Finding Success With the Cake Smash Trend
It’s a tradition in many cultures to "go big" when celebrating a first birthday. First birthdays are extra special as they are not just the celebration of the child, but also a celebration of the many challenges parents overcome in the first year. One of the more recent trends in the photography industry is a session dedicated to first birthdays, known more specifically as "cake smash sessions." How this trend got started is a bit of a mystery, but it has evolved overtime into a full-blown event that even includes a bath or clean-up time after the initial cake smash.
Our studio, Picture Perfect NY, is a family portrait studio. Although we started out in wedding photography, the shift in market led us to eventually focus on families. Family photography is a large "umbrella-category" that includes maternity, newborn, children, and event photography that captures specific milestones as the children grow. We have been photographing cake smash sessions since we opened our doors back in 2010. As the years went on, the cake smash trend only grew in popularity as themed photos were more widely shared. Stylizing a cake smash setup became more and more detailed to include a variety of different props, colors, and themes. Even the cakes became more elaborate with decoration inspired by the chosen theme and colors.
When it comes to cake smash sessions, we believe in individualization. The theme and style of the shoot is customized towards each client and their overall ideas. A cake smash session typically starts out with a phone call or an email from the client inquiring about availability. To be fully transparent, we list our session prices on our website with full description, therefore 90% of the client outreach leads directly to a session discussion and booking. The initial phone consult is approximately 20 minutes and allows our staff and the client to brainstorm themes that will be personal to the child. When parents decide to purchase a cake smash session, a large number of them already have themes in mind. This includes popular picks like superheroes, princesses, nautical, jungle, and the list goes on.
The problem is, most one-year old babies have never tried sweets before, let alone cake. To ensure we capture the best photos, we encourage parents to introduce a small cupcake to their baby so they can familiarize themselves with the texture. We also recommend parents let the baby play with mashed potatoes days before the actual session. If they don't react well to these smaller items, we then ask the parents to bring their baby's favorite snack such as puffs or cereal so we can place it in the cake and make them more inclined to interact since they're familiar with that particular food. If this technique is used, we photograph at angles that make it seem as though baby is eating the actual cake.
The average cake smash set takes about an hour to build, and the more detailed sets take about 3-4 hours to design. When parents arrive for their appointment, the goal is to have everything ready and to start photographing right away before the child gets too tired, bored, or cranky. We always start by capturing a few images before the actual cake is introduced so that we have some "safe shots" in case baby does not like the cake. It can get interesting when we finally introduce the cake because babies will either love it or hate it! Some babies don't like the texture of cake, whether it be fondant or cream, and start crying as soon as they touch it. Then there are the babies who don’t know what to do with the cake and need their parent's assistance. The last category is the babies who timidly try the cake first and then dive head first into it. We love documenting these moments, regardless of how the baby reacts, because they provide the parents with memories they can treasure for a lifetime (even if the outcome isn't what they expected). For us, as photographers, it is also fun to see what the children will do when presented with the cake, and capturing each individual reaction is priceless.
As most parents know, children, are always unpredictable and smash-cake sessions aren’t any different. This unpredictability often leads to the hardest part of the session--the cleanup. Sometimes, cleaning up is easy if the baby did not "smash the cake," but most of the time there are pieces of cake all over the studio floor, all over the parents, and often all over the lights and camera.
Since clean-up is an inevitable part of the process, we decided to include this fun, behind-the-scenes, event as part of every cake smash session. Often times, if the baby doesn't like the cake smash idea, we find we capture the best photos of the shoot in the bath during clean-up! After the baby has been cleaned, we place the little one into the bath tub to clean the remaining sticky sweetness. We purchased the perfect-size, custom tub for our studio and just like with smash cakes, we document the child’s reaction to this new setting. Some children start laughing and giggling, smashing and splashing the water, while others prefer to play with the rubber duckies and bath toys. Then there are few who had so much fun smashing the cake that they end up just laying back and relaxing!
After the session, we move into post processing which, although significantly less than a newborn session, is still extensive. The cake smash is a great conclusion to the story that we aim to tell for our clients, which typically starts with a maternity session, followed by newborn session, then the milestones of three, six, and nine months. We then convert all of these images into a “My First Year, the Story of ______” album documenting the various stages of the child’s life. Unlike the typical slip-in album, this product is held in high regard, comparable to a wedding album, and allows parents, family, and friends to reflect on the little one's first year.
