Kaushik BathiaPhotography
Baby in a white top and jeans crawling towards the camera in the studio

Cake Smash Photoshoots in Hertfordshire

A first birthday cake smash at the Northwood studio, just over the border from Watford and Bushey, planned around the drive in and your baby's nap.

★★★★★ Rated 4.8 from 580+ reviews

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The short answer

Where can I book a cake smash photoshoot in Hertfordshire?

Kaushik Bathia photographs every cake smash at his studio in Northwood Hills, about 3.8 miles from Watford and 3.6 from Bushey, where the backdrop and props are ready. Families from further into Hertfordshire drive in, so the date is planned around the journey and your baby's nap, with a mid-morning arrival as the aim. Allow one to two hours at the studio. Call or WhatsApp 07956 505383 to pick a date close to the first birthday.

Our usual session area is within about 20 miles of the studio. Further out in Hertfordshire, sessions are by arrangement, with travel quoted in writing before you book.

Google reviews

What new parents say

4.8 from 580+ Google reviews

Me and my heavily pregnant Fiancee visited here as a birthday gift from a friend of hers and had a LOVELY experience, Kaushik made us feel VERY welcomed and comfortable and we also had a good laugh. He was also very clear and precise with his instruction with regards to posing so we could get the best picture. Overall a very nice experience and would recommend.

Daniel T., Google review, 2017

We had a baby and family photo shoot with Kaushik over the weekend. He was extremely professional and very good with our baby! He has all the tricks and toys to make our little one smile and laugh during the shoot (which kept us entertained too!) would highly recommend Kaushik for baby photo shoots! Many thanks for capturing such beautiful photos for us!

Krishma L., Google review, 2022

We had a large family photoshoot to do which can always be tricky. Kaushik was absolutely fantastic with a myriad of toys and noises to get smiles out of the little ones (they are still talking about the mouse on a stick!). Kaushik took the various different combinations we wanted and positioned each one expertly.

Chris W., Google review, 2022

Read all the reviews on Google

Timing

Choosing a date near a Hertfordshire first birthday

Pick the week first and the hour second. A week either side of the birthday makes no difference to the pictures, so choose a morning when nobody in the house is rushing. Then work out the hour from your baby's day: the aim is to arrive fed and freshly rested, not to wake a sleeping one-year-old in the car park. A late-afternoon slot after a long drive from Stevenage or Bishop's Stortford is the one to avoid.

Book a few weeks ahead so the morning slots near the birthday are still open, especially if the party weekend is fixed and the session has to fall before it. For a Hertfordshire family, the cost of the session is given on request by phone or WhatsApp, and any later session at your home has its travel set out in writing before you book.

Toddler in a cream cardigan sitting on a wicker chair, reaching out

The session

A nap on the way in, frosting at the studio, a feed before home

A Hertfordshire cake smash really starts in the car. From Hemel Hempstead, about 10.6 miles away, or St Albans at 10.9, the journey is long enough for a nap if you set off just before your baby usually sleeps. From Oxhey or Carpenders Park, both under two and a half miles from the studio, there is no time to sleep on the way, so let the nap happen at home and leave once your baby is up and fed.

At the studio the first frames are tidy ones, and parents and older siblings can join them. Then the cake goes down and the camera follows whatever your baby decides to do with it, from a cautious prod to a full fistful. When interest fades the session moves on to the splash, and if your baby has had enough, we stop. The national cake smash photoshoot page sets out the full order.

Leave time for a feed and a change before the drive home. A sticky, tired one-year-old strapped in for the M25 makes for a long journey back into Hertfordshire, and a quiet pause at the end of the session makes the trip far easier for everyone in the car.

Getting to the studio

A short hop from Watford and Bushey, a longer drive from the north of the county

For families in the south-west of the county the studio is close: Carpenders Park is about 2.3 miles away, Croxley Green 3.7 and Abbots Langley 7.2. The backdrop and props are ready at the studio, so the bag you pack holds the cake, a change of clothes, plenty of wipes and a favourite toy.

Further north and east the trip takes more planning, because the cake smash set exists only at the studio. Berkhamsted is about 12.8 miles away, Hitchin 24.6 and Royston about 34.9, so from the far end of the county a morning slot with room for traffic is kinder than a tight one. Bring a snack for the journey and something familiar for the car seat, and the drive becomes part of the plan rather than a problem.

Smiling baby girl in a coral dress lying on her front in the studio

The cake

Outfits, icing colours and a spare cake for the party

Keep the clothes simple. A plain romper or a simple dress photographs better than a busy print, and one or two colours shared between the outfit and the icing keep the frames clean. If the party has a theme, borrow a colour from it rather than the whole design, so the pictures still look right when the theme is long forgotten.

