With two in Boston and one down the Cape, these coastal locations are beautiful backdrops in any season.

Five-Star Fabulous

Boston Harbor Hotel
Boston, Massachusetts

Awash in luxury, the venerable Boston Harbor Hotel is one of the city’s most coveted places to stay. The hotel’s sweeping harbor views are unrivaled, and the five-star hotel, rife with rich fabrics, marble, and carved-wood finishes, exudes a modern classic appeal. There are several on-site wedding venue options. Optimal for larger receptions as well as ceremonies, the Wharf Room features dramatic, high ceilings and views from three sides, along with a private outdoor terrace. The second-story Meritage Room is oriented toward smaller celebrations, and Foster’s Pavilion is the hotel’s outdoor space, which can be enhanced with an outdoor tent. The Atlantic Room is a larger space that can be broken down into two separate areas. The hotel’s wedding planning and catering staff are attentive and experienced; executive chef David Daniels’s cuisine features fresh, seasonal fare that elevates any occasion held at the hotel.

Among the best parts of hosting your wedding at the Boston Harbor Hotel is its elegant accommodations, which include more than 200 guest rooms and suites. The John Adams Presidential Suite is among the city’s most luxurious: featuring two-, three-, or four-bedroom configurations with a private elevator, spacious living areas, a media room, and an expansive waterfront terrace, you will never want to leave.

PHOTO OPS

Just outside the restaurant is Fan Pier Park, a verdant stretch of green space along the waterfront. The landscaped area features manicured grassy areas and beautiful harbor vistas with the city rising in the distance, which make a gorgeous backdrop for wedding photos.

Restaurant Chic

Davio’s
Boston, Massachusetts

Well-known and loved for its cuisine, Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse is a longtime staple in Boston’s fine-dining restaurant scene. Its perfectly cooked steaks, handmade pastas, and fresh seafood have broad appeal. With multiple locations in and around the city—and in other states, too—Davio’s Seaport location offers elegant dining overlooking Boston Harbor.

With several private dining spaces of varying sizes, the restaurant is in a prime position for hosting weddings and rehearsal dinners. The private dining rooms feature high ceilings, majestic columns, elongated windows, and plenty of space. Flexible spaces can accommodate 10 to 200 guests for full-service sit-down dinners and up to 350 for a reception. Rooms are equipped with high-back upholstered chairs and round and square tables. For larger events, the entire restaurant can be reserved for up to 500 guests. The patio, with stunning waterfront views, holds up to 150 guests. There are several different menu options for both sit-down dinners and buffets, and the attentive catering staff will even work with couples to create custom appetizers, entrées, and desserts that appeal to their specific tastes.

SAY “I DO” IN CHOO

Among the hotel’s exclusive wedding offerings is the opportunity to be treated to an after-hours store consultation at the Jimmy Choo Boutique in Copley Place—along with a pair of shoes to wear on your special day!—if you book a Friday or Sunday wedding.

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Boater’s Paradise

Flying Bridge
Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Set on glorious Falmouth Harbor, the Flying Bridge has long been a Cape Cod mainstay. With 12,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor entertaining space, the restaurant was remodeled in 2023. The bride and groom often arrive here by boat while their guests watch them from the deck. Featuring a grand-stairway entrance, the second-floor event space provides an idyllic backdrop with floor-to-ceiling windows and accordion doors overlooking the harbor and a deck that wraps around the building. A quartz-topped U-shaped bar, an ample dance floor, and the ability to accommodate a 200-person seated dinner prepared by chef Leon Biscoe and his team, which includes an on-site master sushi chef, are all part of the program.

The restaurant also hosts on-site ceremonies in an arbor overlooking the harbor or, for smaller groups, on the upper deck. If your dream is to have a beach ceremony, the Flying Bridge’s sister property, the Tides, can accommodate that, as well as a rooftop reception with 360-degree views. The nearby beachfront hotel is also a great spot to set your guests up in; with 29 rooms, including a bridal suite, it’s one of the most desirable hotels to stay in town.

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DAY-TRIPPING

Also set on Falmouth Harbor, directly across from the Flying Bridge and a short stroll from the Tides, is the Island Queen Ferry, which makes several daily trips to Martha’s Vineyard. The quick 35-minute ride to Oak Bluffs makes for a great summer day trip for wedding guests looking to make the most of their downtime.

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First published in the print issue of Boston Weddings 2025 with the headline, “View Finders.”

