As soon as you have a wedding date set, you need to call up Sugar Bakeshop and make sure you reserve a spot on their calendar. But that doesn’t mean you have to know exactly what kind of dessert you want yet.

“A lot of people think they maybe have to make all their decisions right away,” explains Bill Bowick, who runs the bakery with his life and professional partner David Bouffard. “But in fact, we actually don’t bake the treats until the day of, so they can modify their numbers and quantities right up until the very last moment.”

Another thing you should know about Sugar: They don’t bake tiered wedding cakes. And while some may find that shocking, most modern brides- and grooms-to-be know that a big white cake is no longer a necessity. Instead, Sugar offers homemade Southern treats, enough cookies and cupcakes and tarts and pies and cobblers and puddings and even regular cakes to cover a big sumptuous spread. They like to focus on flavor and taste instead of decoration for decoration’s sake. The end product looks so good that you just want to dive into it.

“One of the really happy things about a gay ceremony is that family and friends coming to their wedding are generally especially supportive because it’s an unusual thing that the couple has maybe had to really work hard for,” Bowick says. “We’re mindful of lots of different people coming together, and I think creating a dessert that’s sort of homemade and special for the couple is something that we’re really mindful of when we’re making it and helping them make decisions.”

Sugar puts a twist on traditions, using local ingredients that match your wedding’s season. Instead of a cake topper, they can bake personalized sugar cookies. And as for that one-year-anniversary custom of eating a frozen slice of cake, Bowick advises against it. “I don’t think that the freezer’s the way to go because it’s going to taste like a freezer,” Bowick says with a laugh. Instead, call up Sugar as the date is approaching, and they’ll bake you a mini version of what you had at your wedding. That way, it tastes as good as you remember.


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