DIY: Smash Cake Photo Shoot

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I admit, I too became a victim of the smash cake picture ‘wave’. I was initially nervous about taking his smash cake pictures ourselves, but turns out, once you decide on a theme, the rest is pretty easy.

Find out how you can take your very own smash cake photo shoot at home with this super easy DIY Smash Cake Photoshoot tutorial.

Find out how you can take your very own smash cake photoshoot at home with this super easy DIY Smash Cake Photoshoot tutorial.

*updated 8/1/19 to include pictures from our sweet baby Jo’s smash cake photo shoot.

I admit, I too became a victim of the smash cake picture ‘wave’ and I was determined to have some taken for Ju! 

I was initially nervous about taking his smash cake pictures ourselves, but turns out, once you decide on a theme, the rest is pretty easy.

Buuuut you definitely wanna have some help nearby because this can get really messy!

Find out how you can take your very own smash cake photoshoot at home with this super easy DIY Smash Cake Photoshoot tutorial.
Find out how you can take your very own smash cake photoshoot at home with this super easy DIY Smash Cake Photoshoot tutorial.
Find out how you can take your very own smash cake photoshoot at home with this super easy DIY Smash Cake Photoshoot tutorial.

Since Ju is pretty much obsessed with everything Sesame Street, we decided that it would be the perfect theme for his pictures. 

He had a bunch of the characters already laying around and we made the sign from scratch. 

For Jo, we decided to something a bit simpler since he and Ju have such different personalities. We considered a few characters since he loves Mickey Mouse and Paw Patrol. We ultimately decided against characters and went with a more rustic theme and the pictures turned out amazing!

The props you use will be largely dependent on the theme you pick so for the purposes of this super easy DIY, we’ll focus on the essentials. 


What You Need:

Backdrop (We got ours from Amazon-my only complaint was that it wasn’t very long)

Backdrop Stand (optional-you could tape it to the wall)

Backdrop Clips

Photography Lighting Kit

Camera (or your phone)

Balloons

Tissue Pom-Poms (found these at Dollar Tree; optional)

Theme Specific Characters & Props (optional)

Glass (or plexiglass) Optional*

Smash Cake

Your Little One

Next, set up your backdrop stand (or tape backdrop to the wall) and clip your backdrop on to the stand.

Next, position all props and characters where you would like for them to be.

Remember, since your little one doesn’t take up much space, the area that you take your photo’s in doesn’t have to be huge.

Initially, I was worried that we didn’t have enough balloons but 6 balloons were perfect for these! (We ran and got them from Party City (Publix for Jo’s Pics) the day of the photoshoot).

Once you have everything staged, it’s a good idea to take a couple of test shots to ensure that you have the proper lighting and spacing.

Next, add your smash cake (check out my post for this giant cupcake here) and get some pictures of it in front of the set-up – before your little one destroys it!

Find out how you can take your very own smash cake photoshoot at home with this super easy DIY Smash Cake Photoshoot tutorial.
Find out how you can take your very own smash cake photoshoot at home with this super easy DIY Smash Cake Photoshoot tutorial.

Next, add your little one and have fun!! 

Ju wasn’t really interested in the smash cake in the beginning so I ended up cutting into it half-way through the photoshoot. 

Oh, and make sure you take a TON of pictures!

We ended up taking over 100 pictures. Then we narrowed that down to about 15-20 photos.

One-year-old’s do a bunch of moving around so instead of trying to catch the “perfect pose’, snap as many pictures as you can. 

There’s sure to be a couple of gems in there!

Recommended: DIY Giant Cupcake Smash Cake

Find out how you can take your very own smash cake photoshoot at home with this super easy DIY Smash Cake Photoshoot tutorial.
Find out how you can take your very own smash cake photoshoot at home with this super easy DIY Smash Cake Photoshoot tutorial.

All in all, this DIY smash cake photoshoot cost us less than 100 bucks! We were able to prep(including the cake), take the pictures, and edit them all in the same day!

Have you ever done a DIY photoshoot with your little one?

Find out how you can take your very own smash cake photoshoot at home with this super easy DIY Smash Cake Photoshoot tutorial.
Find out how you can take your very own smash cake photoshoot at home with this super easy DIY Smash Cake Photoshoot tutorial.
Find out how you can take your very own smash cake photoshoot at home with this super easy DIY Smash Cake Photoshoot tutorial.
Find out how you can take your very own smash cake photoshoot at home with this super easy DIY Smash Cake Photoshoot tutorial.

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9 Comments

  1. I love his party theme! I have been wanting to do that theme for a while. My boys have been stuck on other characters like oso.😫

  2. Stephanie Fitzgerald says:

    The pictures came out beautiful and I love the Sesame Street theme! My husband’s cousin made a smash cake for my daughter for her 1st bday this past weekend. There wasn’t much smashing going on lol she was way more polite in front of our party guests than she is when it’s just me and my hubby feeding her dinner.

  3. Oh my gosh, he is TOO precious 😍😍😍 these turned out SO good! So convenient that you listed the items you bought too. Good job! ❤️

  4. theterrificfive says:

    Aw the Sesame Street themed items are so adorable! Seems like your son had a wonderful birthday thanks to mommy!

  5. LMG what a cutie pie 🙂 love how you broke it down and listed what kind of products we need. Totally thinking about doing his for little man’s second birthday 🙂

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