When my first child turned one, way back in 2006, there was no Pinterest, Facebook was still mostly for college students, and I hadn’t discovered Twitter yet. When I hired a photographer to do his one-year pictures at our house and stay for the party to get the cake smash, my husband and friends made me feel like I was over the top, maybe a little bit “crazy new parent.”
Why Hire a Photographer for a Cake Smash
Fast forward to my last child turning one in 2014. There are hundreds of ideas on Pinterest on how to stage a cake smash, how to arrange a cake smash, and how to photograph a cake smash. It’s gone from being something no one does to this big overwhelming production that involved backdrops and cute outfits.
It doesn’t have to be that extreme!
A cake smash session can be as simple and low-key as your tot and cupcake, and a promise the shots will be just as {more?} meaningful than an elaborate shoot.
This is one of my most favorite pictures from his birthday cake smash session.
This is what we took at his party:
Now I’m not a stranger to a camera; most of the images on this site I took. My house gets decent light, but his birthday was in March; it was gray and dark. Also, our house is full of people, many that seem to be strangers to him, and we are all gathered around him while he is handed this enormous thing to eat. Would you be comfortable eating with 20 semi strangers staring at you?
We also had tons of kids at the party, I mean beyond the ones that belong to us. Kids love babies, and parties, and cake:
Let’s not even mention my ugly green walls, okay?
I knew this was my last baby and I wanted to get pictures I would love to remember the last time we had a one-year-old. We hired a local photographer to meet us at Cacao Sweets and Treats (now closed). It’s a favorite place of ours, it’s gorgeous, and I knew he would be comfortable there.
Our photographer’s kind and gentle demeanor get even the shyest and grumpy kids (I brought two that day) to warm up and smile for her. Her relaxed and laid-back style meant that we just did our thing, like we were out enjoying a cupcake treat, and she shot around us.
Cacao Sweets and Treats is of course adorable inside and we arrived right at opening so that it wouldn’t be crowded and we wouldn’t interfere with their business. The whole shoot took less than an hour and I have beautiful images to commemorate his day that look like this:
Instead of just a handful of images that look like this:
It’s worth every penny. Not just for the beautiful images, but also the stress it takes off the day. No worries about setting up and getting the shot. No worries about who has the camera and who is in the way. I just stood back and let my guests enjoy the moment and get their own awkward photos knowing I had my perfect shots already done.
Find a photographer for your next cake smash at Lake County Photographers.
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