The Cape Cod Wedding Where Mom Made the Funfetti Cake and Everyone Danced to Blink-182

It started with a Celtics game—and, in true New England fashion, led to a coastal wedding filled with family, friends, and a whole lot of heart. After knowing each other through mutual friends for a year, Massachusetts natives Meaghan Rondeau and Nick Manos went on their first date at TD Garden in 2019. But just as their love story began, COVID soon put everything on pause, and they weren’t able to see each other for months. Once restrictions were lifted, however, they were immediately “in the full swing of dating,” Meaghan says.

A few years later, in February 2023, Nick popped the question during a Breckenridge, Colorado, ski trip with Meaghan’s family. Though she knew the proposal was coming, she didn’t know exactly when. And her mom intentionally misled her—maybe a little too well. “My mom convinced me that it wasn’t happening,” Meaghan says, so much so that she didn’t notice when the big moment finally came.

While at a bar with Meaghan’s family, including her parents and siblings, Nick kept trying to steal Meaghan away for a minute alone together, “but it was impossible to pull her away,” Nick says.

“I was like, ‘No, I want to stay. I want to bar hop!’” Meaghan adds with a laugh. After many attempts, Nick finally convinced Meaghan to go for a walk downtown and asked her to marry him just as snow started to fall.

When it came time to plan the wedding, the couple considered a few different ideas. First, they envisioned a casual backyard-style affair, but after touring a few traditional venues on the Cape—where Meaghan spent summers as a kid and where her parents recently moved full-time—they knew the Wychmere Beach Club in Harwich Port was the one. “My dad started crying on the tour and said, ‘I can see you guys getting married here!’” Meaghan recalls.

As for the celebration itself, Meaghan and her mom took the lead on the design, creating the décor and aesthetic themselves—from whimsical, colorful florals to garden-party-inspired tablescapes in the venue’s Harbor Room. The day was also very much a family-filled affair, from loved ones participating in the hydrangea-flanked lawn ceremony to the packed dance floor that kept the celebration going late into the night. “I just loved having the whole day with everyone together,” Nick says. “It’s cool to have so many people that you love all in the same place. It was a great day.”

Linds and Max

The Details

The Ceremony

The weather was perfect for the outdoor ceremony on Wychmere’s lawn. Meaghan’s uncle officiated the oceanfront nuptials, while Nick’s cousin and Meaghan’s brother-in-law offered readings. Their flower girls—Meaghan’s two nieces—were pulled down the aisle in a wagon by Meaghan’s sister, with a “Here Comes the Bride” sign adorning the back.

Linds and Max

Linds and Max

The Stationery

Nick’s stepsister, Meggie Moraes, handpainted the watercolor details used in their stationery suite. Her work spanned from the waterfront sunset on the invitation jackets to the icons on the wedding-weekend schedule (including a boat, rings, and a champagne glass) and the dinner options on the RSVP card.

Linds and Max

The Treats

For dessert, Meaghan’s mom, Val, made a heart-shaped Funfetti cake for the cake cutting. Guests enjoyed individual s’mores skillets, each in its own cast-iron pan. For late-night drinks, the couple offered a limoncello and espresso-martini bar. “We invested in that over a big cake,” Meaghan says.

For dessert, guests had a s’mores skillet wiht toasted marshmallow, graham cracker, and chocolate sauce. / Linds and Max

Linds and Max

The Décor

Meaghan and her mom handled all of the décor details, from the floral tablecloth on the head table that perfectly matched the guests’ napkins to a DIY seating chart and place cards—made from painstakingly cut and dried orange slices, each pinned with a guest’s name.

Linds and Max

The Bridal Party

Instead of matching dresses, Meaghan gave her bridesmaids a color palette (yellow, green, pink, and orange) and let them pick their own style. Their monochromatic, single-varietal bouquets matched each of their chosen colors. As for the groomsmen, Nick had seven—including three best men. “My friend was the first one of us to get married, and he couldn’t decide, so he had all three of us [as his best men],” Nick says. “Then [another one of us] got married and did the same thing.” Naturally, Nick couldn’t be the one to break the tradition.

Linds and Max

The Music

The couple knew from the start that they wanted a live band for the reception. “One of our favorite things to do is go see live music,” Meaghan says. At Nick’s request, their band, Beach Nights, kept the dance floor packed with the likes of Blink-182 and ’90s-era alternative rock.