Historically, a child's first birthday has always been a big moment of celebration. For years, families have held parties where all the guests stand around, waiting and watching to see how the baby reacts to their birthday cake. Everyone is oohing and ahhing, hoping to catch a great photo to be used as blackmail upon the child's future first date or high school graduation.
While it's ideal to schedule a cake-smash photo session a couple weeks after the momentous occasion in order to get these great images, we all know that sometimes life and timing are less than ideal. If you find yourself unable to schedule a separate cake smash session, you can still capture some frame-able cake-smash images with a little planning.
1) Instead of putting the guest of honor in his or her high chair, consider placing them on a large flat surface, like a round party table. This will give them the ability to move more freely and explore this curious new thing before them.
2) Be prepared for a mess. Plastic table cloths are a great source of color and also make for easy clean-up.
3) Be sure to provide encouragement. Often times, kids will be a little bit timid when having this strange colorful object placed in front of them. Let them know that it's ok to explore - give them a little taste of the icing - after that they will usually dive right in.