A Massachusetts man accused of making violent antisemitic threats was arrested on Saturday and is facing illegal gun possession charges after a ghost gun and a Nazi flag were recovered by authorities during a sweep of his home.

Matthew Scouras, a 34-year-old living in Beverly, Mass., allegedly threatened to rape Jewish women and motivated others to shoot anyone seen outside synagogues on an online message board, according to investigators.

The Federal Bureau of Investigations notified local authorities on Thursday that someone in their province was posting the menacing threats online, the Beverly Police Department said.

Police searched Scouras’ home and recovered a Nazi flag, a 9mm Glock “ghost gun” without a serial number, three large-capacity magazine rifles, a jig used to drill holes in polymer pistol handles, scopes, rifle stocks, and other gun parts, including 11 lower receivers for rifles, according to the local department.

Officers also found over $70,000 in cash, a cellphone, and two desktop computers.

The Massachusetts chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations praised local law enforcement for taking down the alleged Nazi supporter.

“We welcome the arrest of this suspect, thank law enforcement authorities for their action in the case and stand in solidarity with the Jewish community and all other communities of faith targeted by hatred and violence,” CAIR-MA Executive Director Tahirah Amatul-Wadud wrote in a statement.

Scouras is currently being held by the Beverly Police Department and will undergo a mental health screening.

The charges levied against him include 12 counts of unlicensed firearm possession coupled with single counts of threats to destroy a place of worship, willful communication of a threat with a dangerous item, making of a firearm without a serial number, possession of a large capacity feeding device, illegal possession of ammunition and improper storage of a firearm.

Scouras was arraigned Monday and held without bail, police said. He is set to appear in court for a detention hearing on Jan. 13.

Gov. Maura Healey called for the abolition of broker’s fees renters are often forced to pay when signing a lease agreement, as the Boston City Council is set to reintroduce legislation that would shift that responsibility away from tenants.

Healey, on GBH’s Boston Public Radio Tuesday, said she supported doing away with broker’s fees as a way of improving housing affordability in Massachusetts, where the Legislature is preparing to seek a similar statewide change this term.

“I think they should be abolished,” Healey said. “I think they should go away. I totally support that, and I support taking action to make that happen … When it comes to affordability, we’re an expensive state.”

When asked whether landlords should pay the broker’s fee instead of tenants, however, the governor hedged on answering.

“The landlord can make their own arrangements,” Healey said.

The governor’s remarks come amid a renewed push in Massachusetts to reconsider a system that places the burden of broker’s fees on tenants.

Renters are often saddled with paying the fee, typically equivalent to a month’s pay, to a real estate broker hired by their landlord. That’s on top of being required to pay two or three months rent up front to secure an apartment.

The Senate last year included in its housing bill a policy requiring broker’s fees to be paid by landlords rather than tenants, but House negotiators did not agree to the measure, the State House News Service reported.

Senate President Karen Spilka vowed in her inaugural address last week that the Senate would “try again to shift the burden of broker’s fees from renters.”

In the House, state Rep. Tackey Chan, a Quincy Democrat, told State House News that he had filed legislation that clarifies the party who hired the broker must pay the fee.

On the local level, the Boston City Council on Wednesday is set to reintroduce a home rule petition that would similarly shift the fee to the party, lessor or tenant who hired the broker.

Boston’s push follows last year’s vote by the New York City Council to approve a similar change. Unlike New York, however, the Massachusetts Legislature would need to sign off on a move to bar tenant-paid broker’s fees, if the petition is approved by the Boston City Council.

“Boston remains one of the last major rental markets where prospective tenants are commonly required to pay broker’s fees,” the petition states, while framing the payments as “worsening inequities in a market where renters face limited options.”

Elected officials in Somerville and Cambridge are reportedly considering a similar change.

The local and statewide push drew mixed reactions from industry groups. The Greater Boston Real Estate Board was supportive of the potential change. In a statement, CEO Greg Vasil said, “whoever brings a broker to a real estate transaction should be responsible for paying the broker’s fee.”

Demetrios Salpoglou, CEO of Boston Pads, said, however, that the changes being discussed have the potential to put realtors, who “do a tremendous amount of work,” out of business. If landlords were tasked with paying the fees, he said, they might opt not to work with a broker or pass on the costs to tenants through higher rents.

“I think we’re creating a huge amount of this potential disruption on a system that’s not broken,“ Salpoglou told the Herald. “This whole thing should be driven by business leaders, not the politicians.”

Originally Published: January 7, 2025 at 7:27 PM EST