The Finishing Touch — Weddings, Events, Design, Paperie

I was lucky enough to travel to Cape May at the tip of New Jersey to coordinate a beach wedding on May 17, 2008. Our bride and groom, Letty and Jeff had previously visited Cape May and fell in love with the historic and Victorian feel of the quaint town and thought it was the perfect place to host a wedding.

Upon checking into their hotels, guests were presented straw bags full of bottled waters, famous Jersey Shore salt water taffy, chips and a weekend itinerary.

The morning of the big day we unfortunately woke up to rain! Although the bride put on a smile, I felt so bad she was not going to get her dream ceremony on the beach. The florist, DJ, and photographer all arrived on time and we began setting up the ceremony inside the Hotel Alcott where the reception was taking place. At around 3:15pm, with the ceremony beginning at 5pm, the rain ceased and the sun broke through the clouds. Wanting to give our bride her beach ceremony, I made the executive decision to move it out onto the beach. Our vendors were more than willing to work hard to make it happen for Letty by 5pm. While our bride and bridal party took photos at the hotel, we set up the ceremony down the street on the beach. With white chairs and coral & green ribbons tied around them and a bamboo runner, the ceremony was set and guests arrived. As the bride made her way down the boardwalk and onto the beach, people passing by  cheered her on exclaiming how beautiful she looked.

In the middle of the ceremony, the sky turned dark gray as I nervously waited for the mayor to conclude the ceremony. As soon as Letty and Jeff kissed and were pronounced husband and wife, it began to drizzle as if Mother Nature had planned it. Guests rang their mini bells as the couple recessed down the aisle together. As the couple laughed at the rain and quickly made their way to the hotel, guests began running with the sound of thunder! Just as the bride and groom entered the hotel, the clouds opened up and it poured onto our guests. Needless to say, the first 20 minutes of cocktail hour consisted of the girls laughing at the mess, drying their hair, and retouching their makeup!

In lieu of a guest book, guests wrote their best wishes on a photo matte framing one of the couple’s engagement pictures. Dinner reception began promptly with Letty and Jeff’s first dance to ‘Such Great Heights’ followed by the best man champagne toast. The evening consisted of salsa dancing, great food, lots of drinks, and the toss of the bouquet and garter. The bride and groom were extremely pleased and the bride stated she wasn’t even able to drink because she was too busy dancing the night away!

But the celebration didn’t stop there; guests then proceeded to a local bar for an after-party into the wee-hours of the night. Saturday’s itinerary consisted of bike riding to a winery where they enjoyed a tour and wine tasting.  On Sunday, guests were treated to a breakfast at Uncle Bill’s Pancake House. All in all, a perfect weekend capped off by Letty and Jeff heading to Hawaii for a two-week honeymoon.

For more pictures, check out our Featured Events Photo Gallery and look under Letty & Jeff.  Photos were taken by Aleksey Photography.

Until next time,

Nicole