When I got engaged in the Spring, I knew my partner and I were going to want to look outside our current state of New Jersey for a wedding venue. New England seemed like the perfect choice since that’s where he and I both grew up, but the question was where?
As people who grew up in a fairly small town with not a lot of unique or fancy venues available in the nearby area, and having spent more high school dances than I can count at those said venues, it was time to broaden our horizons. We eventually decided a coastal feel for a wedding might be worth exploring, and I immediately suggested Cape Cod.
I grew up going to the Cape every summer as a little girl, and when I got older I was eventually invited to the ladies Fall trip to the Cape with my mom, aunt, and late grandmother. Brian and I even took a brief vacation or two to the Cape over the years. We knew we wanted to avoid a New Jersey wedding because they’re all over the top here, very expensive, and have that distinctive “Jersey” feel to them that we wanted to avoid. It just didn’t feel like us. So, the Cape it is!
After much research, we narrowed down our search and visited 4 venues. Follow along below for our thoughts on each, and maybe it’ll help you, a possible future Cape Bride or Groom find your perfect spot too!
West Dennis Yacht Club
The West Dennis Yacht Club is just that, a Yacht Club. They aren’t a venue by nature, but rent out the space for weddings and events to bring in extra income. The space inside was airy and I liked the colorful sound blockers they chose to hang from the ceiling, and the views of the water were nice.
Pros:
– Close to Beach if you wanted a beach ceremony
– Right off the water
– Great menu including fun late night snacks
Cons:
– Not a great backup rain plan. Your guests would sit at their assigned tables and you’d get married in between the tables.
– Aren’t very welcoming of smaller parties, especially during the Fall. They apparently had two dates open, one in April and one in the Fall, but they wouldn’t offer me the Fall date in hopes they could make more money from a larger party than mine
– Bar area was very dated and dark feeling
Pricing Info:
– Menus start at $130 per person
– Space rental can range from $2000 to $5300 depending on time of year
– Peak season requires a minimum of 130 guests for a Saturday wedding
– If you use an open bar, there will be a 20% gratuity added
– Prices do not include 7% meal tax or 20% service charge
Ocean Edge Resort and Golf Club
The Ocean Edge is a beautiful old historic home turned hotel. Due to our smaller party size, we were looking at their Carriage House venue. The hotel has a few different areas where they can host weddings, and are really into providing you with a whole weekend getaway resort like event. Parts of the property are absolutely beautiful, and they have a lot of interesting things going for them, but ultimately, I wasn’t overly impressed with what I saw in terms of the Carriage House or ceremony spaces.
Pros:
– Plenty of onsite accommodations
– Can host rehearsal dinners and welcome parties
– Onsite spa for getting ready services
– Everything can be self contained here, from meals, to evening activities, to the actual wedding
– You can repurpose some of the space for a getting ready/bridal suite like space
– You get the whole building to yourselves for the whole day
– Very friendly and welcoming staff
Cons:
– The main room of Carriage House felt very old, dimly lit, and dated
– The ceremony options weren’t super impressive. You can get married upstairs in a room or on the very small titled lawn outside in front of the big carriage doors. You could also get married on the main lawn in front of the hotel too, but you have to contend with traffic, and it’s very out in the open.
Pricing Info:
– Carriage House food and beverage minimum for a Saturday is $18,000 or $12,000 for Fri/Sun
– Off season pricing is a $12,000 for Saturday or $7,500 for Fri/Sun
– Lawn ceremonies range from $1000 to $2000 depending where and what day
– Beach Ceremony: $3,500
– Above doesn’t include Admin fees, taxes, etc
Wychmere Beach Club
Wychmere Beach Club is a private club, that is home to 3 different venue spaces that can accommodate weddings of various sizes. It’s located right in the port, off the water, and offers great views and picture spots. Venue spaces are designed to feel airy, are full of natural light, and have a modern updated coastal feel. I also really liked the lighting options in the rooms. We toured the Ocean Room at Wychmere, their smallest space (which is still huge), and it’s located on the second floor.
