The Idea:
Three years ago I saw a photograph on Pinterest: a lady turning 30 was in a tutu, eating a messy cake. I was immediately intrigued. Turns out it’s called a “cake smash.” Cake smash is an individual cake for a baby on their first birthday. Parents hire a photographer to take photos of the baby celebrating their birthday. And as you can imagine, one-year old’s eat cake the best way they know how - which is to put their hands in it and smash it! Lol. Hence the name, ‘cake smash.’
This photo I saw was an adult version of the concept. The lady turning 30 wore her tutu proudly (as any baby girl would for their cake smash photos), and in the background were props and balloons – you know, like a birthday party.
As soon as I saw it, I thought, “Wow, it would be really cool to do an outdoor photo shoot cake smash for my 50th birthday."
The Beginning of the Plans:
The year I turned 49 (2019), I looked for outdoor photographers in the Fort Worth area. Took me a while to find one. Luckily a coworker highly recommended Mandy Beth. After I stalked her work, I was hooked! I contacted her right away and she was immediately excited to do an outdoor 50th birthday adult cake smash photo shoot together!
Date and Location of Photoshoot:
I picked November 16th to do the outdoor shoot. Even though my birthday wasn’t until February, I wanted to get it done early when the weather was still good, or have plenty of time to reschedule if it wasn't.
Mandy suggested outdoor locations and I looked at photos, and then went to some of the parks to check them out. Eventually, I picked Airfield Falls (park) along the Trinity River, within a half hour from me. I just knew it was the perfect location for my vision of this little birthday cake smash.
Comparison to Wedding Planning:
I can't begin to fully express for how much time it took to plan, prepare, thinking of ideas, losing sleep, looking at photos, looking things up to buy, etc. And I did all this for four months straight, lol. At one point, I compared this to planning a wedding lol. I know that sounds silly, but I had a cake, an original outfit, flowers, a particular date, decorations, certain colors, and ironically, I also had something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. Crazy the similarities, right? I may never get married again and so it was cool to plan something like this again in my life.
A Chair For my Mom:
Two months before the photo shoot, I was walking through my house and a pretty wooden chair that my Mom had for years, caught my eye. I had an idea! Of course, I immediately burst into tears because I knew right then I was going to have that chair in my photo shoot. It would be, “A chair for my Mom.”
Wow, that’s even tough to type out without
tearing up, but it meant the world to me
that my Mom had a spot in the photo shoot.
THE WORLD.
I had to find a tutu, which I have to tell you is pretty tough to do for an adult, lol. I went to a couple of stores in town, but soon figured out I needed to order it online. I bought three different ones from Amazon, and finally settled on one of them; it was perfect.
The Colors:
I had already known I was going to do pink, but I decided to add in a baby blue color as well for the decorations and props.
So, my tutu was pink, my earrings were pink, my toes and fingernails were pink, my heels were pink, and I had a mishmash of pink, white, baby blue, and brown colors for the setup/decorations/backdrop of the cake smash photo shoot.
Let me tell you, I'm not even close to being
done sharing all the details of the four-month preparations, so if you want to leave,
I won't blame you haha. But, I really wanted to capture all the things I
planned and accomplished for this amazing adventure that I truly LOVED!
What Should I Wear?
Mandy wanted to also take some portrait-like photos of me at the park and I told her I wasn’t interested. But, she said I should because I'm turning 50. She convinced me somehow. I'm not very comfortable with my weight and so I was very apprehensive about this. But, she told me to take photos of myself in certain outfits – and I definitely could see which ones were flattering and which ones were very unflattering LOL.
I needed to decide on:
- what type of shoes? boots, pink heels, wooden heels?
- what type of top? what color?
- leggings or no leggings?
She immediately said the black leggings with pink heels and one of the black tops was perfect. I didn't think they were, haha, but she convinced me that it would be fine so I went with it.
Wait, Pink Heels?
One of my friends from work wears pink heels and, hey, we wear the same size! Turns out the photographer said that would be the perfect shoe for photo shoot! (They really are pretty dang sexy and a GREAT pink color.) Problem is, I don’t wear heals at all, ever (more to come about that.)