In conclusion, there are plenty of ways to make cake smash photography a success for your business. You can keep it simple and offer a short cake smash studio session, you can add the clean-up time to the shoot, and you can even offer cake smash sessions beyond the first year. Traditionally, cake smash sessions are about first birthdays and celebrate a grand finale, or graduation for our "watch-me-grow" clients. However, on numerous occasions, we have photographed cake smash sessions for two, three, and even four year old children. On one rare, but hilarious, occasion we captured a cake smash session for a 35-year-old father who decided that if his daughter didn't want the cake, he would enjoy it himself!
No matter how you incorporate cake smash into your business, always remember that these sessions are meant for children to have fun, for parents to loosen up and relax, and it's your job to capture every emotion in between. Plus, working with children is a special privilege, as parents are trusting you to handle the most important being in their lives. It is a humbling experience and honor at the same time.
Joseph and Angela Krivoruk
The problem is, most one-year old babies have never tried sweets before, let alone cake. To ensure we capture the best photos, we encourage parents to introduce a small cupcake to their baby so they can familiarize themselves with the texture. We also recommend parents let the baby play with mashed potatoes days before the actual session. If they don't react well to these smaller items, we then ask the parents to bring their baby's favorite snack such as puffs or cereal so we can place it in the cake and make them more inclined to interact since they're familiar with that particular food. If this technique is used, we photograph at angles that make it seem as though baby is eating the actual cake.
The average cake smash set takes about an hour to build, and the more detailed sets take about 3-4 hours to design. When parents arrive for their appointment, the goal is to have everything ready and to start photographing right away before the child gets too tired, bored, or cranky. We always start by capturing a few images before the actual cake is introduced so that we have some "safe shots" in case baby does not like the cake. It can get interesting when we finally introduce the cake because babies will either love it or hate it! Some babies don't like the texture of cake, whether it be fondant or cream, and start crying as soon as they touch it. Then there are the babies who don’t know what to do with the cake and need their parent's assistance. The last category is the babies who timidly try the cake first and then dive head first into it. We love documenting these moments, regardless of how the baby reacts, because they provide the parents with memories they can treasure for a lifetime (even if the outcome isn't what they expected). For us, as photographers, it is also fun to see what the children will do when presented with the cake, and capturing each individual reaction is priceless.
As most parents know, children, are always unpredictable and smash-cake sessions aren’t any different. This unpredictability often leads to the hardest part of the session--the cleanup. Sometimes, cleaning up is easy if the baby did not "smash the cake," but most of the time there are pieces of cake all over the studio floor, all over the parents, and often all over the lights and camera.
Since clean-up is an inevitable part of the process, we decided to include this fun, behind-the-scenes, event as part of every cake smash session. Often times, if the baby doesn't like the cake smash idea, we find we capture the best photos of the shoot in the bath during clean-up! After the baby has been cleaned, we place the little one into the bath tub to clean the remaining sticky sweetness. We purchased the perfect-size, custom tub for our studio and just like with smash cakes, we document the child’s reaction to this new setting. Some children start laughing and giggling, smashing and splashing the water, while others prefer to play with the rubber duckies and bath toys. Then there are few who had so much fun smashing the cake that they end up just laying back and relaxing!
After the session, we move into post processing which, although significantly less than a newborn session, is still extensive. The cake smash is a great conclusion to the story that we aim to tell for our clients, which typically starts with a maternity session, followed by newborn session, then the milestones of three, six, and nine months. We then convert all of these images into a “My First Year, the Story of ______” album documenting the various stages of the child’s life. Unlike the typical slip-in album, this product is held in high regard, comparable to a wedding album, and allows parents, family, and friends to reflect on the little one's first year.
In conclusion, there are plenty of ways to make cake smash photography a success for your business. You can keep it simple and offer a short cake smash studio session, you can add the clean-up time to the shoot, and you can even offer cake smash sessions beyond the first year. Traditionally, cake smash sessions are about first birthdays and celebrate a grand finale, or graduation for our "watch-me-grow" clients. However, on numerous occasions, we have photographed cake smash sessions for two, three, and even four year old children. On one rare, but hilarious, occasion we captured a cake smash session for a 35-year-old father who decided that if his daughter didn't want the cake, he would enjoy it himself!
No matter how you incorporate cake smash into your business, always remember that these sessions are meant for children to have fun, for parents to loosen up and relax, and it's your job to capture every emotion in between. Plus, working with children is a special privilege, as parents are trusting you to handle the most important being in their lives. It is a humbling experience and honor at the same time.