Cake Smash Sessions

Before your cake smash session, we’ll chat with you about the theme you'd like to go with and guide you on what to wear. We recommend gathering any outfits early—hanging them in your closet with accessories nearby—so nothing gets left behind on the big day!

You can check out our available themes HERE. Since each setup takes time to prepare, we’ll need to know your chosen theme in advance. If you’d like a custom theme, please let us know about a month ahead.

We take care of the cake and decorations to ensure everything matches your theme. If your little one has allergies or sensitivities, you’ll need to bring your own cake. For many themes, we also offer matching outfits, or you can bring your own—this is something we’ll go over with you in advance.

If you’d like us to provide wardrobe, just let us know ahead of time!

Important: We strongly recommend letting your child try cake at least a week before the session to check for any allergies. Our cakes are yellow or white cake with white buttercream frosting, containing eggs and milk. While they don’t have peanuts, if your child has a peanut allergy, we suggest baking your own cake in a peanut-safe environment.

Our cake smash sessions typically have 3 or 4 parts, making it a fun and memorable experience!

1. Family Photos (Optional – Additional Charge)

If you’d like family photos, we’ll start with those first.

2. Baby Portraits (No Cake – Nice Outfit)

Before the cake fun begins, we’ll capture sweet photos of your little one in a special outfit you provide. Pick something cute or playful that you’d love to remember for their first birthday!

3. Cake Smash!

Now for the fun part—cake smashing! Dress your baby in a fun outfit that matches the theme we discussed, or we can provide one for you.

Be prepared to move around a lot, so parents wear comfortable clothing! Babies tend to like to leave the photo area and we need all hands on deck to keep your little one excited and in the frame of the photo!

If you are doing family photos prior to the cake smash, please bring a change of clothes so you can be comfortable to move around and help keep your baby engaged and in frame for their cake smash.

4. Splash Bath (Optional)

Bring a swim diaper if you have one. Girls can wear a bathing suit if you’d like—we also have a clean, white two-piece available. We photograph these baths respectfully, ensuring only adorable moments are captured!

LIST OF WHAT TO BRING:

• Baby’s outfits (if you are dressing them in your preferred clothing - if you are not please let us know and I can provide outfits).

• Swim diaper (if you have one) for splash bath

• Baby’s favorite snack - in case baby doesn’t want to eat the cake!

• Preferred hairbrush

• Rattles or favorite toy - anything that gets their attention and they love!

• Any cute accessories you’d like to include

Sitter + Milestone Sessions

Sitter and milestone sessions are a fun way to show the growth of your child.

Prior to your session, we will discuss an overall theme you would like to do for your sitter session. We will guide you for what clothing to prepare. We recommend purchasing any necessary wardrobe items early and hanging them on one side of your closet and placing any accessories with each outfit. This ensures nothing is forgotten on the day of the session.

We provide all the necessary decorations. In most situations, you will bring the outfit for your little one unless otherwise discussed prior to your session.

Please prepare a few outfits that you love. If we have a theme discussed, I will guide you for what to specifically bring.

OTHER ITEMS TO BRING:

• Optional: bring one or two photogenic toys that your child loves (for instance, a memorable stuffed animal). If we are having a hard time getting your child to enjoy their session, sometimes having a toy they love in their arms helps. Remember, these toys may be photographed so only bring items you think are adorable and wouldn’t mind having in a photo!

• Snacks! Please bring small non-messy bite sized snacks for your kiddos. This can really help keep their energy up for the session and can be great bribery!

When Your Session Involves other Family Members

Prepare each family member’s wardrobe early. We recommend purchasing any necessary wardrobe items early and hanging them on one side of your closet and placing any accessories with each outfit. This ensures nothing is forgotten on the day of the session.

Consider the season you will be taking photos in. Here are some suggestions to help when selecting colors. Neutrals (cream/white) look good in every season and are a very timeless look.

Spring sessions: pale yellow, light pink, lavender, light blue, sage green, white cream (pale + colorful)
Summer sessions: yellow, pink, purple/lavender, blues, greens, white, cream (bright + colorful)
Fall sessions: mustard yellow, orange, navy blue, rose pink, burgundy, emerald, turquoise (deeper + richer colors)
Winter sessions: ruby red, sapphire blue, emerald green, white, cream (cool based jewel-tones)

Tips For Working With Kids

WE SUPPORT BRIBERY 🥰

Please bring water + snacks for young kids. For kids who can eat solids, we recommend the white chocolate cooking morsels. These are small and sweet and don’t stain. We often get our kid to smile for photos by telling her she will get a chocolate treat afterwards if she smiles for the camera and cooperates. We know, it’s not “best-parent-in-the-world” advice, but it works and it’s sometimes the only way to get great photos of her…so who’s judging?! Do whatever works. We support you.

TALK UP THE SESSION

Before your session, talk about how much fun it’s going to be with your kids. Talk about how you are going to play together and cuddle and explore and take some really fun family photos! Get them excited so they show up with smiles on their faces! This sounds silly, but it really works!

MAKE SURE THEY ARE WELL FED AND WELL RESTED

Hungry and tired kids are angry kids. ‘Nuff said.

CHECK YOUR OWN ENERGY

No grumpy dads or stressed out moms! Your kids will feed off your energy, so whatever is bothering you, try to let it go before your session and enjoy the ride! We will be here to root you on the whole way!

Feeling Stuck?

If you feel stuck with your wardrobe or need additional suggestions, please feel free to reach out to us anytime. We welcome our clients to send over photos of what outfits they are thinking about ahead of time. We are here to help!

Email: BKRoseStudio (at) gmail.com