Things From My House:
I wanted to ensure that I had the perfect-to-me decorations for a fun photo shoot! It’s a birthday party after all, right?
About 6 weeks before the photo shoot, I started to gather things to put in a corner of my house from my house for the Big Day. I put the chair there, some word-art (“blessed,” “peace”, and “grateful”), pink, white, and baby blue flower arrangements. I also made my own tassel garland – I looked online how to make them (I should have just bought them already made, though, haha). The tassel garland would be strung between the trees behind me (yes, I thought of everything!). I also wanted another memomento in the background: an old certain brown wooden box - it was the box my Mom always filled with cooking and camping goods for when we would camp in the Hill Country for YEARS growing up.
Something to Sit On:
Mandy told me to bring a few blankets and she will know right away which would be best. I brought white and brown blankets, a quilt, and also my pink/white/baby blue rugs (which are the rugs in my bathroom, haha!). Mandy immediately picked the rugs!
An Assistant!
I recognized right away I would need a “helper.” I would be carrying so much from the car to the location in the park, I didn’t want to mess up my hair or makeup. Further, I didn’t want to be frustrated or stressed with anything.
Even Mandy told me an assistant would really help because she herself won’t be able to move props around - it would just slow everything down as she was trying to take photos.
I contacted one of my friends, but she was out of town that weekend. She would have been perfect! I needed to find someone. Who would love to do this with me, be great at it, and dependable? I immediately thought of my friend Susan. She's extremely bubbly and she's extremely confident and she's also extremely organized. I knew in my heart that she was the absolute perfect person! (Btw, she said yes!)
Was the Weather Good that Day?
Picking a date three months ahead of time was scary. I was nervous the weather wasn't going to be good, but a week before I checked out the forecast and it was going to be okay! I checked a few days later to confirm and sure enough - it was going to be a fabulous weather day! Not too hot, not too windy, and not raining. Whew! I was actually very lucky and blessed that that particular date was absolutely “weather perfect.”
Balloons:
I couldn’t order the cake or balloons (I love balloons!) until I knew if the weather was going to be good. Once I knew, I went to Party City and ordered around 30 balloons. Of course, when you order balloons, you don't realize how much space they will actually take up, lol. All of them barely fit in my car! (I would find out that Saturday morning of the photo shoot). One of the things I also wanted to do was have those 40 inch big numbers - a five and zero silver balloons. I saw some photos of that, and so I ordered those as well.
Cake:
I then went to Target to order my cake. I told the lady exactly what I wanted: two-layer vanilla cake with pink icing. I showed her pictures, so she knew the exact look. I wanted certain strokes on the cake, not ‘rose’ strokes. I know, I’m a Diva, lol!
I had to pay for the balloons up front, but I was to pay for the cake when I picked it up.
Entire Day Perfectly Timed:
I had everything timed out on the day of the photo shoot. I was supposed to be at the park at 3:15. I asked Susan if she could come over at 11:30. I had planned to pick up the balloons by noon, the cake by 12:30. That leaves me an hour to go over all the items with Susan, 30 minutes to do my makeup, and then 20 minutes to drive over there.
Hair and Nails, Duh:
Of course I had my hair highlighted and straightened the day before. Had to have purty hair! And my toenails and fingernails were painted pink so they would be nice, as well.
Susan’s Help:
Susan arrived promptly at 11:30 and I had a list for her already. She would add things to it as we collaborated, knowing I would be too stressed and high-strung to think of everything during the photo shoot.
Packing:
The one thing I REALLY felt we should do (it sounds crazy, I know), was for Susan and I together to arrange all the props and decorations inside the wagons before we put everything in my car. This way, when we take everything out of the car at the park, we are saving time because we already knew how to pack the two wagons.
The balloons, cake, and all the decorations and
props BARELY all fit in my car! It was a
lot of things!
