It all started – and ended – on the beach.
The Jersey Shore, and Cape May in particular, was always a special place for Denise and Paul Lambrecht. So when Paul requested the couple eat dinner at one of their favorite Cape May restaurants one Saturday night in late 2013, Denise had no idea he had an ulterior motive.
“I had a list to finish for Christmas,” Denise explains, but she agreed to go. “We got up early, shopped like crazy, finished the list and headed for the Shore. We were in time to catch the sunset, so we went out by the lighthouse in Cape May onto the beach. As the true gentleman he is, Paul got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.”
Denise and Paul’s love for the Jersey Shore inspired the rest of their wedding, and they decided to get married at The Grand Hotel of Cape May and use – what else – a beach theme.
“We had seen the Grand set up many weddings while we had been at the beach,” Lambrecht says. “Their sundeck was the perfect place for us. The day of the wedding, the wind made things a bit exciting – my veil blew off about 30 seconds into the service, and a flower pillar blew over a few minutes later. But it was great to get rid nerves – we had to laugh.”
Paul was a little nervous as well, but Denise fixed that. “I dropped his ring, so there was even more laughing! I say it was because his hands were shaking; he says it was all me, that I dropped it.”
Inside, the beach theme continued. Amongst the fragrant blue and white flowers, a starfish motif was used for light displays and decorative accents. Guests dined on filet mignon and crab cakes, and Lambrecht says, “Of course we had the Grand’s seafood raw bar as part of our cocktail hour.”
Instead of a wedding cake, the Lambrechts opted to satisfy the sweet teeth of their 100 guests with a cupcake tower – each pastry was decorated with pearl white chocolate seashells.
After dinner, the DJ got the party started with music, cheering, chanting and even a backflip. Denise danced with each of her sons while Paul danced with his nieces, and Denise’s young nephews danced on a riser next to the DJ for all to see.
“My brother-in-law challenged my oldest to a rap challenge, which was pretty hysterical,” Denise remembers. “They both did well, but my son definitely won.”
In the end, it was exactly the beach party that Denise wanted everyone to enjoy. “Our guests are still talking about the great time they had,” she says.
