Although year-round events, this time of year on the Cape ushers in a flurry of bridal parties and large families gathering to celebrate the love of two people they care about. But, if it’s been said once, it’s been said a million times: 2020 is unlike any other year. This year, the wedding season is almost non-existent, as couples cancel due the global pandemic. But for those who don’t, opting for virtual receptions or inviting only enough people to max out the state limits on gathering, options are limited and constrained. In the following pages, meet some local vendors who are going above and beyond to help couples achieve their dream day, amid nightmarish circumstances.

Whether you’re figuring out how to hold a wedding during the rollercoaster known as 2020 or waiting a year (or two), these wedding vendors across the Cape and Islands are here to help. Cocktail Barbone, an extension of the ever- popular Pizza Barbone, is bringing the bar to your backyard with their replica 1961 Shasta trailer. With services ranging from just the bar itself to a fully stocked bar and bartender to match, there are options for every wedding. Flora Cape Cod is here to make sure your wedding is filled with only the most beautiful flower arrangements. Karyn Metois opened Flora in June of 2020 and has been helping soon to be newlyweds navigate this difficult time by offering unmatched service. No wedding is complete without a delicious meal to fuel all the dancing. Treats Catering has been the premier catering company on the Cape for 40, and isn’t slowing down, not even during a pandemic. Top off the night with the perfect cake, created specially for you by Sara Sneed at the Bashful Tarte. Whatever your style may be, Sneed can craft your ideal cake. And when it’s safe to do so, what better place to tie the knot than overlooking the stunning Nantucket Sound atop the Nantucket Whaling Museum. Combining the unique experience of being married among antique whaling artifacts, and all the classic charm that comes with a Nantucket wedding, the Whaling Museum is perfect for anyone looking to make sure their day is one to remember.

Nothing beats a Cape Cod wedding, whether it comes during a pandemic or quiet summer season, and no one is better equipped to bestow the perfect day upon couples than Cape Cod vendors. Now, more than ever, lets show some love to those who make Cape Cod weddings so magical. -Elizabeth Shaw

The Bashful Tarte

Sara Sneed has transformed the business of wedding cake decorating into an artistic form. Sneed creates original designs that run the gamut from classic couture, to sweet and simple or eccentric. The time she invests ensuring each cake reflects the style of her clients is immediately evident in the designs produced inside her stylish bakery, The Bashful Tarte. The business has been making waves across the Cape and is currently located in Yarmouth off of Station Avenue. Keeping with a popular saying, Sneed confirms “It’s a labor of love.” 

Sneed started The Bashful Tarte five years ago, which has been operating at its current location for nearly two and a half years. The bakery specializes in custom cakes, wedding cakes, and pies—the techniques for which she largely learned from her mother and grandmothers. “They helped me to learn tactile measuring and how to get a feel for when something is baked through,” she reminisces. “A lot of it is a feeling … sometimes you just have to have a feel for it.” Her decorating skills were learned later in her career as a baker with guidance from other pastry chefs, and honed with lots of practice, and a good measure of her artistic intuition. “I’ve been artistic my entire life,” Sneed explains. “All of the visual arts that I’ve ever been involved in help translate into creating wedding cakes, which are pieces of art in and of themselves.” Her designs draw inspiration from a variety of different sources, like wedding dresses and other fashions, images from nature, artwork, the atmosphere of Cape Cod, and, of course, the couples she works with. 

Creating custom wedding cakes is an intensive, personal process for both Sneed and her clients. She generally begins by meeting the couple in person to do a cake tasting and talk about their visions for the cake and the wedding as a whole. She aims to make the process an enjoyable experience and reduce the stress associated with ordering a wedding cake. “It’s something the couple can really enjoy together,” Sneed says. “When they’re coming in for their meetings, we sit down, they sample cakes and filling, and I ask them about their wedding plans. I get a feel for the couple themselves.” Based on this meeting, Sneed is able to discern what the couple wants and design something that completely fits the theme and energy of the wedding. “Every bride is different,” she says, as she begins recounting one couple that found their inspiration in an album cover. “They wanted the entire cake to be green fondant and cream all the way down the front of it, with a lady’s face on top of it,” she chuckled. “It was something else, and they told me it was exactly what they had pictured. I was happy to have made their dreams come true.”

