Sleep on the way
From Guildford, Dorking or Reigate, setting off as the morning nap starts lets your baby sleep through most of the 25 to 27 miles to Northwood.
Cake Smash Photoshoot in Surrey
A first birthday cake smash at the Northwood studio, a drive of about 12 miles from Staines-upon-Thames or about 27 from Redhill, timed around your baby's nap.
The short answer
Where can I book a cake smash photoshoot in Surrey?
Kaushik Bathia photographs cake smash sessions for Surrey families at the Northwood studio, about 12 miles from Staines-upon-Thames and about 27 from Redhill. The right moment falls somewhere between 11 and 13 months, once your baby sits steadily alone. You supply the cake, and a soft sponge gives small hands far more to work with than a firm one. Allow one to two hours, and ask by phone or WhatsApp for the price.
Our usual session area is within about 20 miles of the studio. Further out in Surrey, sessions are by arrangement, with travel quoted in writing before you book.
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!
Kaushik has photographed my wife and me for the bump to baby photo shoot. We really enjoyed it. He knows how to make us smile and look happy and relaxed. We really appreciate his work and we look forward to meet him on our next appointment for the newborn photo shoot! Thank you again Kaushik!
…The gentleman took my family and I last minute for a photoshoot. Although we were running extremely late as we had a newborn, he waited patiently for us. He initially said he could only do 30 minutes because we were late but he ended up spending the entire hour and some minutes making sure we had the best photos.
The day
Fitting the drive from Surrey around a one-year-old's nap
A Surrey cake smash day really starts in the car. From Staines-upon-Thames or Egham the studio is about 12 to 13 miles away, a short enough run to leave after breakfast and arrive with a fresh baby. From Guildford, Dorking or Reigate it is 25 to 27 miles, so the kinder plan is to set off as the morning nap begins, let your baby sleep for most of the journey, then allow time for a feed and a change at the studio before anyone picks up a camera.
Once you are settled, the cake smash moves at your baby's pace: a few first-birthday portraits while the outfit is still clean, then the cake, then whatever your one-year-old decides to do with it. Nothing is forced, and a baby who would rather stare at the sponge than touch it still makes a lovely picture. Allow one to two hours from arrival to goodbye, breaks for feeds included.
The studio day need not be the only first-birthday picture. A separate family session can follow at your Surrey home or in a park near you: Laleham Park, just downstream of Staines, has a playground and parking, and Churchfields Recreation Ground in Weybridge has a play area and a splash pad for warmer months. The drive out to you for that second session appears in your written quote before you book.
Timing
Booking around a first birthday that falls in a Surrey school holiday or a busy month
Because the useful age range runs a couple of months either side of the birthday, the date can move. If the birthday lands in the middle of a family trip, a run of parties or the last week of a Surrey school term, the session can sit a few weeks before or after and still look like a first birthday, so pick the week that leaves everyone least rushed.
Choose the time of day around your baby, not around the diary: a session just after a nap and a snack catches a one-year-old at their brightest, and a slot at the end of a long afternoon rarely does. Tell us your baby's usual routine when you enquire, along with the Surrey town you are driving from, and a studio time is suggested to fit both.
Where
Getting to the Northwood studio from Staines, Weybridge or Epsom
Every cake smash for a Surrey family is held at the Northwood studio, where the backdrop and props are ready. The mess stays there rather than on your carpets. It sits on the Joel Street parade, two minutes from Northwood Hills station on the Metropolitan line, about 16 miles from Weybridge or Esher and about 20 from Epsom or Woking.
Parking is close by, and the studio opens at 10:30 from Monday to Saturday, which suits a mid-morning cake smash after an early start from Camberley or Leatherhead. If anyone in the family is coming separately by train, Northwood Hills station is the stop. Tell us roughly when you expect to arrive, and allow a little slack so a late nap or a traffic queue does not eat into the session itself.
Cake and clothes
The cake, the outfit and what goes in the changing bag
The cake is yours to choose, and keeping the icing to a couple of shades makes the whole set look calmer in print. On a summer drive up from the south of the county, keep the box flat and out of the sun so the frosting holds its shape until it reaches the studio. Pack a change of clothes, plenty of wipes and the favourite toy that buys you two minutes of attention.
