Beach Wedding Perfection in Punta Cana

Christine Diaz
May 10, 2017
Categories: Destination, Real Weddings

This Punta Cana celebration has all the makings of beach wedding perfection: the private, white sandy shores of Huracan Cafe; a windswept, flowing gown by Truvelle; tropical, DIY floral crowns; and a glowing bride with romantic (waterproof!) makeup by Christine Cho Beauty. Best of all, Joee Wong Photography and Elle & Be Films captured the whole thing. Get ready to pack your bags, because this gorgeous destination wedding will have you booking a flight to the Dominican Republic.

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From the Bride… Tom and I met back in university at a Christian conference and were re-introduced to each other by his sister, Candice, and my good friend, Reggie, 10 years later. He lived in Little Rock, Arkansas, and I was in Toronto, Ontario, so we added each other on Facebook and began to get to know each other. It took four months of Facebook Messenger and texting on the phone before we went on our first official date over the Christmas holidays in 2013. His ability to do muscle-ups on gymnastics rings at the rock climbing facility we went to for one of our dates totally won me over! We became official in the new year and began our journey being in a long distance relationship. We made it a promise to make plans to see each every two to three months, so then began our adventures: surfing in Costa Rica, driving along the West Coast and taking hikes under the giant Redwood trees, experiencing my first real southern barbecue in Memphis, and leaving our mark outside Elvis’ home. It soon became evident we wanted to go on many adventures together for the rest of our lives.

Tom proposed to me the following year on Christmas Day, and the first challenge we faced was where to have the wedding. Having witnessed many local weddings being a wedding planner myself, I didn’t want to have a conventional wedding in a banquet hall, so we decided to look into more fun destinations and ended up choosing Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. I came across Mayte and Natalia’s work through a local photographer and knew I could trust them fully with bringing my vision to life. I chose the venue because of the planners, and boy did they deliver. Floating floral arrangements over our tables, lace and pearl accents on dinner napkins, chandeliers and beautifully decorated statement doors… The list goes on. Every single detail was on point, and we were beyond impressed with how they transformed the restaurant and beach into the most beautiful venue any bride could ever imagine. We didn’t have to deal with other hotel guests standing around peeping in on our wedding ceremony and reception. It felt so intimate (even with 80 guests) and romantic just doing our own thing.

Leading up to the trip, my family and bridesmaids worked like busy bees to make DIY flower crowns and various elements of our welcome bags which included everything from sunblock and lip balm to emergency hangover kits and spicy Ramyun noodles for a late night snack. My good friend, Sarah, designed my beautiful welcome bag graphics all by hand and managed to pull off a last minute request to create a passport booklet so all our guests had an idea as to what to expect for the week.

Tom and I wanted to make the most of our time on the island with our family and friends, so we booked a boat trip excursion a day before our wedding so everyone could get to know one another and just have an amazing time exploring the sea. The day after our wedding, we took our photographers and videographers with us to a nearby waterhole for a trash the dress session. Can I just say, waterproof makeup is one of the best inventions out there? Jumping in the water multiple times proved no challenge for my flawless makeup, thanks to my incredibly talented makeup artist, Christine. Our photos from that afternoon are to die for!

As we look back on the photos from our wedding week, our hearts are filled with so much joy and happiness. We are so thankful to all our families, friends and wedding “friendors” who came all the way to the Dominican Republic to make our wedding week so special. We would do it all again in a heartbeat. Maybe a 20-year vow renewal? We’ll see.