The other thing about packing: I wanted her to
help pack because I wanted her to know exactly where everything was. If something was needed in a pinch during the
photo shoot, instead of me getting it, or her rummaging through boxes or bags
trying to find (let’s say, a pair of scissors), she would know exactly where it
was, at her fingertips, saving time.
And of course, need not just the decorations and props - but, scissors, tape, hammer, string, slippers, napkins for after I have cake on my face, forks in case they wanted a bite of the cake after the photo shoot, etc. Even Susan was surprised how organized I was and that I thought of everything possibly needed, lol.
Free Cake – Ooops:
Three days after the photo shoot, it dawned on me we picked up the cake and we walked right out without paying! I was just so overwhelmed, yet happy and anxious, yet had some stress getting ready that day, that I just walked right out with it, lol. But, the next time I went to Target that week, I brought in the barcode from the cake box and paid for it then.
We Arrived!
I did my makeup and then after we packed the car, we drive to the park and arrive there at 3:14. Yes, I really planned and timed out everything perfectly!
We take everything out the car, pack up the wagons easily, and grab the cake and balloons. Mandy takes some portrait photos of me under a willow tree near a stream. Then we walk almost half a mile (pulling and carrying all of our “stuff” lol) to an open field in front of trees. Mandy asked me to pick the spot I wanted, and as her and I walked over to a bridge with the balloons, Susan stayed back and set up the decorations and props. I already showed Susan photos of what I envisioned, so she knew what I was going for. I felt very comfortable and confident leaving her setting things up while Mandy and I went to the bridge with my balloons and did a photo shoot over there.
After the bridge photos, we walked back to the field, and there were over TEN families having outdoor photo shoots! Now it made sense why Mandy wanted me to pick the spot early, to get the prime spot of my vision before others grabbed the area.
Slippers
I don't wear heels at all so I wore slippers for when I wouldn’t be taking photos. I honestly couldn't even take TWO steps in the heels without toppling over, it was pretty funny.
5-0 Balloons:
As we walked to the bridge, I was holding the big numbers: the silver five and silver zero, along with the other balloons. The Five wasn’t secure enough and escaped my grip! Mandy would tell me it's actually tough to take photos with number balloons, as they blow around and move a lot. So, it really wasn't a bad thing. Well, bad in the sense I hate that it's going to pop and then fall to the ground and litter somewhere.
Close-ups:
The other thing I wanted was close-up photos of the cake, flowers, my poses, me holding the cake, etc… things like that. I had no idea how any of this was going to come out - I was just putting my faith in Mandy’s hands and was hoping she heard my vision and that it would be beautiful and I would love it.
Confident:
Mandy made me feel extremely confident and comfortable in my skin. I only thought about my weight maybe one time. She was extremely complimentary and knew what positions would be flattering and it really, really helped me, and I think that came across in the photos. But, she also helped because I did not feel embarrassed and was able to act myself, instead of being shy, quiet, timid, and scared. So, my “Melinda” personality showed up for the photo shoot!
After NUMEROUS poses among the props and decorations, it was time to eat cake! I didn't know how to smash a cake! They told me “get your fingers in there!” Then they told me to put some icing on my nose, lol. Then I dove in and ate from my fingers, haha! She captured it all!
The Photos:
Mandy surprised me and had them ready as an early Christmas present. I had no idea I’d see them that soon. As I went through each photo, I cried! I was happy, excited, and overwhelmed that Mandy made my dream come true perfectly! I didn't want to just text her that I loved the photos - I called her. I wanted her to hear the sound of happiness in my voice. Of course I was blubbering the whole time saying thank you because I was just.so.moved. They came out great!!
It’s a Surprise
No one knew I did this because I really want to surprise everyone for my 50th birthday. It’s been SO tough not tell my friends or shout to the world about this. TOUGH!
Grateful:
I am proud of myself for following through with this idea, something out-of-the box for me. It was a pure joy to be able to experience a fun photo shoot, with a fantastic photographer, for a once in a life-time occasion. I will be thoroughly grateful forever for Mandy Beth!
A Photo Gallery of most of the photos will be posted in my blog tomorrow (Feb 10th)!
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