Than you are at the right place. As destination wedding photographers and videographers… Nah, it’s even better, as wedding photographers and videographers living and working permanently at the destination that hosts over 80 weddings a day in a wedding season, here are our two cents on the subject of how to choose the right wedding dress style for a beach wedding. Although we are not wedding dress designers, nor we are associated with one, having the opportunity to see that many brides in all kinds of Caribbean weeding settings, kind of give us right to say we know what we are writing about.
The most important aspect of your overall wedding look is your wedding dress. The dress is going to set the style for your whole look. So, you’ll agree, it is one of the most important task to tick off when you are planning the wedding.
If you are one of the recently engaged couples planning a Punta Cana destination wedding on the beach, then you probably did your fair share of Google research and now you are certainly quite confused with restrictive guidelines many, surprisingly even reputable, sites are suggesting.
Let’s go over them together:
Choose wedding dress that is made out of lightweight fabrics
This is probably the only one of the tips with which we agree. If you can, then yes, choose chiffon, lace, organza … and allow your body to breathe. But for argument sake, most wedding venues make the ceremonies in the afternoon (some weddings that we photographed last year, had ceremonies even as late as 6pm (see here), so the heat is not too big problem. Plus, on the beach there is ALWAYS light breeze so, unless you are on direct sun at noon in July, you’ll never feel the actual heat.
Dress Style
There are many recommendations online for the brides to choose a bohemian wedding dress for their beach wedding ceremony, all together with an explanation that “a beach wedding is a casual event” (?!). Let’s dive into this statement some more. If your wedding will be in bohemian style because you like it, then yes, go with the same style wedding dress. But please, for God’s sake, do not choose bohemian dress only because you’ll have your wedding at the beach! Beach weddings can be glamorous, bohemian or black-tie events if you want them to be! According to their wedding decor design, our brides rocked very successfully many, different wedding dress styles including both fabric and silhouette shapes. There were ball gowns, mermaid and A – lines, from both high-end designers and casual. And they ALL looked AMAZING! Bottom line, you should choose the style of your wedding dress according to your preferences and what flatters your body type the best.
In my 15 years of experience as a professional wedding photographer, I think I saw short wedding dress two times only. And there were the times when I did weddings almost every day. I think this in itself is quite self-explanatory. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with short wedding dress if that is your cup of tea, but do not feel obligated to go scouting for short wedding dresses because beach is the place where you’ll exchange your vows.
To sum it up, yes, for destination wedding, long is ok.
Sand doesn’t stain. Train may catch up along some dry seaweed which can be cleaned easily. Also, all wedding venues in Punta Cana take pride in their locations, so beaches where the ceremonies are held, are cleaned frequently.
If you are thinking about a wedding dress with a train for your Punta Cana destination wedding, that is absolutely doable. Our brides had dresses without train, with Sweep Train, Chapel Train all the way to Cathedral Trains. A wedding dress with detachable train can be convenient solution, but many wedding dresses expert providers can add a bustle to any train to ease your movement after that dramatic entrance! Again, as you can see in our photos, many of our gorgeous brides wore, to their destination beach weddings, wedding dresses with royal or monarch trains. The only thing you should be aware of is that if you walk over uneven surfaces as for example over the concrete floors, the train (or long veil for that matter) may get stuck a bit…
Trumpet style wedding dress without train by Allure Bridals
Sheath wedding dress with Sweep Train by Anais Annette
The most frequently used veils among our brides are definitively Mid-length and Cathedral Veils, followed by Blusher and Mantilla Veils.
Yes, there is a breeze on the beach, but also there are those tiny and very useful thingies called veil weights. You can buy them almost everywhere (from Amazon to Etsy https://www.etsy.com/market/wedding_veil_weights). They simply clip to the edges of your veil and give it just enough weight to stay straight and not fly about! Genius! Nonetheless, make sure you bring it up to your hair stylist (link na nas guide za MUA) to ensure your hair is structurally sound enough to hold it. But, no, you won’t feel it pulling down and you won’t feel it dragging your head.
Although, same as for the wedding dress train, long cathedral veil tends to stuck onto uneven surfaces, so put some attention at those details.
As for the choosing your wedding dress, the first thing to take into consideration when choosing your hair accessories is your personal style and the style of your wedding. The most popular are Combs and clips, Hair Vines and Headbands.
5. Shoes
One of the great advantages of having a beach destination wedding is that you can go barefoot with or without barefoot sandals, that were absolute hit recently. But if you prefer to go with awesome stilettos, you absolutely can do that too, just ask your wedding venue for a walkway option. Majority of Punta Cana destination wedding venues, if not all of them, have an option to add a walkway, so, absolutely yes, you can wear those Louboutin’s that you are dreaming about for your beach destination wedding.
We hoped that our experience has helped you somewhat in choosing that perfect wedding dress in which you have envisioned yourself walking down the aisle while gentle breeze is swaying palm trees and your love is waiting for you by the turquoise Ocean. The essence of this post is that the most important thing to remember is to stay true to yourself. Don’t worry what anyone else thinks you should or shouldn’t wear. It will be the most important day in your and your future spouse life. It is all about what makes you happy, beautiful and confident.
