Wedding hot spot perfect for cake shop

Williams & Co Kitchen Ltd owner Tess Williams inspects a wedding cake in her new shop in Mornington. Photo: Shawn McAvinue
Williams & Co Kitchen Ltd owner Tess Williams inspects a wedding cake in her new shop in Mornington. Photo: Shawn McAvinue

Skip Paris and forget Florence; if you’re seeking romantic places in the world, look no further than Dunedin suburb Mornington.

Williams & Co Kitchen Ltd owner Tess Williams, of Wakari, decided to lease a shop in Mornington to sell wedding cakes because it was a hot spot for couples in love planning a wedding.

The shop in Mailer St was surrounded by businesses catering for weddings, such as a florist, hairdressers and a beauty therapist. ‘‘It’s the perfect spot to sell wedding cakes.’’

The shop would open to sell ‘‘celebration cakes’’ tomorrow.

She would work alone, making cakes to order, she said.

‘‘Eventually, I would like to have cakes on the shelf to sell.’’

The long-term dream was to open a coffee shop and sell baked goods from the cake shop.

Dunedin had room for another cake business, so it was the ‘‘perfect’’ time to open the shop. She made her first cake about 10 years ago, to celebrate the first birthday of her son Romie.

‘My aunty Kim Henderson always made amazing cakes for her kids, so I wanted my kids to have amazing cakes.’’

After she made a cake for her daughter Bailey about five years ago, friends and family started asking for cakes to be made.

She began making cakes for people from home but was contacted about five weeks ago by a Dunedin City Council staff member who had concerns cakes were being made from an unregistered kitchen.

The call from the council put her at a crossroads.

‘‘I had to decide if I’d stop making cakes or go all out and do it.’’

The decision to proceed was made after finding a ‘‘perfect shop’’ in Mornington.

Ms Williams said she had investigated other shops in suburbs across Dunedin but nowhere had as many business focusing on wedding supplies and services, so the decision was easy.

SHAWN.MCAVINUE@thestar.co.nz 

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