This May, after 19 years together, my high school sweetheart and I finally got married on beautiful Cape Cod. We were both born and raised in Massachusetts. After casually looking at the options and prices for a New Jersey or New York wedding near us, we decided to look up north to see if we could find a coastal location to tie the knot.
We ultimately chose Wychmere Beach Club as our wedding venue. You can learn more about our venue hunt here and the Wychmere wedding tasting experience here. So let’s break it down first with our venue, and then in an upcoming post I’ll take you through our vendors to help you plan your own Cape Cod Wedding!
Venue: Wychmere Beach Club
We were holding a smaller wedding, so we chose the Ocean Room for our event. We had a total of 62 guests attend (and if it’s helpful to know, 3 last minute no shows). That guest size fit perfectly in our chosen room, with 4 tables on each side of the room. It didn’t feel crowded and didn’t feel too small, but just right.
Our ceremony was held outside on the Beach Grill Deck, which is behind the biggest venue space there, Dune. On the deck you can choose to have your ceremony facing the ocean, or facing the dunes. We opted for the ocean view. The deck is huge and can accomodate much much larger weddings, but it worked out well for us and our more intimate ceremony too!
For our cocktail hour, we use the Ocean Room Rooftop deck, which is attached to our reception room. We had a lot of older guests and folks with mobility issues, so we opted to have more seating spaces than regular cocktail hours, ensuring there were plenty of tables with chairs as well as the outdoor couch set the venue provides. The deck was a great place to take group photos and one on one photos with guests as well.
The Experience
The afternoon before our wedding we brought over our decor items and anything we wanted to drop off and have the venue set up or put in our bridal suite. Our Wychmere coordinator, Ellen, met us at the door, helped us bring everything in and took a catalog of what we had to ensure nothing would be misplaced. From there, it was time for the parents to arrive for a quick rehearsal. The rehearsal was probably around 30 minutes total, showing our parents where the wedding was to be held, practicing walking down the aisle a few times, figuring out how fast and slow to walk, doing the first kiss a few times, as well as instructing our family when to sit and stand. It was smooth sailing!
Since our wedding ceremony was scheduled to be outside, and rain was in the forecast for the next day, we discussed the plan for the following morning and how I’d receive a call around noon to make a decision whether to keep our 3:30 pm ceremony outside or to move it in. On the dot at 12 o’clock the next day, Ellen gave me a ring, had a weather forecast ready for me, and I had been monitoring it closely too, and we decided to keep it outside.
When I arrived at the venue on our wedding day (fully dressed, hair, and makeup), I was met at the car by our coordinator, Ellen, who kept a watch as my future husband was brought into place on the docks for our first look. Once all was ready, it was time to head to the docks where I met my bridal attendant, assigned to me by the venue, that would be with me the whole day to help from getting us to the aisle, to ensuring we had drinks and food throughout the night.
Wychmere Bridal Attendant and Wychmere Wedding Coordinator
My bridal attendant, Ogden, was fantastic. He met me holding my bouquet, that I got to see for the first time in person, he was there to arrange my dress for photos and carry my train as we walked around the grounds. He was always looking out for me, as well as my groom who obviously needed less help, and was there to help my mom when she was having some mobility issues. He was extremely attentive, kind, and warm.
When it was time to head to the ceremony, our bridal attendant and coordinator took us over by golf cart, and got our families in line. Our coordinator was in charge of the ceremony, lining both of our families up, telling us when to start walking and ensuring we were going the right speed and that everything started on time. My bridal attendant walked halfway with my father and I, getting us down a ramp and facing the crowd, while holding my train to ensure I would get to the aisle without issue or snagging.
After the ceremony, we were whisked away by both staff members on a golf cart over to the building we’d be having our cocktail hour and reception in.
We were first taken to our bridal suite, and everyone else was kept away from us so we could enjoy some of our appetizers and hor d’oeuvres we chose in privacy. Both staff members would check on us, bring us drinks, and ensure we were ok. When it was time to bustle, Ellen came in and took care of my dress and removed my veil as well.
Service
You won’t find better service than at Wychmere. I had heard from my photographer and stationary individual that Wychmere was known for their dining service, and they weren’t wrong!
When the staff attends to the reception, each table is fully served at once, so no one at the table is waiting for their food and no one has to sit staring at their food while others wait to receive theirs. It was amazing! You’d expect to see this in a movie or at a palace. We had multiple guests and family members rave about this. From tableside wine service to coffee and tea service later, everyone was well taken care of.
We had one vegan in attendance, and she said the staff was absolutely fantastic, going above and beyond to check on her, ensure she had plenty of food, and never had to worry if something was safe for her to eat. She said she had never been treated better by a server ever.
Food and Bar Service
The food was delicious and everyone kept talking about how much they loved the food. Apparently the scallops were a big hit (best they’ve ever had).
For the cocktail hour I really wanted a mashed potato bar. Now this was something they don’t offer on their menu, but they were able to add for me. Let me tell you, it was a hit! Our vendors said people were devouring it, that they loved it, and people kept getting more potatoes.
We also had a decorative boat filled with oysters and shrimp. I didn’t even know they’d have a boat for serving these items, so that was a fun surprise.
The bartenders were on top of it, friendly, and took great care of our guests.
Dinner was well received, with people devouring their meals. Seafood was the most popular choice from our guests, followed by the beef entree, and then we had a few vegetarians, and one vegan who received a specialized dish from the chef.
What we chose to serve:
- Pan Seared Scallops & Butter Braised Local Lobster
- We chose to serve this with: Roasted Crushed Fingerling Potatoes, Roasted Seasonal Root Vegetables, Lemon Vanilla Emulsion
- Seared Petit Filet Mignon
- This was served with: Smoked Pancetta, Fingerling Potato Hash, Sweet Corn Succotash, Roasted Garlic Butter
- Summer Vegetable Tart
- Details: Puff Pastry, Grilled Summer Vegetables, Whipped Ricotta, Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto, Summer Greens, Tomato Vinaigrette
- Dessert
- Raspberry Bavarian as a plated dish set at the tables
- Dark Chocolate Cake with a raspberry jam filling and chocolate buttercream
- Extras
- Hot chocolate bar at the end of the night
- Chicken tenders and fries station as a late night snack
End of the night
At the end of the reception, our bridal attendant helped gather all our supplies, decor items, etc and piled them in our cars for us, checking that we had everything we needed. We had also noticed they had left us some slices of cake in our bridal suite, which I wish I had known about because I would have tried to bring those home with me.
While we were leaving our upstairs venue space, we could see the wedding on the first floor was just getting into party mode. While Wychmere is popular and can have 3 weddings happening at any given day at all their venue spaces, they made you feel like you were the only wedding there. We never heard the party below us, we had our own dedicated staff, and you felt like the day was all your own.
Overall Thoughts
You can’t go wrong with Wychmere. It’s a beautiful space, the staff are top notch, the food delicious, and the coastal vibes are perfection. We truly felt so well taken care of by the staff from the moment we toured the venue, to planning with our provided venue coordinator, to day of, everything was smooth, efficient, and beautiful.
If you’re looking to save some money as well, consider getting married in the off season, where they can work with your budget and wedding sizes a little better. However, no matter when you choose to get married, I feel their costs are 100% justified, and you truly get treated with care and love throughout.
***Photos in this post are mostly from Kelly Cronin Photography. You’ll see more of her amazing work in my vendor recap post coming soon!