In addition to The Bashful Tarte’s wedding cake services, the bakery also sells a variety of baked goods like assorted scones and muffins, all of which Sneed makes daily. Recently the bakery opened an entire wholesale division selling freshly baked goods to other local vendors, including all of the Snowy Owl Coffee Roasters locations across the Cape. However, above all, artistic vision, creativity and customer service remain at the heart of everything Sneed creates. “To make other people happy with food,” she says, “is a great feeling.” -Katie Anastas

To learn more about The Bashful Tarte, visit thebashfultarte.com.

Whaling Museum

Create your own history by renting the Whaling Museum for your next event. The museum provides a unique setting for intimate gatherings and grand celebrations. 

Located in the heart of downtown Nantucket, the Whaling Museum offers guests the perfect mix of modern design combined with history and tradition. The museum’s climate – controlled space features an unforgettable 46 – foot sperm whale skeleton, elegant art, and priceless artifacts.

Flowing from the museum’s main hall is the Hadwen & Barney Oil and Candle Factory, a soaring 1847 two – level, exposed brick space with original wooden ceiling beams. Together, they form an extraordinary venue to host a wedding ceremony or reception, cocktail party, or private dinner event. 

Offering unparalleled panoramic views of Nantucket Harbor, the Whaling Museum’s outdoor deck, Tucker’s Roofwalk, is the largest rooftop party space in downtown Nantucket.

Overlooking the landmark historic district with sight lines to the sea, it is the perfect location for wedding ceremonies, cocktail events, sunrises, and sunsets. -Katie Anastas

To learn more about Whaling Museum, visit nha.org.

Treats Catering

If you’re envisioning your special day unfolding at a beautiful Cape Cod venue rich with tasty cuisine and customization a-la-you, Treats Catering of Dennis can get you there.

As the exclusive vendor for the Dennis Inn, the Cape Cod Museum of Art and the Borsari Gallery, and consistently selected by clients including Corsair and Cross Rip Hotels, Treats brings over 40 years of expertise to the Cape Cod catering community.

Quality and service have served as Treats’ guiding pillars since the beginning. “Our company’s distinguishing factors are our tremendous food quality and the ability to customize our work with our customers so that they don’t feel like they’re being served a standard menu,” says owner Mark Flanagan. Treats encourages clients to work with its chefs to create a menu tailored to each client’s individual desires. With a well-seasoned staff, dietary restrictions, personal preferences, and customer requests are all accommodated to the best of their ability.

Treats’ ingredients are sourced with quality in mind and an emphasis on buying local when possible. And their signature dish? Well, it isn’t actually edible: “One of our signature items is high quality service,” insists Flanagan. “We try to accommodate our customers with whatever they desire.”

In fact, Treats goes far beyond serving exceptional food when taking care of its clients. The team have also dipped their toes into the world of venues, an arena that is notoriously difficult to navigate in locations like Cape Cod which boasts an intimidating plethora of options. “If a client wants to have an event but they don’t want to have it at their property, we actually have two venues under our purview that we own—the Dennis Inn and the Borsari Gallery,” Flanagan explains. Both the Inn and the Gallery are abundant in Cape Cod elegance and style. If clients decide to host their event at either of these venues, Treats is able to customize the client’s menu and event even further, making for a simpler, dreamier celebration.  

While perfect for weddings and larger gatherings, the Treats team are seasoned experts on catering for smaller events, holiday parties, and summer gatherings. Their renowned clambakes are a perfected art and can be serviced on-site or prepared off-site and dropped off. These clambakes regularly draw customers back year after year to enjoy the delicious summer tradition.

From conception to completion, Treats’ customer-focused mission creates events that are both beautiful and abounding in delicious cuisine. When you add Treats to your team, your event will never lack flavor. -Emma Ryan

To learn more about Treats Catering, visit treats-catering.com.

