After two years of the pandemic, the wedding sector is coming back with a vengeance.
Justine Martin of Guilty Pleasures Bakeshop + Catering said the industry is preparing for what is being touted as the largest surge of nuptials since 1984.
“Florists can only take on one to two weddings per weekend, but the caterer and the luxury cake-maker can tackle 10 celebrations in a weekend and we are ready to roll,” Justine Martin said.
Justine of Sudbury was named Cake Designer of the Year in 2020 at the Ontario Wedding Awards. Last year, she and her partner, Rob Burlington, competed on the Food Network’s The Big Bake.
During the lockdown, the two purchased a home, built a certified kitchen and have now teamed up to form a Bakeshop and Catering union in the Uptown neighbourhood near downtown Sudbury.
They say Signature Wedding Tasting Boxes are a surefire way for couples to decide upon what exactly they are looking for in a wedding cake for their guests.
The tasting boxes include six samplings of cakes including the vanilla, peach and white rose cake, the chocolate, orange and caramel cake, and the popular vanilla, lavender lemon cake.
Justine’s personal favourite is the strawberry mojito cake.
Martin also ships her custom cookies and chocolate products nationwide. Some of which are quite risqué and can’t be found on the company website.
Rob is the mastermind behind the catering.
“I have forgotten how to cook because Rob is so good at it. He caters to specific requests with holiday offerings, coursed dinners, canapes and even sells his sauces and preserves locally too,” Martin said.
Burlington went to culinary school in Toronto whereas Martin fell into her love of baking in a very untraditional way. After studying public relations and taking a few dream jobs in the field, she opted to return back home in Sudbury.
“I spent way too much time watching cake baking shows. In October 2015, my mom took a picture of some cupcakes with fondant icing I created and posted it to Facebook.”
Suddenly there were orders to fill. Then there were cakes. A storefront and then a revisoning of food and celebrations during the pandemic.
“We built the certified kitchen and now I bake and spend a lot of time teaching others how to market their baking with media relations. In April, I will be travelling to Toronto, Miami and Las Vegas to teach,” she said.
Guilty Pleasures Bakeshop and Catering can be found online at GPBakeshop.ca and on Facebook.
Anastasia Rioux is a writer in Greater Sudbury. Let’s Eat is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
