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!
Re: Newbie in need of Ballymeade/Sea Crest/Wychmere advice
We got married at Ballymeade last October and LOVED it. Seacrest wasn't available during our time frame so we never looked at it, but from what I understand accommodations are easier there.
What I liked about Ballymeade was, as Midgemoto said, they were quite flexible. We had Chef Roland as our caterer, and an open bar through Ballymeade, and the cost was very reasonable as far as I was concerned. We wanted golf course more than beach though, so there is that. Our pictures came out gorgeous there, but you could certainly travel to the beach for photos.
For accommodations we have room blocks at Mariner Motel and Inn on the Square, and had a shuttle to drive people back and forth. Some groups rented houses in the area which was much more affordable since it was after Labor Day-- so that is something to think about. You will probably save a lot of money if you do it after Columbus day also.
As for size, our wedding was just the same size as you mentioned-- invited a little over 150, ended up with 120, and the main room at Ballymeade was the perfect size.
Hope that helps. Also we booked our Oct wedding in Nov, so you aren't that late! Aug and Sept are busier but once you get into Oct I think it slows down a little. Good luck.
I know you have gotten many responses so far, but just wanted to post my feedback as well. My fiance and I are from CT and grew up going to Cape Cod with our families. We knew right when we got engaged that we had to have a beach side wedding at Cape Cod. We took a tour of Balleymede and LOVED it- especially Christine the coordinator- she's amazing! We didn't book it, only because it was further from the beach than we wanted. Wychmere is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! They were in the process of renevating when we went to view the site, so I haven't seen it since the updates took effect, but I'm sure it's even more beautiful now- only problem is- it's super expensive! At least for our budget. But as another bride posted on here, you can get it cheaper if you figure out your budget and what you want ahead of time. I'm getting married on September 16th of this year (ahhhhh under a month to go), and we chose The Popponesset Inn, which is in Mashpee (New Seabury) on Cape Cod. I just wanted to suggest it, because it has the best atmosphere for a wedding on the cape. The room sits about 50 feet away from the water and your whole backdrop of the wedding is the beach. Our coordinator is amazing and very helpful (Jennifer Perry) I highly suggest booking an appointment to view the venue, if you're interested in a wedding right on the beach!
-Deanna
Anyone have any actual wedding photos from Ballymeade? there isn't much online. I feel like a photostalker, but I'm just trying to see what the indoor space looks like with actual people in it and I can't find anything! You google "wychmere wedding photos" and a frillion links to photographer blogs come up. I found plenty of Poppy and Seabury as well but Ballymeade is a mystery
We had room blocks in Falmouth and hired a bus to transport guests back and forth.
I fell in love with the built-in bars that Ballymeade has. We also had Chef Roland for catering and to this day our guests are still talking about the food!!