Pros:
– Rooms can be sectioned off if an indoor ceremony is needed due to weather
– Each venue space seems to provide either a private deck or patio space, giving you indoor and outdoor flexibility
– Staff was the most welcoming, and really made visiting feel like an event
– Fireplace
– Bridal Suite and attendant
– Lots of big windows with water views
– Private deck for Ocean Room (for ceremony/cocktail hour/hanging out)
– They have recommended vendors that can be used towards your event minimum spend
Cons
– Multiple weddings can be held there in a single day, although they do space them out by different start and end times
– Parking might be challenging for those weddings being held later in the evening, since the first wedding of the day (Ocean Room) get’s parking lot priority
– Minimum spend needed to be met, regardless of party size
– Limited hotel rooms onsite
Pricing Info:
– Event Minimums are based on time of year. Peak season is July, August and October.
– Least expensive to most expensive days: Sunday, Friday, Saturday
– Peak season Saturdays can start around $50k
– Off Season can start around $28,000 for a Saturday depending on the month chosen
– Above doesn’t include Admin fees, taxes, etc
Chatham Bars Inn
Chatham Bars Inn is a luxury high end hotel that can host a wide array of events from your wedding day ceremony and reception to rehearsal dinners, after parties, and morning after brunches. They have 3 main venue spaces for weddings, all right off the sand with the ocean in the distance. They can accommodate small weddings to large tented events for hundreds of people. We checked out their Boathouse event space.
Pros:
– Resort gives a very high end and impressive feel
– You can walk right out onto the sand and beach
– Beautiful photo opportunities
– Private patio or deck area
– Use of beach
– Nice outdoor ceremony space (but many stairs to walk down for the bride)
Cons:
– Boathouse didn’t feel impressive compared to the resort itself. The room wasn’t anything special and felt like it would be cramped.
– No bridal suite or getting ready space
– Beach House was ok, but didn’t feel as wow as the main resort either
– Venue sales person wasn’t super friendly and felt disinterested the whole time. An event was happening in the main space we had an appointment to see (Boathouse) and she wasn’t sure we’d be able to get in to look around. We felt rushed, and it was the quickest least informative tour
– Very expensive accommodations, so if you’re guests aren’t wealthy, they’ll need to look elsewhere to stay
Pricing Info:
– Pricing for basic food and beverage packages starts at $600 per person
– Reception fee starts at $5000
– If you want the lawn of the Boat House, that’s another $3500
– I heard from some people that Saturday min spend is $90k, but can’t confirm
Final Decision
While the West Dennis Yacht Club was reasonably priced, had great food options, and had a nice outdoor space, it didn’t check off all the boxes for me. The bar was very old feeling, they were against allowing us to get married in Oct due to our small wedding size, and it just didn’t give me the wow factor I was hoping for.
The Ocean Edge Resort has a lot of wonderful people working there. Everyone made us feel so welcome and comfortable. If you’re looking to create a weekend retreat for your wedding, then this has a lot going for you, with activities, games, and great food spots, and plenty of rooms for everyone to stay in one spot. The venue space just didn’t level up to some of the other options we saw.
It was a tough call, initially, between Wychmere and Chatham Bars Inn. When we first walked through Wychmere, it was love at first sight. From the entryway, to the coastal inspired bar, to the water steps away. You could feel it was special and outshined the other spaces we had seen so far. The hotel and grounds at Chatham Bars Inn can’t be beat, they are beautiful, classy and elegant. However, the venue space left us disappointed and surprised, based on how beautiful the hotel and restaurant spaces are.
Ultimately, we decided that Wychmere would be our special spot, and the host for our wedding. The staff were amazing, they welcomed us with champagne and a bottle of sparkling wine as a gift, and they took the time to answer our questions and show us every little detail. The venue space was beautiful, bright, and had the coastal feel we were going for. I can’t wait to show you what we do with the space and how it all turns out!
