Gourmet Cupcakes & Cakes!
AWARD WINNER (7X)
Thanks to recommendations from couples on The Knot
Area 51 Cupcakery, located in Naperville, IL, is a wedding cake and cupcake supplier. Owners Jill and Robert Watson offer one-of-a-kind wedding cakes and inventive cupcake towers for your table. You and your guests can look forward to enjoying sweet treats to mark your special day.
Jill and Robert met when she was in military service in 2003 and 2004, and he was a contractor. After living abroad for several years, this couple moved to Illinois. Since then, they've grown a dessert location into two, offering a variety of confections through Area 51 Cupcakery.
The Area 51 Cupcakery team offers a range of cupcakes with several flavors and ingredients. Whether you fancy chocolate, coconut, cream, lemon, or fudge cupcakes, Jill and Robert will be able to create these and more. This pair also makes custom wedding cakes, ice cream, "smash" cakes, and dessert bars. Their aim is to provide you with happiness for your big day.
Veteran-owned Business
Details
Cakes & Desserts
Cake Accessories
Cake Stands
Cake Delivery & Setup
Cake Tastings
Groom's Cakes
Dietary Options
Gluten Free
Awards and Affiliations
Any questions?
Reviews
5.0
out of 5.089 reviews
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Review Summary
This AI-generated summary is a snapshot of this vendor's ratings and feedback.
Area 51 bakery receives glowing reviews for their wedding cakes and cupcakes, with multiple reviewers praising the delicious flavors and beautiful designs. Customers appreciated the gluten-free options, generous sampler, and helpful staff, particularly Jill. The dessert table was a hit at weddings, offering a variety of flavors like cannoli, key lime, and Boston cream. Reviewers highly recommend Area 51 for any special occasion, noting the ease of process and excellent communication with the friendly and responsive team.Review photos
Showing slide number 1 out of 9
Ashley L
Highlighted review.
5.0
11/04/2024
We used Area 51 for our wedding cake and they didn’t disappoint! They have the best tasting cupcakes we’ve ever had. There was not one flavor we did not like! We set up a tasting w...
ith Jill and she was so helpful throughout the entire process. We ended up ordering a custom ~9” strawberry heart cake, super simple, but packed with flavor! We just looked through their amazing instagram profile and found cake designs that we liked and it worked out perfectly. We dressed it up with a basic Mr & Mrs cake topper and to add a little flare, had a mini replica of our one eyed Pitbull made so she could be a part of our big day too! We would recommend Area 51 to anyone (they also have great strawberry cheesecake🤤). Thank you Area 51 for making our wedding day so sweet
Kylie Z
5.0
11/24/2025
We couldn’t be happier with our experience! The cupcakes were absolutely delicious — a total hit with all our guests. Choosing flavors was the hardest part because everything they ...
offer is amazing, and they were incredibly generous with the sampler. We decided to skip the traditional wedding cake, and they kindly provided full-size cupcakes just for us, which made the day feel even more special. The whole process was so easy, and everyone we worked with was friendly, responsive, and a joy to communicate with. We can’t wait to come back for treats as a married couple! Highly recommend this bakery for any special occasion.
Any questions?
Michaylann C
5.0
10/20/2025
We had an amazing experience with Area 51! They were the only bakery we could find in Wisconsin/Illinois that did a two-tier gluten free cake of that size, and it turned out perfec...
tly. We sent them inspiration photos, and the cake looked exactly how we imagined.
It was structurally perfect (impressive for gluten free!!) and tasted incredible
Oir guests had no idea it was gluten free! They also included two free cupcakes when we picked up the cake, and the free tasting with lots of flavor options was a really fun bonus. We highly recommend them!
Stephanie V
5.0
7/29/2025
I am a HUGE fan of Area 51 and knew that I had to have their delicious cake and cupcakes for my wedding! Best dessert table ever! The cake we got for cutting was beautiful, and the...
cupcakes were amazing. I was able to pick some of my favorites (cannoli, key lime, Boston cream, etc.) and I got so many compliments from our guests! Thank you!!
Kelsey B
5.0
6/13/2025
My sister recommended Area 51 and I've had their cake enough before to know their cake is amazing! But working with them was almost just as good! Jill was super accommodating and a...
ble to create what we needed, and we would definitely recommend again.