For the outfit, simple wins: a romper, a little shirt and shorts, or a plain dress, in a colour that sits with the cake rather than fighting it. Avoid anything with big text. Keep a second, smarter outfit back for the clean portraits at the start if you want both looks.
The family
Siblings, parents and the year of photographs before it
Parents and siblings can join the first portraits before the cake comes out, a rare chance to have an older brother or sister sitting still beside the baby. An older sibling can have a turn with the cake as well; tell us in advance if that is the plan so there is enough sponge to go round.
A cake smash closes a first year that might have started with newborn photographs in your Surrey home and carried on with family photos in a Surrey park. Brooklands Community Park in Weybridge, with its natural play areas, or Frimley Lodge Park beside the Basingstoke Canal near Camberley, with its miniature railway, suit a toddler who has just found their feet.
Planning
Planning around Surrey
Coming by train
The Metropolitan line stops at Northwood Hills, two minutes from the door, though with a buggy, a cake box and a changing bag the car can be simpler.
Laleham Park afterwards
A separate family session for the birthday can follow at Laleham Park near Staines, with its playground and parking, or at your Surrey home, with travel in your written quote.
Mess stays in Northwood
The backdrop and props are ready at the studio, so the frosting ends up there and not on your own floor in Surrey.
Bring the changing bag
A change of clothes, plenty of wipes and a favourite toy cover almost every cake smash. A spare outfit for the clean portraits is optional.
Parks for a first-birthday walk in Surrey
Surrey parks with play areas and open space for a toddler's first steps, useful for a family session either side of the first birthday.
- Glory Woods: The Glory Woods and Devil's Den are deciduous woodland on the sandstone hills south of Dorking, reached on foot from the town centre via St Paul's Road and the Glory Field. 1
- River Wey Navigation: The River Wey Navigation, one of the first rivers in England made navigable, opened in 1653 with 12 locks between Weybridge and Guildford and is now looked after by the National Trust. 2
- Lammas Recreation Ground: The Lammas Recreation Ground off Wraysbury Road and Church Road is a riverside family park beside the Thames with a large picnic field, play areas, a summer splash park, river frontage and a café with boat hire. 3
Sources, facts checked October 2026
Town by town
Coming to the studio from Surrey
Each Surrey town below is shown with its distance from the Northwood studio, where every cake smash takes place, so you can plan the drive.
- Staines-upon-Thames (12 miles from the studio)
- Egham (13 miles from the studio)
- Weybridge (16 miles from the studio)
- Esher (16 miles from the studio)
- Cobham (19 miles from the studio)
- Epsom (20 miles from the studio)
- Woking (20 miles from the studio)
- Leatherhead (21 miles from the studio)
- Camberley (23 miles from the studio)
- Guildford (25 miles from the studio)
- Dorking (26 miles from the studio)
- Reigate (27 miles from the studio)
- Redhill (27 miles from the studio)
Good to know
Cake smash photoshoots in Surrey: questions answered
Surrey cake smashes all happen in Northwood, with the backdrop and props waiting at the studio. Families come from across the county, from Staines-upon-Thames at about 12 miles to Reigate at about 27. A family session at your Surrey home or in a park can be booked separately, with travel set out in your written quote.
Brooklands Community Park in Weybridge has natural play areas and is open on foot around the clock, and Runnymede Pleasure Grounds in Egham has parking, toilets and a paddling pool. Either can host a separate family session, with travel set out in your written quote.
Box it, keep it flat and out of direct sun, and bring it in the car rather than on the train if you can. A cake with plenty of soft frosting also survives a bump on the way from Surrey better than a tall decorated one.
Allow one to two hours, covering the clean portraits, the cake itself and the splash finish. The pace follows your baby, so there is time for a feed or a cuddle.
The studio is about 20 miles from Woking and Epsom and about 25 from Guildford. It is on Joel Street in Northwood Hills, two minutes from Northwood Hills station on the Metropolitan line.
Yes. A cake-free first birthday portrait at the studio is just as easy to book. If you would rather stay local, a family session in a Surrey park can mark the birthday instead, with travel set out in your written quote.
Call or WhatsApp 07956 505383 for the current cake smash price. If you also book a family session at your Surrey home, travel from Northwood for that one is quoted separately in writing before you book.
First birthdays in Surrey
Book a cake smash near the big day
Tell us the birthday and your Surrey town, and we will suggest a studio date and time that fits around naps and the drive.
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