Choosing a Cake Smash Outfit for Your Baby
Cake smash portrait sessions are such a beautiful, fun way to celebrate your little one's 1st birthday. Last week I wrote a couple of blog posts about choosing the decorations for your little boy's or little girl's cake smash session. Today I am writing about choosing the outfit, or outfits for this milestone portrait session.
Cake smash sessions are split into 3 parts:
- The Birthday Portraits
- The Cake Smash
- The Bubble Bath
I recommend choosing one or two outfits for the session - one for the birthday portraits and one for the cake smash.
The Birthday Portraits
This part of the session is when we capture some traditional portraits of your little baby. I recommend babies wear a little party outfit, perhaps a little party dress for little girls or a collared shirt for boys.
For Boys
There are so many sweet options for little boys when choosing an outfit for the birthday portraits. Collared shirts, bow ties, and suspenders are all adorable. Cute overalls, knitted rompers and even teddy bear onesies are perfect and you don't need to look too far in the shops these days to find something special that matches the colour scheme and decorations you have chosen for this special day. Even Best & Less and Big W have adorable little outfits.
If you are still unsure, don't worry, I have a growing wardrobe of little boy clothes perfect for birthday portraits, including handsome onesies, overalls and rompers. My preference is always for outfits that are both very cute, but don't overwhelm your adorable baby. The clothes should never be the star, your baby is what we want to focus on.
For Girls
And for girls, the choices are just as gorgeous. Party dresses and gorgeous little rompers, sweet little onesies and simple little skirts are all ideal, and there are so many options to match with your colour scheme and decorations. Special party dresses are definitely the favourite outfits for these portraits, but a sweet little romper or onesie can be just as stunning, simple and beautiful. Again we don’t want to overwhelm your baby, we want them to be the star.
Accessories for little girls are so sweet as well, and I have many different little headbands and tiebacks here in the studio which we can use during the session to help tame that wild hair. Once again, if you just aren't sure if you have anything for your little one to wear, don't worry, I have that growing wardrobe of little girl party dresses and rompers which are perfect for these birthday portraits.
I love how the lace of little Colette's dress below adds so much texture to the beautiful detail photos that I love to capture during a session. Lace is one of my favourite fabric choices as it adds textures without taking away from, or overwhelming, your little baby.
The Cake Smash
Now for the fun part! Getting messy with the cake smash. For these portraits, I recommend to my clients that baby shows a little more skin. After all, they are going to be covered in icing by the end of this part. For some clients that is as simple as removing the little shirt or top that went with the cute little pants or skirt they were wearing for the Birthday Portraits. For other's it is a whole different outfit. And for other clients they choose that their little one will stay in the same outfit for the whole session and that is gorgeous as well.
For Boys
Knitted shorts with suspenders are a definite favourite outfit of mine for little boys and the cake smash portraits! And they are just everywhere in the shops at the moment. I love how these add some beautiful knitted textures, but still give us that adorable baby belly, show off those baby thighs and allow baby to get really messy and covered in icing!
Of course, there are lots of options for little boys, including a cute pair of shorts and even overalls, all make for adorable little outfits for a cake smash. And accessories should never be overlooked either, a sweet little beanie or a bow tie can add just the smallest little colour pop, or texture without overwhelming your baby boy.
For Girls
Once again the choices for girls are never ending! My biggest tip for choosing an outfit for little girls is trying not to get anything that is too big it overwhelms your little one. That giant fluffy tutu is super cute, but if your baby can't walk or crawl in it they will soon get frustrated and upset. Less is more when it comes to 1 year olds and outfits.
A sweet little romper, perhaps with a soft floral pattern or lace details is perfect. Maybe just a lace tutu skirt or a simple party dress. Accessories again are adorable at this age and can help to add a little detail, but many babies of this age will only tolerate so much on their heads, and large party hats are often only tolerated for a few seconds. A soft headband or tie back might be all you need, and I have plenty for you to try on if you aren't sure what to get.
Rest assured if you just aren't sure what you want your little one to wear for their cake smash I have lots of options available for you to choose from. Little rompers, overalls, onesies and simple skirts are all here ready for you to use if you wish. And that saves your clean up afterwards as well! So it is a win-win.
The Bubble Bath
No clothes required.
For more cake smash inspiration, you can see my Pinterest Boards and my Cake Smash Gallery. Are you ready to book your cake smash session in? Contact me here.
Baby Girl Cake Smash Decorations
When planning a cake smash for your little one's first birthday one of the biggest decisions you need to make is about decorations. Decorations, colour scheme and the cake. Of course, the possibilities are endless and once you start searching on Pinterest for some inspiration the rabbit hole you dive into can be very deep indeed. Yesterday I wrote about choosing your little boy's cake smash colour scheme and decorations and today is all about little girls!
When I talk with my clients about the types of decorations and colours I love to see in your portraits, I always start with the premise that your baby is the star, the focus of the set up. The decorations and colours just add a few little details in the background.
I want to keep the focus on your baby, on all the beautiful little details, features, and personality quirks that your little one has right now, on their 1st birthday.
There are generally two styles of decorations that I offer in my studio for cake smash sessions. The traditional balloons and bunting set up, or a more natural, botanical theme. Both of these offer beautiful backdrops for a cake smash, and I love to keep them simple and classic.
Choosing which of these set ups you want to use can be as simple as deciding on what types of colours you want to see in your photos.
For the traditional balloon set ups, the colour palette of the backdrop can vary, and some of my most popular set ups are on white or peach backgrounds for little girls. Choosing one or two complimentary colours of balloons and a simple bunting adds just enough contrast without detracting from your beautiful baby.
