The Jersey Shore has always been a special place for Kelly Beaver and Jeffrey Pustizzi. After meeting in college, dating for seven years, and spending almost every summer at the Shore, it was fitting that Jeff would propose in Cape May, and even more fitting that it was on their seventh anniversary. “After dinner we walked down the beach and were talking when suddenly I turned around and Jeff was down on one knee. I was completely shocked at the moment it happened,” says Kelly. “Jeff had arranged for our parents and siblings to be at my family’s Shore house in Avalon where they were all waiting to celebrate our engagement with us.”

So when it was time to plan the wedding, Congress Hall in Cape May was an easy choice. “We love the beach,” says Kelly. “Congress Hall has a lot of history and we love everything about it, especially being able to celebrate our wedding in the same town we got engaged.”

Their ceremony was held outside on the lawn with white rose petals marking the aisle and two large arrangements of white hydrangeas and manzanita branches in copper containers decorating the space. Guests sat on benches as Kelly walked down the aisle in a Carolina Herrera gown holding a stephanotis and mini ‘kermit the frog’ pom-pom bouquet, which was lined with her grandmothers’ pearls. Her nine bridesmaids wore lime-green dresses by J. Crew, and her flower girl wore a gorgeous headband of dendrobium orchids and ‘kermit the frog’ pom-poms. “Our ceremony was very special to us,” says Kelly. “We designed the whole thing from start to finish—we wanted it to have a spiritual feel, with readings, vows, and sayings that respected God while not being overly focused on one religion.”

Guests were then led inside to the ballroom where candles lined the windowsills and centerpieces of white hydrangea, roses, and scabiosa were placed on beautiful linen cloths with tin charger plates and accented with stones and votives. After a dinner of filet mignon with jumbo crab cakes and truffle sauce, everyone enjoyed the vanilla poundcake with chocolate icing, accented with lime-green cymbidium, dendrobium, and mini pom-poms. Their band ended the evening with Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” which everyone loved.
“I wish I could have made it last longer,” says Kelly. “Everything was perfect and exactly as planned. It truly represented what matters most to both of us.” After a honeymoon to Hawaii, the Pustizzis are at home in Philadelphia.