 Photo Credit: Jennifer Leatherwood Photography Most Cape Cod weddings take place June-September, in the heat of the summer when the Cape is a very happening place to be! When planning your wedding here during these months it is nice to give your guests a heads up on different places to stay with a range of price options and the bridge traffic, especially with good and bad times to travel. And when deciding on fun and creative ideas for your summer Cape Cod wedding, consider the following ideas to keep your guests cool, your photos fresh and your evening comfortable!
Lemonade - If you are having an outdoor ceremony it is nice to offer your guests lemonade (and/or water) as they arrive. It is most likely that they will not be covered by a tent or shade, so if it ends up being 80+ degrees on your wedding day your guests will thank you! Refreshing Signature Drink - There is no better time for a fun, cool, refreshing cocktail than at a summer wedding, so check with your bartenders or catering staff to see what kind of beverage you can mix up for guests when they arrive from the ceremony. Some popular ideas are Mojitos, Cape Codders, Dark & Stormys or play mixologist at home and come up with something you love! Parasols - Parasols are great for photos and a great way to shade guests on a hot summer afternoon. Leave some at the entrance to your ceremony location for guests to take with them. Or just buy some for your bridesmaids to use in photos - even if they are not used to shade anyone, they make a great photo opp! Beach Photos - Not sure if I need to say this, but I will. If you are having a summer wedding on the Cape try and fit in a couple of pics on the beach. Even if it is just you and your new husband at sunset, it is romantic and screams “I got married on Cape Cod!” Bug Spray - For those of you really baring the elements with a tented event in the summer, be sure to have lots of bug spray on hand for your guests. You can put some around the entrance to the tent and near the portable bathrooms. If you do not have a steady wind that evening the bugs can be killer! Bonfire - If your wedding takes place somewhere with a bonfire option - do it!! Summer bonfires are awesome for guests to warm up after the sun sets and is great for s’mores for kids and even for the guys to smoke those celebratory cigars! Pashminas - Even though you may have an 80 degree day for your wedding, once the sun sets on Cape Cod the air can get cool. At least supply your bridesmaids with something to cover up with, as typically the girls have on less than the guys and are always shivering! If you can, put a basket of pashminas around the dance floor or by the bonfire as well for other woman to take home. Flip Flops - A basket of flip flops around any dance floor is key - especially for all of the lovely ladies in their super high heels! To be able to kick off those shoes and not have to dance barefoot, or carry an extra pair of shoes with you to a wedding, all of the woman will thank you! Maybe even the guys too - their fancy shoes are never always comfortable!
0 Comments
 Excited news!! A couple of months ago I was approached by writer Susan Santangelo who has written Moving Can Be Murder and Retirement Can be Murder. She was at the end of writing her new book - Marriage Can Be Murder - and asked that I help her with the destination wedding tips at the end of the book. We came up with a list and it was published and her new book that launched this week! She is going to be doing a book signing today (June 30) at noon at the BARN & Co. and details cape cod on Route 6A in Dennis - stop by and check it out! I would love to be there with her, but I have to be in Wellfleet working a destination wedding! Stay tuned though because we will be planning a fun launch party in the next month or so!
The week is finally here, you have arrived to the Cape and you have 7 days left to be sure everything you planned will be perfect come the weekend. Here are some items that you should do the week of your wedding to be sure the day will be smooth sailing.
1. Call all of your vendors to confirm. Get them a copy of your time line and review arrival and departure times. Be sure that you have taken care of all final payments as well. 2. Have a final detail meeting at your venue. Meet with your catering manager to finalize the food counts, time line, drop off all set-up items (escort cards, menu cards, favors, guest book, etc.), floor plan, back up plans, etc. If you have a wedding planner, be sure he/she attends this meeting as well. 3. Arrive to the Cape at least 3 days before your wedding. Allow time to get settled, deliver any welcome bags, check in with your venue, etc. 4. Touch base with all of your bridal party to confirm their arrival time to the Cape as well as send them a time line of events for them (where they need to be and when) 5. Have the guys pick up their suits/tuxes if renting 6. Deliver your welcome bags/baskets to your guests 7. Pack for honeymoon if you are travelling immediately after the wedding. 8. Bride & Bridesmaids to get mani/pedis. 9. Have rehearsal ceremony and rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding (or 2 nights before depending on options provided by the ceremony venue and when your bridal party can arrive) When the morning of your wedding arrives, take the day one moment at a time. Be sure to stop a couple of times during the day and take a deep breath and a mental picture. You want to be able to remember as much as you can and every moment of your day is special. Have fun with your family and friends and relax!!  Photo Credit: Hike Photography When planning your wedding, the destination is the first thing to consider. Do you want to stay local or travel to your favorite childhood vacation spot - like Cape Cod? If you are looking to travel, the real question is, is a destination wedding right for you?