Bring a second outfit for the clean portraits if you want something smarter than the smash clothes. Remove bibs and teething necklaces before we start, and keep a muslin to hand for the moment frosting reaches somewhere you did not expect. If the party is the same weekend, a second small cake for the session saves the main one for the guests.

Outdoors

The follow-on family walk: Oxhey Park, Cassiobury or Leavesden

It is tempting to plan the smash on a picnic rug in a park, but the cake stays at the studio. In Watford, council rules require permission for any event in its parks, whatever the size, and gazebos, tents and marquees are not allowed unless they are part of a council event. Wasps, wind and dogs off the lead can end an outdoor cake in seconds anyway.

For outdoor first birthday pictures, book a separate family session nearer home instead. Oxhey Park has a wooded dell with the River Colne running through it, Cassiobury Park has its 1930s paddling pools and miniature railway, and Leavesden Country Park in Abbots Langley has woodland paths and a play area. That session can be at home or in a park, with travel from Northwood set out in your written quote before you book. Our Hertfordshire family photography page covers outdoor sessions in more detail.

Baby in pink lying on her front, waving at the camera

Planning

Planning around Hertfordshire

02

Siblings in the clean frames

Older brothers and sisters can join the tidy portraits before the cake, then step back. Some like to help with the first poke at the frosting.

03

From Hemel or St Albans

Hemel Hempstead is about 10.6 miles from the studio and St Albans about 10.9. Book a mid-morning slot so the drive does not eat into nap time.

04

From North Herts

Hitchin, Letchworth and Baldock are a longer drive, so pick a mid-morning studio slot and let the nap happen on the way down.

Parks for a first-birthday walk in Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire parks for a separate first birthday family walk, with the source for each fact.

  • Hartham Common: Hartham Common covers about 19.7 hectares within five minutes' walk of the town centre, with a grazed wet meadow, The Warren woodland and river corridors; it was made a Queen Elizabeth II Field in 2013. 1
  • River Lee Country Park: The River Lee Country Park covers 1,000 acres between Waltham Abbey and Broxbourne, with lakes such as Seventy Acres Lake and Bowyers Water, and dogs are allowed. 2
  • Amwell Nature Reserve: Amwell Nature Reserve on Amwell Lane, Great Amwell, is a former gravel pit run by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, home to 21 species of dragonfly and damselfly, where dogs under control are allowed on the paths but not in the bird hides or on the dragonfly trail. 3
  • Fairlands Valley Park: Fairlands Valley Park in Stevenage covers 120 acres of parkland, with four lakes, a sailing centre and a splash park. 4
  • Bancroft Recreation Ground: Bancroft Recreation Ground (SG5 1NJ), a 5-10 minute walk from the town centre, has specimen trees, flower beds and a bandstand and has been a public park since before the Second World War. 5

Sources, facts checked October 2026

  1. Hartham Common | ParksHerts
  2. River Lee Country Park | Lee Valley Regional Park
  3. Amwell | Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust
  4. Fairlands Valley Park - Stevenage Borough Council
  5. Bancroft Recreation Ground | North Herts Council

Town by town

Coming to the studio from Hertfordshire

How far each Hertfordshire town is from the Northwood studio, to help you plan the drive to a cake smash around your baby's nap.

Good to know

Cake smash photoshoots in Hertfordshire: questions answered

Around the first birthday, usually between 11 and 13 months, once your baby can sit confidently without support. Book a few weeks ahead so you can pick a mid-morning date close to the birthday rather than whatever is left.

You bring the cake. A soft sponge with plenty of frosting gives small hands something to break into, which firm icing does not. Everything else for the set is waiting at the studio in Northwood Hills, so you only carry the cake, clothes and wipes.

Yes. The studio is about 13.7 miles from Hatfield, so set off just before the morning nap and let the drive do the sleeping, and your baby arrives rested. If you would like a family session at home in Hatfield later in the year, travel from Northwood for that is set out in your written quote before you book.

Allow one to two hours at the studio, covering the clean portraits, the cake and the splash, with breaks for feeds and cuddles whenever your baby needs them. Add your drive from Hertfordshire on top, plus a feed before you head home.

We advise against it. Watford's park rules require council permission for any event in its parks and do not allow gazebos or tents, and outdoor cake attracts wasps and dogs. A short family walk in the park works well, and the cake is kept for the studio.

Call or WhatsApp 07956 505383 and the current session price is given on request. The cake smash takes place at the studio, so you travel to us; if you add a family session at your home anywhere from Oxhey to Royston, its travel is set out in writing before you book.

Yes. A first birthday portrait session works without the smash, and the tidy frames at the start of each cake session are exactly that. You can also book the portraits only and keep the cake for the party. For more ideas, read our cake smash ideas.

First birthday in Hertfordshire

Book a cake smash near the birthday

Tell us the birthday, your town and the time of day your baby is happiest. We suggest a mid-morning studio date that works with the drive.

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