or not and if not we can try for a little longer but it’s important to listen to your little one if they have had enough. If so, it’s then on to the ‘splash’ part of the session which helps with the clean up, but is also a good opportunity to get more animated photos
as some babies prefer to have a bit of fun in the water!