How far away are you from your destination location? If you can easily drive 3 hours or less to your destination location, then it is definitely doable. When you have to travel by plane, or drive longer than three hours, it can be difficult to manage all of the details. Hiring a local wedding planner will assist in managing the vendors and details while you plan from afar. Is your destination location easily accessible for guests? When selecting your destination location be sure that there are many viable options to get your guests to your wedding. Whether it be public transportation, rental cars, private shuttles or boats, be sure that your guests have all of their options ahead of time and that they all know the best and easiest way to get to your wedding. Using your wedding website to show all options is an easy way to get the word out. There are many options on Cape Cod, just be sure your guests are aware of them! Are there a selection of different accommodation options for all budgets, family sizes, length of stay, etc? When choosing your venue, be sure that there are many different options for your guests accommodations. Your college friends may want the cheap hotel or a rental house and your parent’s friends may prefer a bed and breakfast or a fancier option. Be sure to call around to the hotels in the area to check their availability and to see if they can do a wedding room block for your guests. Also be sure to check on the minimum night stay requirements on weekends, as sometimes there could be a 2-3 night minimum depending on the weekend. Are you comfortable on the phone? It sounds like a silly question, but since the invention of email lots of people have been putting down the phone in favor of email. If you are going to be planning a destination wedding, you need to feel comfortable picking up the phone and talking to your vendors. It will give the vendors a sense of who you are and instead of waiting around for an email to be answered you can make decisions more rapidly. Are you taking into consideration busy travel weekends? When planning a wedding at a destination over a holiday weekend, especially on the Cape, you may want to take into consideration the travel details of getting your guests to your wedding. Some locations start their peak seasons over certain holiday weekends or school vacation periods. You do not want to make your guests deal with a ton of traffic getting to or from your destination or have them pay high prices for airfare or hotels rooms if you can help it. How organized are you? Planning any wedding requires a bit of organization, but having a destination wedding means that you really need to be on top of everything. When living far from your wedding location, you only get so many chances to visit your venue and vendors. This means that you will have to be sure you get all of your questions answered and all of your vendor meetings in while you are there. It could include cake and food tastings, rental decisions, officiant/ceremony meetings, accommodation research, etc. Just be sure that you have a really good wedding binder to organize everything! Or once again, this is another great reason to hire a local wedding planner to manage everything for you!  Photo by Channing Johnson Although there are many very important vendors taking part in your wedding day, I would say that the photographer is right up there for one of the most important. The photographer will spend most of his or her day with you while you are getting ready all the way to the very end, and let’s face it, the photos taken the night of your wedding will be one of the only ways you can look back and see what a fun time you had.
When choosing your photographer there are many different aspects to consider, but here is a list of the top things you may want to keep in mind while researching. Personality - As I mentioned above, your photographer will really be spending a lot of time with you the day of your wedding. Be sure that you feel comfortable with him or her and that your personalities mesh well. You want to meet your photographer in person before you book, or at the least talk to him or her on the phone to get a sense of who they are and start to build a relationship right off the bat. Style - There are many different styles of photography that can be used to capture your wedding day. Photojournalistic, Traditional/Formal, Artistic and more. Be sure to research different types of styles to see what fits your vision, it will definitely make it easier to narrow down your options. Package - Does their package include one or two photographers? It is great to have 2 on hand to capture every angle of the wedding, especially when you and your fiance are getting ready at 2 different locations. Do you get to have rights to the images and print them on your own? It used to be hard to come by, but now most photographers will give you all of your images on DVD a couple of months after the event so that you can print them on your own. Cape Cod Knowledge - How well does your photographer know the Cape, your venue, and the great intimate locations for photos? Be sure that when you hire a photographer they are familiar with your venue, or that they make themselves familiar with it before shooting your wedding. They should know ahead of time where your formals will be taken, where they will get that quick sunset shot, etc. The last thing you want is for him or her to be trying to find locations for photos the day of the event while you and your bridal party are itching to get to cocktail hour.  Photo Credit: Hike Photography Most brides are either one of two types - either very hands on, creative, organized and want to do everything themselves, or very hands off, busy with work and want someone else to do all of the research and creative thinking. No matter what bride you are, when it comes down to enjoying your wedding day it is nice to be able to hand it off to a professional. So why not take all of the pressure off with a wedding planner to help ease the process and be sure that your day runs smoothly?
