EAST LONDON 1ST BIRTHDAY CAKESMASH PHOTOGRAPHY
Hi! I’m here to help you celebrate baby’s first big milestone birthday, with a 1st birthday cakesmash photoshoot.
Our babies develop so much during their first year, and by the time their first birthdays come around they are full of expressions and movement. 1st birthday photoshoots are the perfect way of celebrating the end of that first year of parenting. These photoshoots are especially popular, as, although our babies don’t remember parties at this age, they will have the memento of an album or framed prints of their 1st birthday session, to look back on in years to come.
Sessions comprise of 3 main parts to give you a wide variety of images in your final gallery, plus some classic family portraits at the beginning.
In addition to studio birthday shoots, I also capture key moments at birthday parties for kids of all ages. Get in touch for more details and to see sample images.
First, classic family portraits
Before we start the birthday themed part of the session, we capture a few family portraits (the whole family, plus each parent with baby) against a classic, grey, studio backdrop.
It is a great way of getting a few updated family portraits at this key milestone age without booking a full family session.
Second, pre-cake, birthday-themed photos
Portraits taken before the cake comes out, with various birthday prop (I have a massive range of props for us to pick from).
Next, getting messy with the cake
The cakesmash itself.
We encourage baby to start playing with and eating the birthday cake, whilst I capture a series of expressive photos of your baby.
I provide tips on how to prepare your baby for cake, beforehand so that your baby is excited to dig in, straight away.
Finishing off with, splash-time
Once your baby has had their fill of cake, we move on to images of your baby splashing about in a tub of warm, shallow water and bubbles to help clean the cake off.
This last part tends to be a favourite with the babies; playing with the bubbles, rubber ducks, peek-a-boo with a hooded towel, and generally splashing about in the warm water.
First birthday photoshoot pricing
Most families spend around £850-£1200 on digital images and their wall art/album.
Pricing is broken down into your session booking fee plus your choice of digital image package and printed products.
-
Covers everything up to and including the session itself including use of my props, decorations and outfits. Excludes edited images/printed products and the cake (for allergy and insurance reasons).
-
Two weeks after the session, view around 40 edited photos at the studio. Choose from:
“The Taster”: any 5 edited digital images - £300
“Your Favourite Ten”: any 10 edited digital images + £50 voucher - £500
“The Complete Works”: All edited digital images + video slideshow + £100 print voucher - £700
Additional digital files can be added at £40 per image.
-
Ordered at your viewing appointment, using your print voucher if included in the digital package you’ve selected.
Fine art prints from £40
Wall art & frames from £180
Luxury albums from £550
1st birthday photoshoots - your questions answered
-
I find that most families tend to have plans for baby’s actual birthday so don’t book for the actual date, although of course if I have the date available, we can do this!
If you would like to have images available to share with friends and family on the big day, I’d recommend booking the session around 3-4 weeks before the big day.
Images take around 2 weeks to turn around from the session date, so bear this in mind when booking a session date.
Get in touch to check availability.
-
I have huge variety of birthday decorations and props to create your birthday themed set with. Some families see previous sets, and ask me to recreate these and for other families I create a bespoke set, based on what you love and what will suit your home (for any photos you frame & display).
If you have something specific in mind, let me know when you get in touch. Once we’ve decided on colours and a theme, we then look at suitable cakes and outfits.
-
Once we have decided on your set theme and colours, I can help you pick a cake. There are many great store bought options and I can also recommend a couple of local cake bakers who have provided bespoke cakes for many of my sessions, before. There’s plenty more information on cakes in my blogs too). If you’d like to keep your baby off cake for a little longer, we can also do a watermelon smash or simply focus on the pre-cake birthday themed photos.
-
I’ll guide you through all of this in the planning process. I recommend timeless, classic, coordinated clothing for the family portrait and then we can pick one of my outfits, or something of your own, for baby to wear for the themed, cakesmash part of the session.
-
When we plan your session, I’ll take you though a checklist of things to bring, but there are very few essentials… just don’t forget yourself, your baby and cake. A towel, spare socks and nappy bag usuals are also pretty handy!