Cocktail Barbone

Nothing says fun like a retro trailer turned mobile bar, and fun is what Cocktail Barbone is all about. After 8 years successfully running their restaurant and catering company, Pizza Barbone, Jason and Ali O’Toole, along with sous chef and business partner, Nick Pidala, discovered the mobile bar service scene. At the time, mobile bars were blowing up on the west coast, but the trio recognized a potential market on Cape Cod. After all, why would you go to the bar when the bar could come to you? 

The mobile bar is a replica of a 1961 Shasta trailer that can squeeze right into backyards for a wedding or party. The replica, constructed by CH Campers in Chatanooga, Tennessee, is “chic, midcentury and modern” as Pidala puts it. After it was shipped up to Massachusetts, close friend of the owners, Nathan Cox, finished the interior with eye-catching shiplap and necessary functions like hot water, lights, and even a kegerator. 

Cocktail Barbone offers several packages for customers to choose from, each lasting about five hours, or the time of a typical wedding. Their basic package provides the mobile bar itself, giving clients the opportunity to have it stocked and run by another catering company. Cocktail Barbone’s more inclusive packages provide certified bartenders to serve the client’s choice of beer, wine and cocktails, along with all necessary drinkware and barware.  

Since Cocktail Barbone only has a license to pour alcohol, not sell it, the physical liquor is something that clients do provide themselves, but it’s made easy by the company’s partnership with Cape Cod Package Store. Customers are directed to Andrea Pendergast at the Package Store where they choose beer, wine and cocktails from the Cocktail Barbone menu or provide the recipe for a unique drink. After the final selections have been made, Pendergast orders the alcohol and it can be delivered directly to the event location, making the whole process simple and easy. 

Pidala loves how the business thrives in the atmosphere of a wedding or party. “People are always happy, you know?” she enthuses. “Part of the restaurant business—any customer service busines—is making people happy and exceeding their expectations, and that’s what we strive to do. That’s what really does it for me, seeing people enjoy a service that we provide.” -Emma Ryan

To learn more about Cocktail Barbone, visit pizzabarbone.com.

Flora Cape Cod

If you’re in search of a florist for your upcoming wedding or event, look no further than Flora Cape Cod. This local, female-run company is owned by Karyn Metois and located in the village of Osterville, right next to AMIE Bakery. Metois was originally a window dresser and started working with flowers six years ago. When the opportunity to open her own shop presented itself, she couldn’t resist!

Flora Cape Cod had originally planned to open in April 2020, but due to COVID-19, they pushed their official opening to June. Luckily, they were still able to make deliveries for Mother’s Day and offer curbside pickup. The wedding industry has certainly taken a hit due to the pandemic, but Flora Cape Cod is still providing brides with beautiful arrangements. They have even had a bride come in on the day of her wedding for a bridal bouquet. The women of Flora are extremely grateful for the support of the local community during this time. “Everyone has been so welcoming, positive and very complementary,” says Metois. 

Flora Cape Cod is doing their part to bring light and joy to the community with their designs, especially with all the recent uncertainty of COVID-19. Whether it’s a birthday, special occasion or simply just because, flowers are the perfect way to bring a smile to anyone’s face. Their main focus is to work closely with their clients, so they can capture exactly what the customer envisions in an arrangement. Metois explains, “It’s important to us to develop a relationship of trust; we want customers to feel good about calling us.” With their talent and experience, the women of Flora Cape Cod are sure to bring your vision to life with their classic, yet whimsical designs.

In the near future, Flora is planning on hosting bridal showers, baby showers and fun night out events. They also plan to offer unique workshops that can be booked for small groups. In these workshops, the women of Flora Cape Cod can teach you how to make your own bouquets, centerpieces, wreathes and even sailor’s valentines. -Christina Galt

Flora Cape Cod · 1254B Main Street in Osterville · visit floracapecod.com or call  (508) 428-1225.