Samantha Nashville Cake Smash Photoshoot
The first year goes by SO FAST and let’s face it, there’s so much to do when planning a first birthday party to celebrate your little one. Nashville Cake smash sessions are such a fun way to capture not only your little one’s first birthday but their growing personality too! When booking a Nashville cake smash photoshoot with me I like to try and take the stress off of parents by planning and setting up everything for the cake smash session. From client closet options for moms and little ones (some sibling options are available), planning and designing the cake smash set, designing and ordering the cake, set up, the list goes on; so that you don’t have to. Some clients like to pick specific themes to show their baby’s interest and some clients allow me to be creative and create themes on my own for them.
There’s nothing better than seeing parents light up with they walk in the studio door and get to see the set, impatient to see their baby on it to showcase a big milestone. Whether your baby is walking or crawling, we are sure to get their personality and have so many beautiful product options for you to seize the moment as they grow right before your eyes each and every day.
Samantha came in to my Old Hickory, TN photo studio with her mom, big sister Isabela, and her dad. We started with family photos and sibling photos before we moved on to portraits on the cake smash set. Then the BIG fun: smashing the cake. However, most baby’s love the last part of their first birthday cake smash session, splashing fun in an adorable claw tub. With just enough water to be able to rinse baby off after their cake smash, baby’s love to make a mess and splash around in their little bath.
At first Samantha wasn’t too sure about being on the set by herself which is perfectly fine! Some babies need a minute to adjust to their new surroundings especially when mom and dad step away from them. But we allowed Samantha a minute to calm down and tried again and she was FULL of personality that she had us all cracking up during her photoshoot.
My first birthday cake smash sessions, or any baby photoshoot with me, are baby led. Meaning if baby isn’t having any part of something then we take the time off the set to let baby calm down, I will play with baby if they are open to it and try again. Sometimes parents have to hang out right next to the set and I walk parents through the options to try to get the best photos we can! Whether that be a parent next to the set, a parent standing by me being silly, baby’s favorite song, you name it, we try it! Wanna know a secret to when baby is wanting nothing to do with the cake? See below:
The Secret: Snacks. Yep! You read that right, snacks. I like to keep some snacks in the studio for clients but in client’s prep guides I like to include the secret of bring a favorite snack for baby so that the parent can hide a couple on the back of the cake, and VIOLA! We have photos of baby “eating” cake. In all honesty, I even had to do this trick with my own baby when he turned one. Now some babies once they get the taste of the cake they are all over it and then some not so much. So cake smash sessions, again, are baby led. If baby has tried the cake and just keeps crawling off the set and we have plenty of photo options, then at that time we will get the bath ready for splashing fun. There are easy signs to notice when baby is done with the cake smash portion of the photoshoot:
Baby refuses to stay on the set any longer- perfectly fine, usually by this point I have plenty adorable options the parents will love. I try to remind parents that babies have such a short attention span at this point in their life that it’s not likely they will spending a very long time smashing the cake. Most babies are finished within 10-15 minutes. But there are some that will stay smashing until there is zero cake for me to be able to send them home with.
Baby is really fussy- no problem! Baby is just letting us know they are done. Sometimes a quick hug is all they need and sometimes they are just completely done altogether. That’s where they bath part comes in and helps bring the fun back into the session for them.
Signs of being overwhelmed- With only being a year old, babies haven’t experienced a whole lot of textures, smells, tasting, sounds, lights, etc. and it can be overwhelming. They’re not used to studio lights or everyone looking at them but being away from them, and then me as a new face. With me being a new face I like to spend some time on the floor before starting the session to talk and play with the baby to give them some time to get used to me.
Book your Nashville baby photoshoot today!