I do not very often use helium balloons in my set ups for a number of reasons. The main one being they end up being much higher than the baby and the cake for many of the portraits. That being said, they can offer some beautiful details when paired with either some air-filled balloons or pom poms as in the set up below.
I do love being a little bit creative with the background decorations in a little girls cake smash. The examples below shows some beautiful pink and mauve paper butterflies in the background. This set up is just beautiful and subtle for a little girl celebrating her first birthday.
For the natural, botanical set ups I love shooting with eucalyptus varieties, as they offer a softer, blue-green palette which is less neon green than other greenery varieties. Adding in some flowers to match in with your colour theme gives some beautiful pops of colour and adds some soft texture and contrast. Flowers vary depending on what is available at the market on the day of the shoot, and are chosen depending on what matches best with the colour scheme of the session.
Once you have decided on your background set up, colours and decorations, the cake is the next big decision. There are so many possibilities for little girl cakes, and here are just a few of my favourites from my amazing baker, Jo over at The Bakehouse 698 in Brookvale has created for me and my clients (they are beautiful AND delicious!).
Semi naked cakes are so popular and look amazing with both coloured icing or simple white icing! Using soft (& delicious) buttercream icing makes these cake so easy for little fingers to get messy in! It is just perfect, and the semi-naked cakes have a perfect amount of icing to get covered in!
Adding some texture to the cake with this rosette style cake is stunning as well and so gorgeous for little girls. The beauty of these cake is that the icing can be a few different shades of the one colour. In the examples below you can see 3 shades of pinks.
Jo even makes beautiful watercolour-inspired cakes with a soft mix of colours such as this beautiful pink, purple and white cake with some rice-paper butterflies to finish off the theme for this butterfly set up.
For some more inspiration for your little girl's cake smash head over to my Pinterest Boards, to see more examples of beautiful little girl cake smash sessions we have created here at Bree Hulme Photography. My Cake Smash Gallery also has many beautiful cake smash portraits for you to look through.
I have also put together a little guide in choosing outfits for your little girls cake smash which you can find here. That is another big decision.
So let's create some beautiful milestone portraits to celebrate your little girl's 1st birthday! Book your cake smash session now!
Baby Boy Cake Smash Decorations
When planning a cake smash for your little one's first birthday one of the biggest decisions you need to make is about decorations. Decorations, colour scheme and the cake. Of course, the possibilities are endless and once you start searching on Pinterest for some inspiration the rabbit hole you dive into can be very deep indeed.
When I talk with my clients about the types of decorations and colours I love to see in your portraits, I always start with the premise that your baby is the star, the focus of the set up. The decorations and colours just add a few little details in the background.
I want to keep the focus on your baby, on all the beautiful little details, features, and personality quirks that your little one has right now, on their 1st birthday.
There are generally two styles of decorations that I offer in my studio for cake smash sessions. The traditional balloons and bunting set up, or a more natural, botanical theme. Both of these offer beautiful backdrops for a cake smash, and I love to keep them simple and classic.
Choosing which of these set ups you want to use can be as simple as deciding on what types of colours you want to see in your photos.
For the traditional balloon set ups, the colour palette of the backdrop can vary, and some of my most popular set ups are on white, grey or blue backgrounds for little boys. Choosing one or two complimentary colours of balloons and a simple bunting adds just enough contrast without detracting from your beautiful baby.
I do not very often use helium balloons in my set ups for a number of reasons. The main one being they end up being much higher than the baby and the cake for many of the portraits. That being said, they can offer some beautiful details when paired with either some air-filled balloons or pom poms as in the set up below.
I do love being a little bit creative with the bunting in a little boys cake smash. The two examples below show examples using paper planes and hot air balloons in the background. These two set ups are both very sweet for a little boy celebrating his first birthday.
For the natural, botanical set ups I love shooting with eucalyptus varieties, as they offer a softer, blue-green palette which is less neon green than other greenery varieties. Adding in some gum nuts can add some beautiful texture, and the addition of a hessian bunting can help to just add that touch of natural contrast.
These silver leaves in the set up below are my absolute favourite. When I arrive at the flower market and find these you can see me doing a little happy dance. The colour is just stunning and they have a beautiful soft texture as well. Unfortunately, these are seasonal and not always available.
Once you have decided on your background set up, colours and decorations, the cake is the next big decision. There are so many possibilities for little boy cakes, and here are just a few of my favourites from my amazing baker, Jo over at The Bakehouse 698 in Brookvale has created for me and my clients (they are beautiful AND delicious!).
Semi naked cakes are so popular at the moment and look amazing with both coloured icing or simple white icing! Using soft (& delicious0 buttercream icing makes these cake so easy for little fingers to get messy in! It is just perfect, and the semi-naked cakes have a perfect amount of icing to get covered in!
Adding some texture to the cake with this rosette style cake is stunning as well and so gorgeous for little boys. The beauty of these cake is that the icing can be a few different shades of the one colour. In the examples below you can see 3 shades of green. It also looks gorgeous in blues as well.
Jo even makes beautiful watercolour-inspired cakes with a soft mix of colours such as this beautiful blue and white cake with some rice-paper clouds to finish off the beautiful sky theme for this paper planes set up.
And mixing colours and some stunning custom-designed sprinkles from Something for Cake, can make the cake simply beautiful.
For some more inspiration for your little boy's cake smash head over to my Pinterest Boards, to see more examples of beautiful little boy cake smash sessions we have created here at Bree Hulme Photography. My Cake Smash Gallery also has many beautiful cake smash portraits for you to look through.
I have also put together a little guide in choosing outfits for your little boys cake smash which you can find here. That is another big decision.
So let's create some gorgeous portraits to celebrate the milestone of your babies 1st Birthday! Book your cake smash today!