A Beach-Inspired Wedding at the Popponessett Inn in Mashpee, Massachusetts

Julianne Walsh (30 and a registered nurse) and Marc Capaldo (29 and a personal banker) met during their freshman year of high school and became best friends during their sophomore year. “We were inseparable,” says Julianne, “maybe because I had my license and drove Marc around — but I remember hanging out everyday after school, but it wasn’t until our junior year that we started dating.” Going to different colleges after college proved to be a challenge and the couple ran into a few bumps along the way, but after Marc made the commitment to pick and move to North Carolina with Julianne after she received a nursing job offer, she knew he was the one. On their anniversary, after 11 years together, Marc proposed. “We were about to walk out the door when Marc told me he remembered something he needed to show me. He ran upstairs, came back down to our living room and whipped out my brand new pair of shoes that our dog had chewed up!” says Julianne. “He then went into explaining how he had called my mom, who bought them for me, and asked her where she got them so he could buy me a new pair. He then stated, ‘Oh, and I also talked to your father and asked if I could marry you.’ Totally caught off guard, I took my focus off my chewed up shoes to him down on his knee, with a beautiful princess cut ring in his hand, asking me to marry him! After, a few ‘really, really?’ I jumped on him and said yes!”Growing up vacationing in Cape Cod, Julianne always imagined getting married on the Cape’s sandy beaches. “When I was in my early teens, I saw a bride on the beach taking pictures and at that point I had my mind set on getting married on the Cape,” says Julianne. The Popponessett Inn fit perfectly with Julianne’s vision, offering stunning views of the Atlantic and a stretch of stunning beach where the newlyweds can take pictures after saying “I do.” They chose a beach theme for the day to complement the wedding’s locale, with everything from starfish escort cards to sand dollar accented place settings and a single-tier wedding cake complete with Adirondack chairs and seashells playing up the setting. Hydrangeas, the signature Cape Cod bloom, were key in the wedding’s floral arrangements and were incorporated into the bouquets and the starfish pails lining the ceremony’s aisle. Julianne’s favorite flowers, orchids, were used for the centerpieces, tall hurricane glasses filled with river rocks, curly willow and green orchids. A DJ turned out upbeat tunes that kept guests out on the dance floor all night long and a photo booth stocked with silly props kept them busy when they needed to rest their dancing feet.