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# Planning That Summer Wedding Here Are A Few Ideas - Erik Peterson Tom James Company

![Hand-painted driftwood signs made by one of the groom’s co-workers add whimsy to Ari and Suzanne Gray’s wedding in Wellfleet.](http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_960w/Boston/2011-2020/2016/01/07/BostonGlobe.com/Magazine/Images/0117Wellfleet1mag.jpg)

SIRI JONES PHOTOGRAPHY

**Hand-painted driftwood signs made by one of the groom’s co-workers add whimsy to Ari and Suzanne Gray’s celebration**

**By Sandra A. Miller**    JANUARY 13, 2016  Repost of [Boston Globe](http://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2016/01/13/diy-backyard-wedding-awash-cape-cod-charm/3dCvlXoF3VK2zHEu0IIqtO/story.html)

When Ari Gray and Suzanne Giovangelo began to search for a Cape Cod wedding venue, they had a clear vision for their day. “We wanted a rustic beach wedding with gardens,” says the bride, now Suzanne Gray, who has always spent summer weekends in Wellfleet and loves gardening at the couple’s South Boston home. After touring several waterfront venues that didn’t feel right, Suzanne’s father, Joe Giovangelo, suggested they update the family’s Wellfleet cottage, add a garden, and host a wedding in the backyard.

“We were intimidated,” says Suzanne, “but excited to make the project our own.”

Ari and Suzanne met through mutual friends as sophomores at Babson College in Wellesley. When they began dating the following year, Ari often joined Suzanne and her family for weekends on the Cape; he fell in love with it, too. Seven years later, Ari proposed to a shocked Suzanne on a winter getaway weekend in Portland, Maine. It would take them 18 months to prepare for their September 2014 wedding.

Improvements on the four-bedroom cottage included a long-overdue makeover that involved painting and repairing the deck and driveway, among other tasks. “It created a perfect opportunity to get the entire family working together on selected wedding preparation projects,” Joe says. Joe, his son, Steven (who would be Ari’s best man), and Ari did the bulk of the heavy rehab work, with friends and other family members helping out when needed.

![In their shoe-optional beach ceremony, the couple exchanged vows under a chuppah made of old fence posts. Wellfleet. ](http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_1920w/Boston/2011-2020/2016/01/07/BostonGlobe.com/Magazine/Images/0117Wellfleetmag3.jpg)

SIRI JONES PHOTOGRAPHY

In their shoe-optional beach ceremony, the couple exchanged vows under a chuppah made of old fence posts.

Suzanne’s favorite part was designing and planting 800 square feet of gardens abundant with shrubs, roses, grasses, and wildflowers, some of which were used in the centerpieces. The gardens reflected the breezy feel of the beach across the street, where they would exchange vows in a “very informal Jewish wedding,” as Ari describes it.

“We wanted the wedding to be quaint and personal, not formal,” says Ari, who works in sales for Tom James Company, a custom design clothing firm that made the men’s suits for the wedding party. “It was always in my head that if we’re inviting 130 guests to a beach wedding, we want to show them a good time.”

“We wanted our guests to understand why we love Wellfleet so much,” says Suzanne, on drawing inspiration from the landscape.

![
](http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_371w/Boston/2011-2020/2016/01/07/BostonGlobe.com/Magazine/Images/0117Wellfleetmag2%20A1.jpg)

SIRI JONES PHOTOGRAPHY

Shells anchor place cards.

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