Hard Rock Beach Wedding at Punta Cana – Cassandra & Don

If you are looking for an inspiration for a Hard Rock beach wedding, this is the right place to be!

Cassandra and Don met through mutual friends and during a dating they grew really close and they said when they started living together, they knew that it is for forever. Don told us how magical the proposal was: “In March 2019 we were in New York City to see a Broadway show with my family. After the show and before dinner, we were having drinks at the hotel bar which included a rooftop patio. I asked Cassie to go outside and take a picture with me and after the picture, I grabbed her hand told her how much she meant to me and how much I loved her and wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. I dropped to my knee and asked her to marry me and she said YES!!”

Cassandra and Don dreamed about having a destination wedding for a long time. They’ve found the perfect match at Hard Rock Punta Cana Hotel in Dominican Republic.

With light color palette, white and blush pink and blue skies and the Ocean as the backdrop, this Hard Rock beach wedding was an epitome for a classy. The bride and the groom opted for drapes and flowers to the ceremony structure, as well as the love sign and sweetheart table for the reception.

Among other things, the bride had absolutely breathtaking bouquet! It was fairly big natural flower bouquet made of hydrangeas, roses, pampas grass, eucalyptus, and blue thistles with colors of blues, pinks, oranges, and whites and what it makes it even more special, it was matched with the centerpieces and the flowers on the structure from the colors of the bouquet. It was absolutely beautiful!

We asked Cassandra how they choose the outfit for the wedding, here is what she told us: “Even though it was a beach wedding we knew we wanted the look to still be formal as these would be our wedding photos to look back on forever. Don went with a blue suit that would pop with the beach colors and the groomsmen with the matching pants and shirt. But we did cut them a break in the heat and not have them in full suits, instead went with suspenders and bow-ties to still give it that modern formal wedding look. For the bridesmaids we went with a capri blue that would match well with the blue Don’s suit. We let the bridesmaids pick the style of dress they wanted to allow them to look and feel their best and most comfortable. Cassie’s dress was elegant and fitted. She always wanted to have the focus to be on the back of the dress and the train. The veil was borrowed from a good friend, Jaelene who was also the hairstylist and makeup artist.“

Family friend officiated the ceremony and for the reception bride and groom had a choreographed first dance, with their special song “Yours” by Russel Dickerson which ended perfectly with cold firework. They also decided to surprise their guests with adding a Carioca crazy hour and guests absolutely loved it! It brought the Dominican culture in with dances and music and added a special aspect to the wedding which none of the guests have ever seen before. It was a great way to jump-start the party after the reception and brought everyone right on the dance floor.

Some of the special moments of the Hard Rock beach wedding day was during the first look, the time they got to spent together just before the ceremony helped them, take all the emotions in and fully enjoy in the day. Since the couple anticipated this day for almost three years with all ups and downs because Covid, moment when Don saw first time Cassandra in her wedding dress was a total highlight of the day!

Planning advice for the future bride and groom:

“The best planning or wedding advice I could give is what several people told us. No matter how much you plan, something isn’t going to go according to plan on your wedding day, but the only people that will notice is the two of you. It won’t be a big of deal as you think it is, so take a breath and just smile through it, because it’s the day you have put so much into and deserve to enjoy it!”