How to Plan a First Birthday Cake Smash Photo Session | Olympia Family Photographer

Let’s face it, everyone loves to watch one-year-olds destroy their perfect little cakes and smash them all over their faces. The messier the better, right? Particularly this year, in the age of the coronavirus, zoom birthdays have been a sight for sore eyes, watching these tiny humans cover themselves in cake and frosting.

When determining how to plan for your cake smash session, here are some considerations to think about:

Photography Style

When I do cake smash sessions, I bundle them into my lifestyle family sessions, so that it tells a story of the whole family, including parents and siblings. For me, it’s important to highlight the whole feeling of life with a one-year-old. The cake smash is such a fun event, and while I do put emphasis on it, it’s part of the entire collection rather than the whole show. That way, when you look back at your photos, you have all of the excitement and cuteness of baby’s first cake destruction, AND you also have very real and natural moments captured of your family all together doing things you always do, like reading a book together, playing with their favorite stuffy, snuggling with the big siblings, pulling themselves up in their crib, kissing their squishy cheeks, laughing at the dog, and whatever else is specific to your family.

Location

A cake smash in the backyard with a few balloons and a decked out high chair is super simple to set up. It’s just as easy to clean up (very important!) and you don’t have to haul everything to a park, the high chair is ready, it’s all right there, and you can even use the hose if necessary! Home is the easiest place to document a cake smash, folded into a full lifestyle family session. In addition to the ease of having everything readily available (snacks, stuffed animals, toys, change of clothes, diapers, etc), it’s also where all of your memories happen. When you look back at the photos in years to come, whether you’ve moved or have lived there for 20 years, the memories of your home when your baby turned one will come back and may make you tear up (it’s happened before, folks).

What kind of cake should you make?

When it comes to a one-year-old’s cake, there are so many options! You can make cupcakes, a mini cake, or even huge full-size multi-layered cake! You can make it yourself or you can order something extra special at a local bakery.

If you’re concerned about the sugar intake, there are many recipes out there for healthy cake and frosting alternatives. For my own kids, we didn’t do a traditional cake smash, but instead gave them an unlimited bowl of their favorite berries and let them eat them delicately one-by-one, until they realized they could smash those berries in their hands and shove handfuls into their little faces. It still made a mess and was a wonderful memory!

Outfit

Have fun with it! Baby can wear a simple solid onesie, something loud and fun, or ditch the clothing completely and get all messy in their birthday suit or a diaper. When in doubt, go with what makes you the happiest. You can’t make a wrong choice (just be sure to have a change of clothes ready)!

Well there you have it! Any questions? Leave me a comment below! Interested in a lifestyle family photo session or baby’s first year cake smash session in Olympia, WA, Tumwater, Lacey or beyond? Send me an email or visit my contact page.