Bachelorettes have found an unlikely party spot: Cape May

CAPE MAY — The balloon arch was buoyant. The champagne chilled in flower ice rings. A “Bachelorettes Assemble” banner dangled from the second floor balcony; life-size photos of the groom-to-be’s face smiled earnestly from a row of welcome bags.

“Where did we put the, uh, penis?” asked Faith Midgarden, owner of the local bachelorette planning company Crash the Cape, searching the freezer with a touch of alarm.

It’s bachelorette season, and Cape May — the charming beach town at the bottom of the Jersey Shore, where elderly people chat on Victorian porches and churches advertise community theater shows — has become an unlikely hot spot.

In recent years, groups of women have increasingly descended on Cape May’s beaches and bars in customized denim jackets and heart-shaped matching sunglasses, often carrying “male genitalia-centric paraphernalia,” as one local described it. They pull up around town in jitneys, golf carts, trolleys, Ubers, limos. A range of companies cater to their needs, peddling everything from luxury picnics to private vegan chefs to liquid IVs. Since founding Crash the Cape last year, Midgarden said the bachelorette market is “exploding.”

Nearly 250 bachelorette groups have planned trips to Cape May this year through Bach, a bachelorette party planning app, according to CEO Mike Petrakis. (Many more visit Cape May without using the app.) He expects the final number to be 10% to 20% higher this year than last, a particularly notable spike considering there were so many weddings last year.

Local businesses have noticed, too: The captain of Tiny Cruise Line, a BYOB cruise, has found himself piloting nearly nonstop bachelorette parties on Saturdays throughout the summer, up to 10 a weekend. Day Sipper Tours, which shuttles groups to local wineries and distilleries in a tie-dyed van, has seen a nearly 30% increase in bachelorette sign-ups this year compared to last. Willow Creek Winery, a popular destination, used to see three bachelorette parties on a Saturday, said Hamilton Wilde, director of events. Now it’s more like 30. The winery had to institute a balloon policy — no helium — to keep the skies clear.

All extol the many virtues of Cape May: Lots of restaurants. Victorian homes for the historically inclined; a few late-night bars, for the drinkers. Beauty, beach. Chill vibes. Wineries and cruises on offer.

“You don’t even feel like you’re in New Jersey,” Wilde said of the Willow Creek Winery. “You feel like you could be in France.”

In terms of bachelorette destination, Cape May is no Nashville (28,000 parties on Bach), and it’s no Scottsdale, Ariz., (11,000 parties on Bach), and it’s not even Atlantic City (700 parties on Bach). But that’s fine. The town has embraced “the girls,” as locals refer to them.

“They’re a lot of fun because they’re not stuffy and they’re not formal,” said Shirley Phinney, co-owner of Elaine’s, a Cape May restaurant and bar that her family has run for 35 years. “They’ll do shots, and we make really sweet, easy shots.”

“They want to do shots, but we don’t want to kill anybody either, so you make them a little fruity,” explained Patrick Wall, her husband and Elaine’s co-owner.

At the “Bachelorettes Assemble” party in West Cape May (theme: Marvel, wine), the “hugely, hugely popular” penis ice luge (for shots) was luckily located before the bride-to-be arrived. Emily DiGiorgio, 26, already dressed in white, cooed over the mimosa bar and the wine-colored balloon arch, all part of Crash the Cape’s “WildOne” package. Prices typically range from $300 to $700. (The balloon arch was attached with extra-grip painter’s tape — particularly important for historic Victorian walls, Midgarden said.)

DiGiorgio, who lives in Marlton, N.J., donned the white baseball hat made especially for her, took photos with the life-size cardboard cutout of Iron Man with her fiancé’s head on top, and popped a bottle of champagne on the deck.

“They did such a good job,” she said happily.

Later, in an upstairs room decorated with pink balloons spelling BRIDE, DiGiorgio sifted through her suitcase. She had packed many variations on white, including a white crop top, a white skirt, a white sheer top, white jeans, four white dresses, and three white bathing suits. Once dressed, she and her bridesmaids applied makeup and discussed the weekend ahead.

DiGiorgio’s sister and maid of honor, Olivia DiGiorgio, 22, had planned a busy itinerary, complete with a luxury picnic on the beach, a tiki boat cruise, and a winery lunch.

“I feel safer here than I would in Wildwood, or even in Ocean City,” DiGiorgio’s cousin, Sydney Berger, 23, whose parents owned the rental house where they were staying, explained. “There’s only two or three night bars here. And I would say they’re all 50. Like a lot of people going are 50.”

When they were ready to depart, Berger called Cape May Free Ride, a free golf cart shuttle that picks up and drops off anywhere in town, and the girls clambered in.

A few blocks away at Carney’s, a restaurant and bar that’s open late and another favorite bachelorette destination, manager Michelle Knox said she often sees three groups in a night. The other customers are “happy and want to see them have a good time,” Knox said.

Behind her, a bachelorette party was easy to spot in the wild: the bride-to-be, Liz Winar, 29, from Hamilton, N.J., was dressed in white and all the women around her wore black. They were planning to get tattoos after dinner, though they had to travel to Wildwood because the Cape May parlors were fully booked.

Overall, they were enjoying themselves, though they had run into another bachelorette party the night before. They were at Sunset Beach; the other group was at Sunset Beach. They were getting ice cream; the other group was getting ice cream. They were wearing matching customized shirts (black); the other group was wearing matching customized shirts (pink).

“We have to fight them,” joked Dani Winar, who had traveled from North Carolina to attend the prewedding weekend. “Battle of the bachelorettes.”