Katie C
5.0
8/13/2023
We have always loved Area 51 cupcakes and knew they would be perfect for our wedding. We chose so many good flavors of mini cupcakes, brookies and sugar cookies. The setup was gorg...
eous. Everything tasted delicious. The mini cupcakes were perfect. Allowed people to take a few flavors. They were great to work with. Handled all the details well. Even worked with me to add extra support into our cake to hold our cake topper. They were a hit!
Parker V
5.0
1/10/2023
Not only were our cupcakes amazing and our cake beautiful, Jill and her team are phenomenal to work with. We did mini cupcakes for our guests and a small cutting cake for the tradi...
tion of it. Our guests absolutely loved the cupcakes (especially the kids), and we love going to Area 51 for a quick treat every now and then now.
Hannah G
5.0
11/08/2022
YUM!!! Jill is amazing to work with!! First we tried their everyday mini cakes- those were yummy, but we scraped that. We ended up getting their special fall flavors (5 different f...
lavors, 2doz each) and a 6in cake for us (bride and groom). The cake was phenomenal!! We split the design, half formal, half decorated for Thor (dedicated to our dog) and it’s so tasty! I couldn’t be happier with our choices! Our guest loved the fall flavor cakes!
Karen R
5.0
11/02/2022
Ever since I had one of their cupcakes, I knew this place would be the perfect place to get my wedding cake from. Jill and her husband Robert have been amazing through the whol...
e process of getting things together. The results were perfection!!!
Our Wedding cake was so beautiful and tasted amazing! Everyone loved the cupcakes!
They come Highly Recommended from me!!
Nicole R
5.0
8/22/2022
This bakery was so easy to work with! Jill helped us decide on the perfect amount of mini cupcakes we would need for our wedding. She was honest and wasn't trying to oversell to us...
. The cake and cupcakes were all so delicious! We had no leftovers at the end of our reception! We even got a free dozen of cupcakes since we spent a certain amount of money. Highly recommend this place and their mini cupcakes!
Samantha L
5.0
11/17/2021
Smallcakes made ordering a small cutting cake and mini-cupcakes for our wedding day so fun and easy! They did a great job and the cupcakes arrived looking and tasting as delicious ...
as ever. I'm only disappointed there weren't more leftover cupcakes for me to take home at the end of the night. Would highly recommend the folks at this location. Thank you for your help in making our wedding cake and cupcakes!
Kat B
5.0
9/26/2021
I highly recommend using Smallcakes for your wedding! Jill and her team were friendly and made sure everything was perfect for our day. They were quick to answer questions and made...
the process so easy. We knew we wanted cupcakes at our reception and we have not stopped receiving compliments since our July date. Everyone loved that there were many delicious flavors to choose from and that we had a gluten free option as well. About a week before our wedding, my husband said that he also wanted us to have a small cake for us to cut for pictures and for our head table. Jill accommodated this request and designed the cake to look exactly how we wanted. The price for delivery, set up, cupcakes, and our small wedding cake was super reasonable. With everything combined, it was still significantly less expensive than if we would have chosen to have dessert provided from our reception venue. We also had a mix up and forgot to grab the cupcake stand that we had borrowed from Smallcakes at the end of our reception. Not only did Jill assure me that it was okay, but she offered to pick up the stand at our venue. We cannot recommend Smallcakes enough!
Ana D
5.0
8/23/2021
Smallcakes was so helpful and easy going with our entire ordering process. They created a very special shag cake for us and we could not have loved it more! the best part is Small...
cakes made the entire experience completely customizable and the staff we encountered was so lovely. Oh, and everything was delicious. thank you!
Azadeh E
5.0
7/14/2021
The most delicious cake! Smallcakes made the exact cake I wanted from a photo I shared with them. Their attention to the detail was great. The cake was so buttery and delicious, it...
looked so chic and elegant as I wanted. We were a bit worried about traveling with the cake but they offered to make a replacement cake if anything happened with the cake which gave us so much relief(nothing happened as it was a solid cake)
This cake made our night more special:)
Adrianna G
5.0
7/05/2021
Loved our adorable cupcake display at our wedding! Working with Jill was amazing ~ very easy-going and took a lot of care in making sure everything looked beautiful and tasted deli...
cious for our special day! The only challenge was choosing our favorite flavors because I kid you not, every cupcake we tasted at our initial meeting was TOO GOOD. Would highly recommend!!
