Cake Smash Session

1st Birthday cake smash sessions are becoming increasingly popular in New Zealand.  Its such a fun way to capture your child on their 1st birthday!  Its hard to know what to do to celebrate this exciting milestone - they haven't formed friendships, cant play pass the parcel and would rather play with the wrapping paper than the present itself.  They don't really know what its all about and more often that not it ends up being a party for the parents to celebrate surviving the first year!  But what little 1 year old doesn't like cake....or mess?

Its the perfect solution! 

I have put together some information about cake smash sessions and what you can expect from a session with me.

The cake smash will need to take place in your home and this can be done inside or out.  I am happy to provide a plain white backdrop which can be decorated how you like.  The other option is to decorate a plain wall in your house.  If there is carpet down you can purchase a clear plastic floor covering (from Bunnings or the like) which you can stick on your carpet and then just peel off and throw away when you are finished.  Similar to what painters use!  If you have wooden floors then no problem, you just get the mop out afterwards. 
Your baby will get very messy so I suggest you have someone on hand to run a bath afterwards.  If you own a big metal tub (or similar) this can be taken outside, bubble-bath added and some more photos taken!

What I suggest is that you have a couple of outfits for your child.  Choose a cute outfit for a couple of traditional first birthday portraits - these can be taken with Mum and Dad and siblings and then you can change in to the other outfit for the cake smash.  What your child wears for the cake smash is totally up to you but keep in mind the clothes will get extremely messy!  Usually the child would wear just a nappy cover, a pair of shorts or maybe a cute tutu for a little girl.

Don't let the cake smash be the first time your child eats cake.  Let them sample some cake a couple of times leading up to the cake smash so they get used to the taste and the texture of the icing.  As crazy as it sounds, some children don't like the feel of the cake/icing on their hands and can find the session overwhelming.  If they are a little bit shy and not wanting to dive in to their cake, having some of their favourite finger foods on hand to pop in to the cake might create some interest and encourage them along!

It is great to incorporate some decorations for the cake smash.  This is totally down to taste - some clients like the less-is-more approach and in this case a bunting flag will do just nicely.  Balloons are great too but you do have to be careful as they tend to cast colours and shadows.  You can purchase fantastic decorations from craft shops, I am more than happy to send some suggestions your way.  But really its up to you - there are no rules!

Use butter cream icing so the cakes is easy to break in to.  Fondant is too hard and you wont get the messy look that cake smashes are all about!  Don't have any small decorations on the cake as they can be a choking hazard. 

The cake smash photo shoot will last around 30 minutes - the child will usually be well over it by then.  The entire session will take around 60 minutes if you want some family photos before hand and then maybe some in the bath afterwards.  The package can be tailored to suit.

Happy cake Smashing :)
Karla