Let's Talk Cakes Smash

Cake smashes have been gaining popularity as a way to celebrate a milestone birthday, in particular first birthdays.

Why you ask? Well... I’m not entirely sure.

Maybe it’s watching your baby for the first time (in most cases) have their first lick of sweet sugary icing, or explore how the fluffy sponge feels as they smoosh it between their little fingers, the way they so inquisitively stare at you as if to say “am I actually allowed to do this mum?” Or the way they make a mess of a perfectly selected cake that was made specifically for the sole purpose for them to ‘smash’ it!

It definitely isn’t the clean up!

I know most photographers will offer a ‘cake smash’ photography session which usually includes a washable floor but I didn’t think of the extent of the icing chaos until the night before... Nothing a good mop wouldn’t fix right?

(Eeeek!)

All of my thoughts about any clean up were gone when I saw my beautiful boy surrounded by all his fluffy friends (think teddy bears picnic). I do consider myself a bit of a creative so I decided to go rogue (definitely not like me!) and make it my little DIY project!

After searching high and low through Etsy and Instagram themes I found a color scheme I loved and went from there! I had a few baskets and cake stands around the house which I could make work. I picked up some balloons from the local discount party store and found an electric balloon pump online for about $35 (totally recommended). I had Jo from Jossigns bydesign make the most perfect cut out props which totally made the whole theme come to life! I talked her through my theme, she sourced and narrowed down a selection of images for me to choose from. She was an absolute pleasure to deal with (thank you!)

I used fishing line to tie the balloons together to construct the balloon garland and carefully positioned it against the staircase to create the arch (took me 2 days though arggghhh - note to self, use a professional next time) and my wonderful sister helped assemble the cake. The cake! OMG can you believe it's from Woolworths? We simply cut the icing off the tops of 2 standard cakes and stacked them! Whipped fresh cream and used food colouring to create the shades of blue
then finished it off with some dollar store cake toppers! Job done!

Arelio sweetbox created the most gorgeous teddy bear macarons and Lukusbakes constructed the sweetest bee hive macaroon towers (Yumm!) bringing the whole ‘picnic’ theme together. Since we celebrated without family and friends due to covid -19 restrictions, these were so perfect to wrap individually once the photo shoot was done and hand them out to family and
friends. We thought since they couldn’t be part of his first birthday it would be a special way to still include them!

For me, it was knowing that all the cream icing stuck between the floorboards would all be worth it once the images came through - and boy were they worth it! Seeing the joy, mess and pure excitement captured by Foto Vanessa . The adorable selection of photos will be a lasting memory of this special milestone birthday and ones we will cherish for a lifetime!

My tips if you are planning your own cake smash;

1. Ensure your theme can be easily replicated in line with your budget
2. Outsource where you can- let the pros do what they do best!
3. While you have access to a professional photographer see if they can utilise the time
   to capture wonderful family moments as well as individual baby ones
4. Make it fun! You probably won’t do it again