May 2013

Cape Magic

Cape Cod Life  /  May 2013 / , ,

Writer: Susan Dewey / Photographer: Dan Cutrona 

Cape Magic

May 2013

Cape Cod Life  /  May 2013 / , ,

Writer: Susan Dewey / Photographer: Dan Cutrona 

Personal touches—and some unscripted surprises —charmed this Cape Cod wedding

Photo by Dan Cutrona

A crowd began to gather at the West Barnstable Parish Church, the oldest church on Cape Cod, first built in the early 1700s. The simple yet elegant structure has been through several reconstructions over the centuries, but its meetinghouse-style interior of encircling balconies around an altar shaped like a ship’s brow, still contains ancient wooden beams and a wooden floor worn pale with the passing of worshippers feet—and those of silver-footed brides.

As the 200 guests filled the wooden pews, the groom and his ushers waited before the soaring altar flanked by enormous windows. The crowd waited, watching the clouds roll by. The church organist played songs meaningful to the bride and groom and their families, including “Simple Gifts” and “Ave Maria.”

When the old wooden doors at the back of the church opened for the bride, she seemed to glimmer, standing bright and lovely beside her father. Was it the color of her dress, her blonde hair beneath a flowing veil? Or was that sunlight peeking through the cloud cover?

The yearning melody of the second movement from Dvorak’s “New World Symphony”—the groom’s parents’ bridal song 35 years earlier—filled the church. The groom smiled. And a few moments later, just as the bride and groom clasped hands and exchanged vows, the sun broke through the cloud cover, filling the church with light.

Personal touches—and some unscripted surprises —charmed this Cape Cod wedding

Photo by Dan Cutrona

Susan Dewey

Susan Dewey, former associate publisher and editor at Cape Cod Life Publications, lives in Centerville where she grows vegetables and flowers for Cape farmers' markets, designs perennial gardens for her son’s company, Dewey Gardens, and enjoys living on beautiful Cape Cod year round.