Now I am not just writing about this topic because I am a wedding planner on the Cape, but rather because I take what my past brides, and even mother of the brides, say very seriously! "I don't have a clue what people do without a wedding planner.” - Nancy C., Mother-of-the-bride “We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day, and I'm certain it wouldn't have run so smoothly without your help." - Nikita C., Bride “She was the single best investment I made. Jamie was an integral part of ensuring that our wedding went off without any problems.” - Erin S., Bride Many Cape Cod brides are planning from off Cape and working a full time job. Wedding planners can help you by being your main point person on the Cape for all of your vendors, assist you with your time line starting the day you arrive, come up with new creative ideas and be in charge of the set-up and details the weekend of your wedding. Cape wedding planners also have huge vendor lists and can assist you in finding the perfect setting for your ceremony, a photographer that fits your style, a florist that will work with your budget and so much more. It is most likely that you have never planned a wedding or an event on such a large scale with so many moving parts. By letting a professional wedding planner take the reigns and work with you throughout the process, he/she will learn your vision and execute your wedding perfectly so that you and your family can enjoy the day. The last thing you want to be doing the day of your wedding is running around in the sand setting up your ceremony, putting together your DIY centerpieces or answering calls from vendors who just hit bridge traffic! And even though it will cost you to hire a planner, it will save you a ton of time, money (hopefully the same amount you pay them!) and stress. Even if you think you cannot fit a planner into your budget, it never hurts to look into it and ask for all options! Why not make a vacation out of your Cape Cod destination wedding too?  I had the absolute pleasure of working with Karen and Sean over the past 9 months planning their wedding atOcean Edge and on May 5th their vision came together quite perfectly, with the exception of a little mist!
Their day began with hair and make-up for the ladies with Lisa George and her team (have I mentioned I love them?!) and Samantha, of Samantha Melanson Photography, arrived to take some photos of the girls getting ready. With a last minute ceremony location change, to keep the guests out of the mist that would not go away, everything went off without a hitch! Thanks to Faith Lavender for officiating such a beautiful ceremony! Behind the scenes my assistant Mandee and I were setting up all of Karen & Sean's fun details, from beautiful birch wood escort card holders and family photos, to golf ball lollipop favors and Cinco de Mayo props for late night dancing! Meredith Fancy provided all of the gorgeous flowers - bright pink peonies - I can't wait to show you photos of all of the details! The night came to a close with a sparkler exit to Bayzo's Pub where guests were greeted with late night cookies and coffee! Too much fun and what a great group of people! "You are unbelievable! I CANNOT THANK YOU ENOUGH!! We are so appreciative of your tireless efforts to manage all the details, logistics and your graceful versatility to ensure our day was PERFECT and SPECIAL. You are truly a master at your craft and exceeded all of our expectations. My friends, family, SEAN and I are sooo appreciative of you and your team. Thank you for all of your referrals and time. I will miss working with you and had the time of life!- THANK YOU" - Karen & Sean, Ocean Edge, May 2012  Photo Credit: Hike Photography Being a bridesmaid is a tough job! It includes everything from buying an expensive dress and shoes to assisting the bride in the bathroom in her wedding dress and everything in between! I have put together a list of important things to know and do as a bridesmaid, especially to a bride with a destination wedding planned.
Pre-Wedding - Call and/or email at least twice a month to check in on how plans are coming along, and offer to help of course! - Travel with the bride to her wedding location if at all possible. It could be a long drive and she may want another eye besides her family and fiance. - Assist with picking out the bridesmaid dresses, if you can, and be the first to be fitted and purchase your dress - Help with travel plans for you and other bridesmaids - Don't lose touch - the bride chose you to stand by her on her wedding day, one of the most important days of her life. You obviously mean something very important to her, so do not let that connection fade. Weekend of the Wedding - Be on time for everything and make sure everyone else is as well - Assist in putting together and delivering welcome baskets - Don't drink too much the night of the rehearsal dinner, it is mostly likely you need to wake up early for hair and make-up - Keep her calm and make sure she has everything she needs - If she does not have a wedding planner, put together an emergency kit for her - Assist her with bathroom trips once she is in her dress - Help with the bustle - Keep her lipstick handy for reapplication - Make sure she eats enough throughout the day, water too - Have fun! If all else fails, remember that it is HER weekend, the best weekend of her life, so do whatever you can to be there for her, just like she will be there for you, always. I had the pleasure of working with Jessica and Alex for a year planning their wedding on Cape Cod. They choseWequassett for their setting and booked a great team of vendors (all from my preferred vendor list!) to complete their day. It was a sunny, chilly day in Harwich, just perfect for an April Cape wedding. The couple worked with Sarah Fantom Photography for their pictures, Scott from Murray Hill Talent as their DJ, Patrice Milley as their florist,Dulce Press for their paper products, Trolleys by Tes for their transportation and Lisa George and her fabulous team for hair and make-up. I don't have any sneak peeks of the professional photos yet, but here are some detail shots I took (on my phone!). More to come on this event once we see the awesome pics from Sarah and her assistant Andrew!  I am so excited to share with you my new website that launched today! www.capecodcelebrations.com I worked with a fabulous company out of CT - Pixel Dust Design Co. which was fabulous!! Sue worked with me every step of the way to be sure it was exactly what I wanted! And I love it!! You will notice some new services we are offering as well...stay tuned for a full post about that later on this week! So let me know what you think!  |
Plan. Relax. Enjoy.At Cape Cod Celebrations, your vision is our brand. Learn more about how we can help you pull together your beautiful Cape Cod Wedding. Archives
January 2023
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed