My first post! Here goes...
I'm attempting to find a venue for late august-october 2012. I know it's a little late in the game (I feel like everyone on here has been planning Cape weddings for at least a year and a half in advance!) but I just got engaged and I live in California. I'm originally from Mass and spent all of my family summer vacations on the Cape. I have to do everything through my mom and it's definitely slowing things down so I'm trying to narrow the venue field so I can send her to a few places and make a decision.
Ours guests are coming from all over (FI's family is from California and France) so
we're going for Cape Cod elegance (but with a little sass). We'll have 120-150 people and the easier the accomodations for our out of towners, the better. We also we probably doing a Friday night wedding to save on cost and widen the field of available dates.
Wychmere is my holy grail but I'm exploring other (edit: less expensive) options as well. I love the way Ballymeade's setup looks but it's not on the water and I want beach pics. And Sea Crest is on the beach, has the easy accomodations, but is not as flexible/affordable as ballymeade with the catering and open bar policies.
Summary: HELLLP.
Any advice from Ballymeade or Sea Crest brides (or Wychmere brides who managed to find ways to save $$) is very much appreciated.
Let the planning begin!