Anonymous wrote:I am not fond of this practice and didn't do it for DD's first birthday. We helped her blow out her candles and she got the first piece of her birthday cake - just like every subsequent year - and shared her cake with her guests (which is the point of birthday cake in the first place). I don't like seeing a blatant and planned waste of food and I like the original concept of a shared birthday wish so much more than a separate "stunt cake" for the baby. DD ate her first piece of birthday cake and we have cute photographs to remember the messy moment.
I loathe seeing a bride and groom smash wedding cake into each other's faces, too.
I don't think the practice of giving a one-year-old a cake to smash up is "trashy" - just so common and unnecessary.
I do love the original idea that a birthday cake or wedding cake is the shared sweetness and shared wishes of all the assembled guests. Which is one of the two reasons I never turn down birthday or wedding cake (the other being that I love cake!) I want to share their happiness. You're right - a "stunt cake" defeats the purpose.
Thanks - DS is only 9 months old but in three months I will make sure to give him the first piece of his birthday cake and share the rest with his friends and family.