New June Bakery Is Part of a New Wedding Cake Trend

To me, my wedding was perfect. Well, almost. 

There were 12 people in total — including me and my now husband — at the Providence Public Library on a warm July day in Rhode Island. The ceremony was filled with tears and laughter, and the dinner afterward (at North, a true Providence gem) was a pure delight. We danced all night on the rooftop of the Graduate Hotel until the Champagne ran out. I’d do it all exactly the same again, but with one addition: a wedding cake. 

At the time I didn’t think anything of it, but looking back, a traditional sweet treat would have been the cherry on top. In the moment, I felt on trend — in recent years, wedding cakes seemed to lose their luster as couples have opted for other desserts instead, like giant pavlovas, personalized pies, stacks of doughnuts, ice cream trucks, or sometimes nothing at all.

But now some sweet establishments are bringing wedding cake back in style by incorporating modern flavors and aesthetics, and no one is doing it better than Philadelphia-based New June Bakery.

In the heart of the pandemic, when everyone else was turning to sourdough starters and banana bread for entertainment, Noelle Blizzard was on her own culinary journey, albeit one that would eventually land her a title she never expected: cake boss.

What began as a simple means of passing the time turned into New June Bakery, a shop specializing in bespoke confections and wedding cakes that marry whimsy and tradition, and might surprise even those who claim they don’t enjoy cake — like Blizzard herself.

“I didn’t like cake. On the list of things I was going to bake on my baking journey, it was at the very bottom,” Blizzard admits with a laugh. “I’m really sweet averse. I don’t like frosting.” But the cakes she bakes now? They’ve won over not just Blizzard, but legions of devoted fans, including plenty of brides and grooms. 

Like many self-taught chefs and bakers, Blizzard’s love of baking started at an early age. “I come from a food-centric family,” she explains. Her grandfather, an Italian chef, and her mother, a lover of holiday cookie boxes, helped cultivate her passion for cooking.

While quarantined at home with a toddler, Blizzard threw herself into baking as a form of therapy. She started with whipping up cinnamon rolls and cookies for family and friends, and by June of 2021, she had officially opened New June. 

“I launched a brand not knowing honestly that it would become a legit bakery, but it was a more legit way for me to start making money off of this thing that I was spending all of my time doing,” Blizzard says. In the beginning, it was difficult to balance her full-time nonprofit job with early morning baking sessions, but business eventually took off, and she left her day job to focus solely on cakes.

The desserts have quickly become popular on social media, thanks to their trendy, vintage style, and New June’s Instagram account now boasts nearly 50,000 followers.

Her bakery’s success hasn’t changed how the pastry chef feels about overly sweet desserts. “I had to make a cake I would actually eat,” Blizzard says. This is great news for people like me, who might not be inclined towards the super sugary wedding cake you expect at an event.

To appeal to more palates, Blizzard spent months creating the light, less-sweet cake and icing recipes that have become New June’s signatures. Once baked, the cakes are filled and topped with tart, house-made jams, along with egg-rich buttercreams that call for the smallest possible amount of sugar.

It’s a formula that works; customers rave about how much they love the desserts despite not usually being fans of cake.

“We didn’t want a sterile, stuffy wedding, and we wanted our guests to feel comfortable, so color and whimsy [were] a must,” Louisa Petronis, a New June bride, shared with Food & Wine.

“The goal was a bright, quirky, fever dream, and Noelle’s style fits seamlessly with that vision. She asked a few questions about color preference and style, but we didn’t see the final product until the day of the wedding. She delivered the perfect non-traditional cake with glittery cherries, bold colors, and a unique flavor (coconut cake with passion fruit and raspberry).” 

Petronis also emphasized one particular word that I’ve heard over and over again about Blizzard’s creations: joy. 

“Her design added an extra layer of joy to the night, which I didn’t think was possible from a wedding cake,” she recalls. “It’s rare to have a cake that has both style and substance but we received just as many compliments about the cake’s flavor as we did its appearance.”

Blizzard noted that her most requested creations — and one of her personal favorites — is shortcake. “I’d prefer a cake filled with whipped cream and fruit over anything,” she says.

Each shortcake is filled with layers of whipped cream, fresh fruit, and a crunchy component like a buttery graham cracker crumble. The fresh layers filled with texture are inspired by Blizzard’s favorite seasonal pies, transformed into cakes.

Her vintage-style sheet cakes often channel the Victorian era, and old Wilton cake decorating tips — pulled from retro catalogues filled with ideas for intricate, swooping frosting designs — have become her signature aesthetic. They’re maximalist in the best way, and they’re not for anyone searching for something simple or plain.

New June’s style is emblematic of trends seen throughout the cake industry today, as consumers are stepping away from the clean lines of fondant-draped desserts or mirror glazes that became popular in the early 2000s. In addition to elaborate piping, the bakery incorporates trends like heart-shaped baked goods, sheet cakes, and monochromatic color schemes into its designs.

These cakes burst with color, ornate piping, and unexpected shapes, giving off a sense of nostalgia as if baked for a wedding from the ’80s (either the 1880s or 1980s, you pick), while still aligning perfectly with of-the-moment tastes. “Being able to offer the trendy thing, the thing that everyone loves, it’s a beautiful thing to have at a celebration for people who wouldn’t normally have that,” Blizzard adds. 

Yet, with all the praise she’s received and success she’s had, the chef and business owner remains humble, often in awe of how far she’s come.

“I’m constantly surprised by the feedback,” she remarks. “My story isn’t one of someone in the industry who worked really hard and got to this point through a traditional means of education. I am like you. I just worked for fun out of my house and struggled at a corporate career, wanting to get ahead, and then suddenly, I decided to do this on my own. I’m going to teach myself. And it’s a second life that I feel a lot of women and professional people can relate to.” 

Blizzard and I have one more thing in common. She didn’t have a wedding cake either. For anyone considering skipping a wedding cake of their own, she has one piece of advice: don’t. “Trust me,” she says, “I do regret it. I wish I had a cake.”

And I can speak from experience that she’s right — if you’re luck enough to live in Philadelphia, you can fill out an online order form for New June today, or visit its first in-person location, opening later this fall.