Jyotsana M
5.0
7/02/2021
It’s been two weeks since our wedding and people are still talking about how good our cupcakes were! Seriously, some of the best cupcakes! Jill and her team are so sweet and so att...
entive! They do quality work and we were so lucky to have them apart of our wedding team!
Katrina F
5.0
10/07/2020
I knew we liked Smallcakes for their cupcakes, but their wedding cake was amazing! Typically you'd go to a bakery and try a couple samples. Due to COVID we picked up a box of their...
mini cupcakes in all their flavors! It was wonderful and a safer way to make our decision (which... ended up being Wedding Cake flavor, haha. Don't knock it until you try it, it was a crowd pleaser).
I was in direct contact with the wedding baker at all times. The cake turned out wonderful. They also were able to deliver the cake to my venue. All of this was done over email and then paid over the phone, which is a time-saver.
My guests were raving about the cake after dessert. I would definitely use them again for another specialty cake or even just cupcakes for an event!
Nicole C
5.0
9/16/2020
They did such a wonderful job with the order, the communication was great, and everyone loved the cake and cupcakes!
Rachel M
5.0
9/09/2020
Smallcakes of Naperville did a great job with our wedding desserts and they were delicious! Jill helped us every step of the way and was so helpful! Would definitely recommend!
Jessica M
5.0
8/25/2020
I highly recommend Smallcakes for your next event! I have been working with Smallcakes for about a year due to having to postpone our wedding because of COVID-19 and they have been...
wonderful! I worked with Jill and she was awesome! She worked with me through the reschedule and was so patient! I told her our vision for our wedding cake and she executed exactly what we wanted. She provided the cake display for our mini cupcakes and 8 inch cake. She made everything easy and I didn’t have to stress one bit about this part of my wedding!! And lets not forget to mention that their cake and cupcakes are absolutely delicious!!! So many flavor options too! Our tasting was amazing and they were so generous with what they provided for us. My groom and I knew we wanted the Caramel Crunch cake and Smallcakes made it just look perfect!
I can’t wait to enjoy more cupcakes and to work with Jill again in the future. I hope everyone books them for their event. They create a beautiful display and even more importantly, they bake the most delicious cakes!!
Katy K
5.0
8/13/2020
Jill was absolutely wonderful to work with, the cupcakes were delicious and everything looked amazing! So glad we chose to work with them for our wedding!
Danielle S
5.0
2/20/2020
The wedding cake we chose to get from Smallcakes was perfect! Jill made the process easy, provided plenty of mini cupcakes to taste so we knew exactly what we wanted, and listened ...
to my vision so that the cake we had on our wedding day was beautiful! All around great experience and highly recommend to anyone!
Abbey H
5.0
11/17/2019
We had gone to 6 other tastings before we went to Smallcakes, and when we went we wished we had gone sooner! They give you an assortment of 2 dozen mini cupcakes to try (all AMAZIN...
G). We went with a traditional wedding flavor 3 tiered cake and an assortment of cupcakes. We had so many compliments on how good it was, and even heard from a couple people that it was the best wedding cake that they’ve had! They are super sweet here and the cake was everything we had hoped for!
Sarah O
5.0
11/13/2019
One of the best and easiest decisions was making sure I got sweets from Smallcakes! my family and friends and everyone I know have been huge fans of them so it was a no brainer. Ji...
ll & Bre are absolutely incredible to work with! I had a sit down meeting with Bre to go over the final details-mind you this was two weeks before.. welllllll we added a 4 tier cake that day too! Everyone was so accommodating & excited for us! The cupcakes and the cake were a huge hit! I barely had any left because people were going up for 2nd and 3rd helpings!
Thank you smallcakes, Jill, & Bre for helping to make our magical day even sweeter♥️
Brittany K
5.0
10/18/2019
So happy we chose Smallcakes in Naperville to provide the cake and mini cupcakes for our wedding! Jill is so sweet and so easy to work with - she made the process so easy and stres...
s-free. The cakes/cupcakes were not only BEAUTIFUL, but so delicious - our guests loved them. Everything was made fresh the morning of our wedding which is amazing!! Nothing frozen or pre-made like some other wedding bakeries :) Definitely recommend!
