Meet Jenny Williamson of Jenny’s Wedding Cakes in North Shore

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenny Williamson.

Jenny, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Cooking and baking has been a passion of mine from a very early age. I learned to cook by watching old shows like Julia Child and the Frugal Gourmet (mostly Julia though) and constantly reading cookbooks then practicing at home. Presentation of foods as well as the execution always appealed to me due to the combination of art and love of food itself (Italian girl 😉 ).

Combining these two passions led me to starting my first business as a caterer in my early 20’s. That led to making desserts for restaurants. While studying desserts, a friend of mine from high school asked me to make a wedding cake for her. This led me to more research on baking wedding cakes. I instantly fell in love with this craft and began to teach myself different techniques in buttercream, fondant, sugar flowers, sculpture, etc.

I then phased out of the catering and wholesale desserts as the wedding cake aspect of my business took off in no time. I have a commercial kitchen that I bake out of in Amesbury MA and a private studio that I meet my clients at in Middleton MA. Over the past twenty years I have continued to sustain the boutique aspect of my business as we are still not a retail bakery and provide mostly wedding cakes to our clients. Providing only wedding cakes has allowed me to offer a level of expertise in the industry.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
This has been one crazy ride! Weddings are not for sissy’s! The level of expectations in this industry only increases every year! But, I wouldn’t want it any other way. This industry does not lend itself to a normal work schedule, nor does it allow for a normal social life. Also, the wedding industry does not follow economic trends like other industries so you have to continue to stay current. I think the biggest struggle for me has been raising my two daughters (as a single mom) while running this business. I’ve learned to try to give them the attention they need when they need it and also making sure that NOTHING gets in the way of weddings at the same time. Also, let me just point out that in making wedding cakes you are not only baking a perfect cake, then you have to create this sculpture, that is perishable, so you can’t do anything ahead of time, then you have to drive it to a location in a specific window of time. So needless to say, lots of pressure involved every step of the way. That all being said, I am extremely grateful that I get to work in this industry alongside some of the most amazing and talented people I have ever met and continue to be inspired by them.

Jenny’s Wedding Cakes – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We are truly a boutique wedding cake company. We are not a retail bakery and we provide primarily wedding cakes. I have only one other person working on weddings with me. My specialty is my feminine look and delicate design as well as the fact that I am in the process every step of the way. My clients communicate with me from the first inquiry, only meet with me during the consultation, and I am the only one who designs the cakes and finishes the cakes. So, when someone hires me, they get me.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
It is difficult to choose only one proud moment, they happen quite often! I think the first time my work was featured on a magazine cover was definitely one of my proudest moments because my colleagues would say to me, “I took one look at the cover and knew it was your cake”. That meant so much because I knew that I had accomplished something I had been wanting to achieve, a specific, recognizable look as a designer.

Many other moments over the years have included winning the Best of Boston award in 2012 and 2018 by Boston Magazine, and also Boston’s Best by Improper Bostonian only because we are so small, so to be recognized in this way was quite an accomplishment.

Other proud moments just happen in that it is such a difficult job, physically and mentally, that just getting through a challenging weekend and then getting a gracious thank you from a bride the following Monday really makes me proud to do what I do. It’s all about making our clients happy, we are all people pleasers in this industry. I am also extremely proud to get to work with some amazing talents in our industry, and again, this just continues on a regular basis. I’m just blown away by the talent of my peers and continue to feel proud at the opportunity to work with these people so often, but I never take it for granted.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jencakes.com
• Phone: 978-269-7195
• Email: jenny@jencakes.com
• Instagram: Jenny’s Wedding Cakes
• Facebook: Jenny’s Wedding Cakes
• Twitter: Jenny’s Wedding Cakes
• Yelp: Jenny’s Wedding Cakes
• Other: Jenny’s Wedding Cakes

Image Credit:
Photos by Lauren Killian, Person+Killian Photography

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