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Lion King Cake Smash
Posted on 24 Sep, 2020 by Sarah Hart
Kent cake smash photographer
A few months ago, I had a phone call from a potential client, Dharshi, who was wondering whether I would be able to create a Lion King cake smash for her little boy’s first birthday. With us only just coming out of lockdown, she wanted to create something a little special for Theeren’s 1st birthday. The family live in Dover, so slightly further away than my usual clients, but had picked me out as a photographer based on previous cake smash designs that they’d seen me create. I’m not going to lie….I felt a little pressure to create the perfect Lion King cake smash set up for them!
Planning the cake smash…
I’m always keen to create a design around an idea that clients have, so I was excited to plan this design. We exchanged ideas via emails to finalise the set design. Many of the Lion King cake designs that I’d found, had black silhouettes of the animals against a sunset backdrop. But Dharshi wanted to avoid using black feeling that it wasn’t appropriate for a baby’s 1st birthday choice. Instead, we opted for a red/orange/yellow ombre cake from CakesUnlimitedUk which looked stunning. For Theeran’s outifit, Mum bought a pants and bib set from Milly O’ in a gorgeous lion fabric. Dharshi, kindly left the set after the cake smash so I now have these in my growing collection of cake smash outfits.
I looked at sourcing a sunset backdrop, but none of the UK backdrop suppliers were selling anything close to what I wanted. So I decided to paint my own backdrop plus I painted a few rocks to add to the set. Finally, I collected long grasses from Shipbourne common and I also bought a few beautiful grass stems from local Tonbridge florist, Star and The Rose, to really finish the set off.
The results
I always start the session with a mini portrait session so when the family arrived, Theeran was dressed in this super cute outfit below.



And then it was time for his Lion King Cake Smash….







And then we finished off with a bath to get Theeran – he wasn’t so fussed on the bath time BUT he did get to go home clean after his shoot!

I’ve already had enquiries about the possibility of recreating another Lion King cake smash set up for their little one’s birthday or another theme that they’ve had in mind. The answer is YES! Very happy to get creative – just get in touch and we can get planning!
Sarah x
Click HERE for more Cake Smash inspiration

If you’ve enjoyed this Lion King cake smash, take a look at some other Disney Cake smashes….
Tags: 1st birthday cake smash baby cake smash Cake smash photographer cake smash photography Cake Smash theme Creative Cake Smash first birthday Lion King Cake Smash
4 Comments Lion King Cake Smash Client Gallery
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Iām looking for some ideas for my sons lion king cake smash! Can I ask where you got your lion king decor?
Hi Amber, the details of how I created the set up are all in the blog above. The cutouts of the characters were printed on to stiff cardboard. Hope your cake smash goes well for you and your little one! Sarah x
Hello I am a fellow photographer and I am after a set up similar to your lion king one, could I ask where your backdrop and props are from
Thank you
Hi Jade, thanks for your interest. I’ve replied via email with how I created the set up. Many thanks, Sarah