Lauren S
5.0
10/07/2019
Jill was excellent! Service was incredible, timely, and delivery was seamless. The cupcakes were delicious and guests raved about them! They were also very accommodating for specia...
l requests & dietary restrictions. Thank you for helping make our wedding perfect!
Brianne B
5.0
6/28/2019
Smallcakes is the BEST! We worked with Jill at the Naperville location, and she was absolutely great with everything. They are liberal with the amount of flavors you get to choose,...
which is nice so you can have a wide variety for your guests. Our guests LOVED the cupcakes. Smallcakes makes them fresh the day of the event, so they are delicious! They also have stands available which was super convenient. We could not be happier with our experience!
Jessica T
5.0
6/23/2019
So happy we chose Smallcakes for our dessert at our wedding! Their cupcakes were to die for!! Our guests would not stop raving about them. Jill and the Smallcakes team were also re...
ally accommodating and fun to work with during our planning process! My husband and I highly recommend them!
Tere H
5.0
6/21/2019
I loved my cake! And the guests loved the cupcakes! Smallcakes and Jill are awesome. Jill was with me every step of the way. She was patient with my slow response and understood th...
e stress I was under between planning a wedding and working crazy hours. Jill made this part of it easy and I knew that I didn't”t need to worry about this part of the planning.
We have made Smallcakes of Naperville our new go to bakery. Even the dogs get to enjoy a treat from there! Everyone is warm and friendly and helpful- like the neighborhood bakery of my childhood ;).
Kailey W
5.0
6/06/2019
We just wanted a small two tier cake at our wedding for cutting. Small cakes was great to work with and very reasonable compared to other vendors we looked at! The cake was very cu...
te and delicious!!!
Katrina J
5.0
6/05/2019
OMG! SmallCakes is MOST definitely the way to go if you're looking for a special treat on your wedding day! Jill was so sweet during the entire process and made planning/execution ...
near effortless. :) We received so many compliments on this delicious added treat from our friends and family... you'd be crazy not to go with them!
Chris P
5.0
5/30/2019
We decided to go with mini cupcakes for our reception and they did not disappoint. The cupcakes turned out amazing and were the talk of the reception. We also went with a single ti...
er cake for the bride and groom and that was equally delicious and beautiful. Jill was amazing throughout the whole process. If you're on the fence about cupcakes at your reception, don't be and look no further than smallcakes in Naperville.
Katherine G
5.0
5/18/2019
Smallcakes made our wedding just perfect. Working with Jill was great! She made everything easy. Our guests loved the cupcakes. I should have ordered more! If you choose Small...
cakes, you won't be disappointed, just delighted!!
Hayley K
5.0
1/03/2019
Our wedding cake and cupcakes were so pretty and amazing!!! Everyone at our wedding were saying how tasty the cupcakes were. Love this place!
James P
5.0
11/30/2018
We had very few issues with Smallcakes during our wedding day and the months leading up to. Everyone at our reception raved about how good the cupcakes were, and they looked great ...
too. The only hitch was the our cake topper didn't end up looking exactly how we wanted it to. I tried to be as explicit as I could with the details in emails and over the phone, but it just wasn't understood very well. We ended up with a rather bland cake topper the day of. But since that was the ONLY issue we had with them, it's hard to knock them down from 5 stars!
Kelsey M
5.0
11/07/2018
Smallcakes was one of the best decisions we made for our wedding! We got SO many compliments on the cupcakes. They looked almost as good as they tasted. Also, they were a pleasure ...
to deal with... very responsive and accommodating. 10/10 would recommend!
Melissa B
5.0
11/01/2018
Smallcakes cupcakes were amazing. Everyone commented on how good they were. I even took the extras to work a couple days later and they were still fresh! The staff were great and t...
he delivery fee was reasonable. We would order them again in a heart beat!
