Elyse and Scott’s Cape May wedding celebrated the end of summer with a fabulous backyard lobster boil! The bride, an event professional, enlisted the help of Roey Mizrahi Events to make their wedding a truly unforgettable event, and Photo Pink captured every moment!
A fun backyard lobster boil wedding in Cape May, NJ
The Proposal
I was spending two weeks with my mother in Charleston, South Carolina. I wanted Scott to join but his school and work load was too demanding, so he didn’t partake in this trip. My mom, aunt and I were at a restaurant, Sullivan’s Island, for dinner and our table wasn’t ready so we decided to take a walk on the beach while we waited. My mom kept talking about how I needed to check out the sea turtles so I blindly followed her lead. She guided me to SCOTT, who was already down on one knee (sweating profusely), with a picnic set up behind him. He said he made 5 different trips to the car, hence the sweat. Before he could get a word out, a group of young boys who rented a beach home right by us were heckling him and almost ruined his cover. I was already so shocked and happy that he was in front of me after coming to terms with him not being able to travel with me for this trip, not to mention the obvious cues that he was going to propose to me. Our words were short and sweet, followed by a river of happy tears. The celebratory champagne he brought me, helped ease my intense emotions. After the intimate picnic with just us, we joined my family for a weekend filled with celebrating.
About the Wedding
As an event professional, co-owner and executive designer of BW Theory, an event design firm based in Austin and Philadelphia, it wasn’t challenging to determine what my fiance and I wanted, I was more concerned whether I’d be able to articulate what we want and have it be executed in that way, and that’s why I almost immediately hired my dear friend, colleague and wedding planner, Roey Mizrahi of Roey Mizrahi Events. I knew I could trust her to advocate for our vision, help us find the best, most creative and trustworthy team to bring it to fruition.
I would describe our wedding day as an upscale clam bake, modern with a twist of southern charm, and a splash of travel theme.
Our goal was to include the places we have lived together. New Jersey, New York City and Austin, TX. This theme is throughout the wedding in food, beverages and paper goods. Incorporating the importance of our various hometowns was important to us. As an alternative to the traditional guestbook we provided a variety of post cards from the three locations we called home.
Since 75% of our guest list lived in the tri-state area it was only natural that we get married where we grew up. One thing we knew for sure was we wanted the wedding to have a home away from home vibe, last all weekend and be somewhat destination. We decided to rent a home in Cape May, NJ where we could easily host our wedding celebrations for the weekend. Cape May has some of the most gorgeous Victorian Homes built in the 1800’s and the first one we saw we booked. We were sold on our first visit to Franny’s Folly, a home that hosts Napoleon’s couch and has wrap around porches with beach views. The charm, the warmth and the eccentricity drew us in immediately. More importantly we could visualize not only the wedding celebrations but the thought of waking up with our closest friends after those celebrations! Scott and I both have friends we’ve known since early childhood that were part of our wedding party. We had decided we would have all those friends stay in the home for the duration of the weekend, which made for an extremely cozy brady bunch kind of arrangement.
The house lent itself to an outdoor, garden wedding, all hosted on a conservative or shall we say intimate backyard. We wanted everyone to feel as if they were invited to a dinner at our home. Since our wedding was at the end of the summer season and the beginning of Fall, we were able to play around with colors and textures with the decor and added pheasant feathers, privet berries and kumquats. A magical collaboration of those elements that were brought together by my florist Sullivan Owen, who grasped the vision I wanted to produce.
A mix of farm and square communal tables and a family style lobster bake meal helped guests get to know each other better. Nothing says “you’re besties” than getting your fingers greasy from cracking lobster and chomping on corn together.
We wanted a modern twist on a garden wedding and played up that vibe with handmade printed linens, a mix of metals, and unique customized illustrated paper goods. One of my favorite details was the customized “how to eat a lobster” menu that was situated at every place setting allowing guests to prepare for the feast that was ahead.
Favorite Moments
Our first look. Seeing each other for the first time was such a beautiful release of emotions. Reciting and hearing our vows to one another during our ceremony. We wrote our own personal vows, vows that read like inside jokes, referencing things that meant so much to us. Felt like we were sharing all these secrets with our friends and family. I’m so happy we had a videographer present to help capture the raw interaction and emotion on our wedding day. It captured moments I might have forgotten but have become ingrained in my memory and truly represent us and how the day unfolded.
The Attire
I found that all the silhouettes I originally loved from my research happened to not look good on my body. I didn’t want a strapless originally because I love to be on the dance floor and didn’t want to be worrying about adjusting my dress all night long, but alas strapless is what ended up looking best on me. So I just made sure the fit on the bust was secure and had boob fashion tape on standby. I also had an all white secondary outfit (that my planner styled and chose for me) to change into for later in the evening.
For my dress, I loved the combination of texture. The top was a beautiful lace and the bottom a satin. With this design you were also able to choose the color of the skirt, and a contrast sash color, which is what truly sold me.I went with a slightly gold hue with felt vintage and classic and representative of our wedding venue.
Scott wanted to wear a tux but since we were having a backyard wedding and not a black-tie wedding we opted for a navy palette for the boys.
As for my bridesmaids, I had such a clear vision in my mind, a vision inspired by a celebrity wedding that I was so fond of. There’s a photo of Molly Sims and her bridal party, no two girls are wearing the same dress and one is wearing a pattern. I adored this whole ensemble so much that I attempted to replicate it but of course within the hues and color scheme of my own wedding. I also wanted comfort to be a factor so that’s why I ultimately built this mismatched bridal party attire with Union Station.
Special Details
There were few florists I was considering that I knew could not only execute but enhance what I had envisioned. Sullivan Owen was the perfect choice. The combinations of florals, fruit, feathers and textures utilized for the centerpieces and bouquets was like a moshpit of marvelousness. Nothing I requested or showed interest in was denied.
We didn’t include or honor a lot of the essential wedding details since our main goal was to make our wedding feel like a big party and not a formal traditional wedding. We decided to forgo a wedding cake and had an ice cream truck surprise guests during the evening offering only our favorite cold treats. It was a touch on our childhood memories chasing the ice cream man down the street, and adult memories of the ice cream truck parked near our NYC apartment.
Artists
- Photography: Photo Pink
- Event Planning: Roey Mizrahi Events
- Ceremony Venue: Cape May Methodist Church
- Reception Venue: Franny’s Folly
- Floral: Sullivan Owen
- Guest Book Alternative: Assorted Postcards
- Videography: James Knightly Films
- Ice Cream: Ken’s Ice Cream Truck
- Rentals: Rental City LLC, South Jersey Party Rentals
- Hair: Hair Styles by Emery
- Makeup: Makeup by Kacey
- Catering: Blue Monkey Catering
- Lighting: Light My Event
- Signage: Nicole Miazgowicz
- DJ: Scratch Weddings
- Stationery: Abby Downing
- Wedding Dress: Lazaro
- Men’s Attire & Shoes: J.Crew
- Bride’s Shoes: Valentino
- Bridesmaid Dresses: Union Station
- Veil: Bride’s Head Revisited
- Jewelry & Engagement Ring: Laura + Rachel Jewelry
- Submitted via: Matchology
