Ana Parzych began her wedding cake career in Cheshire, Connecticut back in 2006. Now, several years later, she has a studio in Greenwich and New York City. She’s been featured on the covers of several wedding magazines, made appearances on Food Network and most recently partnered with The Knot and Katie Couric’s talk show to feature her fantastic work. We sit down with this international transplant that’s made Connecticut her home and custom wedding cakes her business.
CS: You’ve been in the wedding cake business now for several years, what inspires your designs?
AP: I have a teenage daughter so I get almost every fashion and home magazine out there. Vogue, House Beautiful, Vanity Fair, Marie Claire, you name it. I like to see what the color of the year is, new patterns, and what’s happening in fashion. I want to know what’s happening in all of design. I also read all the wedding magazines to see what the latest trends are in wedding gowns, like are brides where lace, ruffles, A-line dresses. It helps give me new ideas.
CS: You have two cake collections, explain the difference.
AP: I have Ana Parzych Custom Cakes and our Signature Cake collection. I started my business creating custom cakes that were created just for that couple. Over the years, I would create cakes for editorial features and those became very popular. I’d have brides all over the country calling me for those specific cakes. I decided to create a book of signature cakes that could be ordered on demand, and added more designs to this collection based on seasonality. My Custom Cake line is designed to the clients’ exact specifications. I sit down and we discuss what they like and what they’ve already decided on—from the cake, the wedding dress, the space—and then I sketch several designs that we tweak together. These are all original cakes and are very luxurious to have.
CS: Do you do groomscakes as well?
AP: Yes, I love doing groomscakes! In recent years they’ve become very popular and are usually a surprise from the bride to the groom. They’re typically based around a hobby, favorite sports team or something related to their profession. I get to have a lot of fun with these…it’s a different level of creativity.
CS: You’ve also done some collaborations?
AP: Yes, I partnered with Charles Sally Charles Catering to create The Palm House Cake Collection. It’s a line of cakes created exclusively for the Palm House and Atrium. We make all the cakes for their clients that have booked a wedding in that space. Since most of these couples booked the space because they love flowers, I came up with a collection of designs based on what’s in bloom. This time of year, I have cakes with cherry blossoms, dogwoods, hydrangeas, etc. This collection is specifically inspired by the gardens.
CS: What’s your background?
AP: I was born in Peru, but my family is Japanese. In my early twenties we moved to Japan, where I met my husband Gary, who happened to live in Connecticut. We lived in Tokyo for several years, and then moved to the states sixteen years ago. When I was living in Tokyo, I worked at a French bakery – ironically. When we first moved to the states I was a stay at home mom, but I’d always had a passion for baking cakes. I had previously gone to art school and studied painting, sculpture and graphic design. I started to incorporate some of those applications into the cakes I made for friends and family. After awhile I decided to take some local classes in basic cake decorating and realized this came very naturally to me.
CS: When did you decide you wanted to make this a business?
AP: After my second child was born, I decided to enroll in the Culinary Institute of America to learn how to make a really good cake. I honed my sugar skills, making sugar flowers that looked like real flowers as well. Back then, in the mid-2000’s, people were still using edible flowers and so this was a really new concept in the area. Once I completed the program I was able to use all my artistry skills to create one-of-a-kind cakes. I opened my business in Cheshire in 2006, and that’s still where my main studio lives.
CS: Were you always interested in making a career in baked goods?
AP: (Laughter). I never thought of this as being a real profession. Now, people have grown up with Food Network. They’re more educated about different techniques and options, but that wasn’t the case when I was first starting. I was educating my brides!
CS: How did you build your clientele?
AP: I had done a few weddings prior to my official business launch, but I really didn’t have a clientele. For weddings you don’t get many repeat clients, so it was really through word of mouth. I was also really fortunate to have Food Network want to feature me on one of their shows. I couldn’t do it the first two times they asked, but when they asked me the third time, I thought I better not miss this opportunity. After that show, I started getting phone calls for all kinds of media outlets. It really helped put me on the map.
CS: When you first opened business what were you doing?
AP: From the very beginning very fortunate, around 2007 Food Network approached us the first year and they wanted to feature us, but I was too busy with our kids. Third time was in 2007, they were in studio all day, that gave us great visibility. Right after that we were approached by all the major wedding cakes. Also, People magazines cover first wedding cakes. We were very fortunate, from beginning great press. This year, we recently featured on Katie Couric show, Valentines Day, and Knot Dream Wedding in NYC, Bryant Park. Just this year, seven bridal magazines.
CS: How has your bride changed over the years?
AP: When I first started people were still using wedding cake toppers and edible flowers. People didn’t believe sugar flowers weren’t real flowers. I had to explain to people that the flowers were handcrafted with sugar and I’m pretty sure I was one of the first people in this area to start doing these types of cakes. Now, brides are more demanding, but we like that type of client. We really love doing very high end, beautiful, elaborate cakes. We don’t just want to make a wedding cake, we want to create a centerpiece.
CS: Your kids must have amazing birthday cakes!
AP: (Laughter). They’re used to eating so much cake, they just want something simple for their birthday! But my daughter already tells me what she wants for her wedding, and she’s only a teenager…and my boys, they just want to eat cake!
Ana Parzych Cakes
Greenwich
203-439-7979