Miranda P
5.0
10/08/2018
We used Smallcakes Naperville for our wedding and they were amazing! We had them do a smaller cake for us and then they made cupcakes as favors for our guests. Our cake turned out ...
even better than expected and they helped so much with making our cupcake favors come to life. We created our own boxes and they were kind enough to put them in the boxes for us to make sure they were all secure, and deliver everything seamless on the day of. Not only are my fiancé and I huge fans of Smallcakes for how delicious their cupcakes are, we are so impressed with how smoothly it went working with them for our wedding. Would recommend over and over again!
Eric L
5.0
9/24/2018
Everything was great. Jill helped us through the whole process. All the cupcakes were so good, they were definitely a hit.
Ashley Y
5.0
9/20/2018
Smallcakes was perfect for our wedding! We did the mini cupcakes instead of serving everyone a piece of cake and they went over amazingly with our guests! Everyone commented on how...
great they tasted and the staff was very helpful along the way.
Randall W
5.0
9/10/2018
We wanted to have a fun and unique style for our wedding and choosing Smallcakes to cater was the perfect pick. They worked with us every step of the way and went above and beyond ...
to find the perfect flavors and stands to make our vision come through. It is clear the the owners and staff are passionate about their shop and they absolutely gave us the care and attention that helped make our night a huge success. We highly recommend having cupcakes at your wedding and Smallcakes is the ONLY place to do it. You can just go there and have a cupcake too. Whether it's a wedding or a Wednesday you won't be disappointed.
Abby K
5.0
9/09/2018
We loved our cupcakes from Smallcakes! They have so many fabulous flavors to choose from - it's a fun process. We ended up getting a cake for the sake of having a cake to cut, as w...
ell as a ton of mini cupcakes for the guests. Very cute, fun, and delicious. They were a huge hit!! Everyone was easy to work with as well.
Stephanie S
5.0
8/08/2018
I loved our cakes and cupcakes! Thank you so much Smallcakes for being so accommodating and for doing such a wonderful job! Your cupcakes are delicious and were a hit with my frien...
ds and family!
Jenny G
5.0
8/07/2018
Smallcakes of Naperville was amazing to work with! They made the process so easy!! All communication was done via email and was effortless. They gave us samplers so we could try th...
e different flavors and decide which ones we wanted to go with! They did everything for us, from setting everything up and making it look beautiful to picking up the cake stand which was very helpful the day after the wedding (our venue was in naperville which made it convenient). Everyone raved about how good the cupcakes were! We are so very happy with our decision to use Smallcakes!
Theresa B
5.0
7/23/2018
When we inquired about having a cake from Smallcakes we received a variety of 2 dozen mini cupcake to sample. All the cupcakes were delicious and we decided to order a 6 inch cake ...
(wedding cake flavor of course) for our wedding. The staff was extremely helpful with the ordering and design process. The cake was perfect for our day. I would definitely recommend this bakery for any wedding as well as just a cupcake.
Michelle M
5.0
7/18/2018
Jill was extremely helpful and very prompt on responding to emails! She went out of her way to give me everything I wanted, down to buying a different color cupcake liner because I...
didn’t want the ones they usually use. They also offer hundreds of flavors! They were able to give me everything I wanted to a T. Guests loved them, nothing but compliments and people wanting to take them home! Would recommend again and again!
Alexandra L
5.0
6/24/2018
From the tasting to the venue delivery, no problems.
Professional and quick to respond to all emails.
Cake was delicious. EVERYONE asked where we got our cake from.
Kayla S
5.0
6/04/2018
We opted for mini cupcakes (regular & GF) at our wedding reception and they turned out amazing! Jill was very responsive and great to work with throughout the whole process. The cu...
pcakes were delivered timely and displayed beautifully. Our guests loved having all of the different flavors...we received compliments on all of them!
Katie P
5.0
11/15/2017
Amazing! Got me in last minute, took care of me with a severe nut allergy, and the cake was absolutely gorgeous. Delicious, too. Thank you!!!
Vanessa H
5.0
11/09/2017
Smallcakes made a wedding cake for us and it was exceptional. It looked just like the ones you see on Pinterest. I cannot compliment them enough on the presentation. It was also DE...
LICIOUS!!
We also ordered mini cupcakes for the sweets table. I can say that we had extra candy, cookies and pastries left...and NO CUPCAKES. Everyone ate them all.
We will continue to use Smallcakes to cater family events but if you are looking for a little something sweet for your big day look no further.
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Area 51 Cupcakery
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