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March 23, 2022

Cake Smash session | Ottawa baby photographer

A cake smash session is a fun and joyful way to commemorate this milestone in your Baby’s life.  Take this opportunity to capture your child’s delight as they tear into their first real taste of sugar!

Here are a few tips and tricks to help you prepare for your session:

What to Wear

Choose the theme or color of your little one’s cake smash first, and then you can choose the coordinating outfit.
I have lots of props available here at the studio however you can also bring specific items you wish to incorporate to make the session perfect!  For the family portion of the session choose seasonal coordinating colors, you can view samples of what to wear to your family session here.

What to Expect

Cake Smash sessions last about 60 minutes with the first 30 minutes comprised of family/sibling pictures, and also milestone pictures in which we capture your little one’s personality.  We typically have time to get through 2 outfit and backdrop changes, depending on the cooperation of our subject.  The last 30 minutes is the fun part, cake smash time! Once we bring in the cake, the photo session takes approximately 15 minutes.  We let your baby set the pace, as some little ones dig right in and destroy the cake, and others need a little bit of encouragement and sometimes even help to get into their cake.  Be ready to get your hands dirty and help your little one get past all that frosting to the cake underneath!

Choosing or Making a Cake

Select a small cake or large cupcake, approximately 6 inches around.  Due to concern for allergens, we are not able to provide the cake however I am happy to recommend some amazing local bakers.   Whether you are making the cake, or having it made, please consider the following:

  • Please make sure that the cake is placed onto a cake round (something that can be used to transfer the cake easily from one surface to another)  A piece of cardboard cut into a circle and covered in aluminum foil works just as well if you are making the cake yourself.
  • Think light colors for the cake itself and vanilla is preferred- (red cake smeared on baby’s face tends to look like your little one just ate someone or chocolate can look like poop!)
  • Remove the cake from the refrigerator 2-3 hours before the session to allow the frosting to soften for some messy fingers and toes.

Things to Bring

  • Cake
  • Cake Smash Outfit
  • 2-3 additional outfits for Baby
  • Change of clothes for parents, just in case
  • diapers
  • Sippy cup to help wash down the cake
  • Snacks (think cheerios, or puffs) in case they don’t like the cake.  We sometimes have to hide them the cake to make it look like your little one is actually eating the cake.  Ssshhh.. we wont’ tell anyone 🙂

The Mess

We hope that your little one enjoys the cake and makes a huge mess!  That’s the whole point of this session, right!  Last but not least we finish the session off with a warm bath, so please bring a clean outfit for the ride home.

Hope to see you soon and capture your little one’s cake smash session! Christine XO

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