Are you looking for ways to make your baby’s first birthday extra special? If so, why not organise a baby cake smash to mark the occasion in style?
If you’re wondering what a cake smash is and how to arrange one for your baby, we can help! Find out everything you need to know about planning your baby’s unique celebration right here.
What is a cake smash?
The smash cake idea seems to have originally come from the United States, but in recent years the trend has become increasingly popular here in the UK.
A 1st birthday cake smash is an excellent way to capture some special memories of your baby’s very first birthday. The idea of the cake smash itself is pretty simple; you sit your baby in front of a beautiful first birthday cake and let them get messy. It’s essentially a fun and cute way to mark your baby’s birthday.
How to set up a cake smash
Photographing your baby’s cake smash will provide you with some stunning photos that you will treasure forever, but to get the best photos, you need to plan the cake smash just right. Cake smash photography may make cake smashes look like a baby has simply been let loose with a beautiful cake, but in reality, far more work goes into the shoot than you see in the photos. Perfecting your baby’s cake smash takes some planning and plenty of attention to detail, here’s what you need to know…
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Find the perfect location
As you can see from the cake smash images shown here, each photo is staged entirely around the cake smash itself. Find an area of your home that you can keep clear to use for the cake smash, as you don’t want clutter or laundry showing in the background!
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Pick your props
Choosing props for your cake smash is so much fun. Creating a theme for your cake smash and working with similar colours will help to create a cake smash photo with some serious wow factor. Pretty shades of pastels such as pink flowers or balloons are a popular choice and look gorgeous as the backdrop for your cake smash. You may also want to include a prop that features your baby’s name, birth date etc. There are a few ways that you can do this, blackboards are a popular choice, but banners or bunting are equally effective.
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Choose your cake
Choosing a beautiful cake is essential, even if your baby is going to smash it to pieces as soon as they get the chance! Soft icing works well, as it not only looks great, but the effect of it being squished has more of a visual impact in the photographs. There are so many different smash cake designs to choose from; some are elaborate and totally inspirational, and others simple and elegant. Take a look at some smash cake ideas and see what you think will work best with your props.
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Choose an outfit
So, you have found the perfect cake, picked your props and have decided on a location. Your next task is to find an adorable outfit for your little one to wear for the cake smash photoshoot. The whole point of a cake smash is for your baby to get messy, but you still want them to look super cute. Popular smash cake outfit choices include tutus in pastel colours, party dresses, and dungarees. Try to choose an outfit that works well with the colour scheme you are using for your cake and props, as this will ensure that everything works well together on the day.
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Have a trial run
Trying the cake smash out in advance is a useful idea to get your baby familiar with the setup. A rehearsal should help prevent your baby from being overwhelmed on the day and will also help you to see what works well.
Ready, steady, cake smash!
If you don’t feel confident taking the photos yourself, you could arrange a professional photographer for your baby’s cake smash shoot. Don’t forget that baby cake smashes are all about having fun, so remember to enjoy it, relax and embrace the mess!
