What Happens at a Cake Smash Photo Shoot?

A cake smash photo shoot has to be one of the most fun photo shoots you can do.

The idea originally became popular around a child’s first birthday: give them a cake, let them explore it, taste it, squash it and generally make as much mess as they like! These days, cake smash photography has become a lovely way of marking one of the first really big milestones in a child’s life – their first birthday.

I’ve been photographing cake smash sessions for almost 20 years, and while every single one is different, there’s one thing they nearly always have in common: they’re great fun.

Not just for the baby, either. Parents, brothers, sisters and everyone else in the studio usually end up enjoying themselves too.

And it might be one of the only occasions in your child’s life when you’ll actively encourage them to cover themselves in cake!

Does the Cake Smash Have to Be on Their First Birthday?

Not at all. Your baby does not need to be exactly one year old on the day of the photo shoot, and you certainly do not need to book the session for their actual birthday.

Most of the babies I photograph have their cake smash around their first birthday – often a couple of weeks before or a couple of weeks afterwards. It still marks that wonderful first-birthday milestone without putting extra pressure on the birthday itself.

In fact, the actual birthday may not be the best day for a photo shoot anyway. You may already be planning a party, seeing family and friends, opening presents and doing all the other things that come with a first birthday. Keeping the cake smash on a different day often makes the whole experience much more relaxed for everyone.

So choose a date that works well for your family. The important thing is celebrating this stage of your baby’s life – not whether the photograph was taken on the exact date they turned one.

Don’t Worry About the Mess

One of the great advantages of doing a cake smash in the studio is that you really don’t need to worry about the mess.

We’re prepared for it.

We use backgrounds that can simply be folded up and disposed of afterwards, and once the cake smash itself is finished, we can move on to one of my favourite parts of the session – the bath photographs.

We have little tin baths here at the studio, which look fantastic in photographs but also have the rather useful benefit of getting your baby clean again before you head home.

So yes, expect cake, icing, crumbs and water. That’s all part of it.

What Should My Baby Wear for a Cake Smash?

Before you come along, have a little think about what you’d like your baby to wear.

My advice is usually to keep it fairly simple.

If a baby is wearing lots of clothes and layers, once those clothes become completely covered in icing it can sometimes start looking messy in the wrong way.

Simple tends to photograph beautifully. Shorts and a T-shirt can work really well, while a little skirt, romper or similarly simple outfit can look lovely too.

You might also want to bring something such as a first-birthday hat, crown or another little accessory.

Don’t feel you need to go overboard, though. Ultimately, we want the photographs to be about your baby and their personality rather than an enormous outfit.

What Kind of Cake Should I Bring?

I always joke that the worst possible cake to bring to a cake smash photo shoot would be a Christmas cake!

We need something nice and soft. Ideally, choose a cake with plenty of soft icing that your baby can easily get their hands into.

Over the years I’ve seen just about every type of cake imaginable. Some parents have beautiful cakes professionally made especially for the shoot. Others make the cake themselves, which I really like because even if it doesn’t look absolutely perfect, there’s something lovely about knowing that Mum, Dad or another family member made it especially for their first birthday.

And plenty of people simply buy a cake from a supermarket. All of those options are absolutely fine.

One little tip if you’re buying a cake from a shop: the icing can sometimes be a little firmer and less messy than freshly made buttercream.

So if you’re buying a chocolate cake, for example, I’d grab an extra tub of chocolate or brown icing as well. If you’ve chosen another colour, buy some extra icing to match. We can always add a little more if necessary. Believe me, extra icing can be very useful!

Your Baby May Not Actually Smash the Cake!

This surprises quite a lot of parents.

People often imagine sitting their one-year-old in front of a beautiful cake and watching them instantly dive headfirst into it, demolishing the entire thing and covering themselves from head to toe in icing.

That occasionally happens. But not very often!

Some babies cautiously touch the icing with one finger. Some stare suspiciously at the cake. Some eat tiny pieces very delicately. Some aren’t particularly interested in the cake at all.

And occasionally you’ll get that wonderful baby who decides complete destruction is the only sensible course of action. Every reaction is different, and that’s part of the fun.

Parents – Be Prepared to Get Involved

This is where Mum and Dad may need to help.

If your baby isn’t getting quite as messy as you imagined, you might need to break a little bit of cake off for them. You might put some icing on their fingers. You may even need to smear a tiny bit on their cheek, nose or arms.

And yes – there is every possibility you’ll end up with a little bit of cake on yourselves too.

That’s why I always say to parents: come prepared to get slightly messy.

At the end of the day, we’re trying to create the best possible collection of photographs rather than simply sitting back and hoping your one-year-old understands the artistic brief!

We’ll help them along while keeping everything relaxed and fun.

Choosing Your Background

We have lots of different coloured backgrounds available here at the studio.

It’s worth thinking beforehand about the colour of your baby’s outfit and the cake you’re bringing, because we can choose a background that brings everything together nicely.

Don’t worry if you’re not sure. When you arrive, we can look at the outfit and cake together and decide which background is going to work best. You don’t need to arrive having planned every detail.

Then Comes the Bath!

Once we’ve created all the cake smash photographs, most families choose to finish with some bath photographs.

We have small tin baths which we can fill with warm water and a little soap or bubble bath. Then your baby gets another opportunity to make a completely different type of mess!

They can splash. They can kick. They can play with the bubbles. And if water goes everywhere, that’s absolutely fine.

These photographs can be fantastic because by this stage most babies are very relaxed and simply enjoying themselves.

There’s also a very practical advantage. By the time we’ve finished, you’ve usually got a considerably cleaner baby than the one sitting amongst the remains of the cake ten minutes earlier!

We have plenty of towels at the studio, so don’t panic if you forget one. If your child has a favourite towel you’d like to bring along, that’s great too.

Would You Like Family or Sibling Photographs As Well?

Some parents would also like a family photograph or perhaps photographs of the birthday baby with their brother or sister.

That’s absolutely fine. Just make sure you tell us before we start the cake smash.

There is a very obvious reason for this. Once your baby has discovered the cake and is covered in chocolate, buttercream and crumbs, it becomes slightly more difficult to create that lovely clean family portrait!

So we’ll normally do any family or sibling photographs first and then bring out the cake.

Don’t Expect Perfection

Just like any photo shoot with young children, a cake smash isn’t about everything going perfectly to plan.

Your baby might love the cake. They might hate the cake. They might eat it. They might throw it. They might completely ignore it and become fascinated by something else in the studio.

That’s okay.

I’ve photographed cake smashes for nearly two decades, and I’ve learned that every baby reacts differently. And quite often, those unexpected reactions are what produce the funniest and most memorable photographs.

The purpose of the session isn’t simply to get a photograph of a baby sitting beside a cake. We’re marking your child’s first birthday. We’re capturing their personality at that particular moment in their life. And we’re hopefully creating photographs you’ll still be laughing at and enjoying many years from now.

So come along with an open mind. Bring a nice soft cake. Wear something you don’t mind getting a tiny bit of icing on. And most importantly, come prepared to have some fun.

I promise you – cake smash photo shoots are supposed to be messy.