Some families have sentimental items they’d like to include in a couple of photos (like a cuddly bear, a favourite toy, or a special outfit) - do bring these along. We can even chat about how we might integrate them into the theme.
I have a variety of outfit you can pick from fo the session, so no need to bring your own, unless you want to.
-
I find that most families tend to have plans for baby’s actual birthday so don’t book for the actual date, although of course if I have the date available, we can do this!
If you would like to have images available to share with friends and family on the big day, I’d recommend booking the session around 3-4 weeks before the big day.
Images take around 2 weeks to turn around from the session date, so bear this in mind when booking a session date.
Get in touch to check availability.
-
Sessions usually last around 90-120 mins, depending on the baby.
I recommend timing sessions so that baby is well-fed and rested at the start, and has at least an hour to go before the next nap is due, at the end of the session.
-
Occasionally babies are unsettled in a session, but don’t worry if this happens to you. I always end up with great expressions even if they are not all full-on smiles (scroll to the bottom of the page to see Angela’s story about her twins’ smash).
There are a few main reasons for babies being unsettled:
Baby unsure about cake:
As part of the prep I give tips on how to prepare baby for cake. I also recommend bringing snacks like carrot puffs to push into the back of the cake for baby to grab at, in case they don’t want to touch the cake itself. We also use things like wooden spoons for babies to hit the cake with.There are certain ingredients that almost all babies universally hate - again I’ll advise you on these in the prep.
Teething:
Please always bring some Calpol / teething gel etc with you to the session. Even if it doesn’t appear as though your baby is teething, it can come on quickly and is usually bothersome for babies.Unfamiliar location / person:
If your baby is going through separation anxiety, do let me know. We can do a FaceTime call the day before your session, so baby is familiar with my face and voice before we meet.Overtired:
Very occasionally, if a baby is overtired for their session, they may take a nap in the middle. This usually does the trick or sometimes we can change the session time if we know beforehand. Usually we can avoid this happening in the first place by planning the session time carefully. -
These cake smash & splash session (sometimes called smash-the-cake sessions), last a lively 1-2 hours, in my purpose-designed East London photography studio. (Luckily for you, that means you leave the all the mess behind when the photoshoot is over).
My family-friendly studio is the perfect environment for these sessions as it has all the facilities we need for the session and cleaning up afterwards. -
We meet again, about two weeks after your shoot, to go through your edited images. When we meet we decide on which package of (digital) images and printed items you would like. There are a few packages available. See below for more details.
Before coming back to this appointment, I recommend sending me photos of walls and rooms you’re thinking of hanging pictures up on, so I can take this into consideration when preparing your images for your viewing.
Any questions? Ready to book?
Get in touch.
“We had a wonderful shoot with Sara! Honestly I'm not sure how she managed to come up with so many amazing images, considering my twins screamed the whole way through the shoot! But she worked her magic and I’m so over the moon with the outcome!! Thank you Sara!
I did a bit of research and found a few local photographers who offer a first birthday/cake smash sessions, but I chose Sara because I loved her portfolio offering different set ups. And I liked the idea that we would get a variety of different scenarios to remember: family portrait, rocking horse, cake smash, bath time - I think it is rare to find someone who can offer all of that in the one shoot. I also loved Sara! Right from the first contact she was so down to earth, and yet a complete professional! We did a prep meet up at the studio to go through the props and choose colours and Sara was unendingly patient and always had some awesome suggestions to throw into the mix. It definitely helped to meet in advance and we were all at ease during the shoot. I'll definitely be returning for more photos as the babies grow up!”
— Angela, 5* Google Review
But, don’t just take my word for it.
See what other families love…
Check out hundreds more 5* reviews
Want to know more? I’ve a number of useful blogs with details on decorations, the best cakes for cakesmashes, outfits and prep which you might like to read.
Everything you need to know about a cake smash session before booking one… how the process goes, how long it lasts, what kinds of photos we get, what’s provided…