INTERVIEW
BY JULIANNE PEPITONE
family affair
SYLVIA WEINSTOCK AND ELLEN WELDON ARE TRUE DESIGNING WOMEN.
Sylvia Weinstock (above) makes fabulous floral wedding cakes.
Before Sylvia Weinstock emerged 35 years ago, the wedding cake was simply a confection. Now, her fanciful dessert creations at Sylvia Weinstock Cakes are elaborate showpieces themselves worthy of celebration. Meanwhile, Weinstock’s daughter, Ellen, has put her own spin on the family business with
Ellen Weldon Design, offering creative event invitations addressed with elegant calligraphy. Accent recently caught up with this talented mother-daughter duo to talk personal taste, the differences between celebrities and “regular” clients, and why tradition will never go out of style. B R I D A L
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S E C T I O N
Sylvia Weinstock: I always say I came into Manhattan at the right time, with the right product and a lot of luck. I was the new kid on the block doing something no one else seemed to offer: a beautiful cake that was delicious too. It started with a birthday cake and it slowly became wedding cakes. In New York, it’s all about word of mouth: I worked with one hotel and they told people about me, then I worked with the next and so on. Our cakes have traveled all over the world: South Africa, Europe, India, Asia. It’s a wonderful business in a lot of ways, but it’s not without its angst. Ellen Weldon: I got into calligraphy because in sixth grade, I failed handwriting class. It was my first “F,” and I couldn’t believe it! I took classes and it became an intense hobby. Later, my first job out of college was designing stationery for Cartier, and one of my big clients there was Estée Lauder. Later, I went to work for the company and then for Mrs. Lauder personally. After, I branched out and started my own company, doing work for L’Oréal,
HEAD SHOTS BY JULIANNE PEPITONE
How did each of you get into your lines of work?