“Phil and I met through mutual friends at a local bar that he was working at. We talked on and off for about 6 months before we decided to give it a try, but once we did, we were inseparable. Our relationship is special for so many reasons but I think a huge thing that’s special about it, is that we challenge each other without hurting each other. We can be really honest with one another without being mean and I think that is so important in a relationship. We started dating in February of 2016 and got officially married in the U.S. on February 29, 2020. We got married on Leap day in Colorado and had our ceremony and reception at Kukua Beach Club in Punta Cana with our friends and family. Our wedding day at Kukua was the most beautiful day we could have asked for. We had perfect weather and so much love around us. The highlight for both Phil and I would definitely be seeing each other at the end of the aisle. It was the best.”
Bride and Groom Wedding Day Story:
Q: Tell us about your wedding! What was the inspiration behind your day?
Did you have a specific theme, style or color palette? Did you incorporate any cultural or religious traditions in any part of your day?
A: We got married at Kukua beach club. Our inspiration was simplicity. We just wanted it to be really classic and not too fussy with a pastel dusty kind of color palette. We didn’t have any religion incorporated in our wedding and no strong cultural traditions at all.
Q: Let’s talk wedding decor. How did you decorate your space for the ceremony and the reception? Was any part of the decor DIY?
A: We decorated the wedding with lots of pastel florals and eucalyptus and greenery. Because we were planning the wedding in a destination, we weren’t able to do any DIY.
Q: What were the florals like in your wedding? Did you use flowers in any of your design elements like the bridal bouquets, centerpieces or ceremony backdrop? Did they play an important part in the overall style of your wedding?
A: Florals were definitely a big part of our wedding. For our ceremony backdrop we had two giant vases filled with pastel flowers and lots of greenery. We wanted everything to look very organic and natural. For our centerpieces we kept with similar ideas. We wanted a boa style centerpiece with lots of greenery and some candles for a romantic addition. The flowers were definitely a very important part of our wedding.
Q: Did you personalize the day in any way (food trucks, guest entertainment etc.)? What were some of your favorite parts of your wedding?
A: We personalized our day by making it exactly what we wanted from top to bottom but we didn’t have any entertainment or extras. Some of my favorite parts of the wedding were the decor, I was obsessed with our cake. And we loved our reception. It was so fun to hang out with all of our friends and dance and enjoy ourselves after all the stress of the wedding day was over.
Q: Let’s talk fashion. How did you both choose your wedding day look? Describe the looks in detail.
A: As a beach bride I was always thinking that I wanted a simple classic kind of dress. Something that wouldn’t be too hot and wouldn’t be too fussy. I really wanted my dress to speak for itself. When I went to try on dresses I tried a lot of different styles and the simple ones were the ones I was most drawn to. I ended up picking a simple ivory fitted dress with a sweetheart neckline and off the shoulder sleeves. Because we were getting married on the beach we almost wanted it to be a little more casual. Originally, we didn’t even think he would wear a suit jacket but when we were shopping for another friend’s wedding he found a jacket that he loved and decided it would be perfect for OUR own wedding.
Q: How did you meet? Tell us about the proposal.
A: We met through mutual friends and dated for 2.5 years before we got engaged. Phil proposed when we were on a trip to Europe. He knows that I don’t do well with grand gestures in public. So, when we were in Austria, he got a beautiful hotel on the lake and took me out to dinner so I would be dressed up and have some makeup on. Then once we were done with dinner he said we should go back to the hotel to watch the sunset over the lake and when we got to the lake, he got down on one knee and proposed.
Q: What was the most anticipated or special moment of your wedding day?
A: My most anticipated moment of the wedding day was seeing all the details that we had talked about finally come together. It was so amazing to see something that so many people have worked so hard to turn into something real and even better than I ever imagined. But I think we both agree that the most special moment was seeing each other for the first time at the altar.
Q: Do you have any wedding planning or marriage advice that you’d like to share with other couples planning their day?
A: We definitely don’t feel like experts on the subject but my main advice would be to figure out the top things that are important to each of you for the wedding and make sure you keep that as the focus. Everything else will work out and no matter what, you are marrying your favorite person and everything else kind of falls away. Even with all the stresses 🙂
Kukua Punta Cana. It was a perfect day in the Caribbean. We were heading towards another piece of haven secluded in between two major hotels on Punta Cana shores, Bahia Principe Luxury Resort and Riu Palace. Passing by golf courses we hit the fairy-tale view, cozy road full of greenery, side entrance prepared for wedding guests and incredibly decorated covered salon. From the salon, over the sparkling blue pool, you can see in the full Caribbean glory gorgeous gazebo nested in the middle of the beach overlooking the ocean. Kukua venue wedding was in full preparation swing. Perfectly orchestrated, stuff was decorating straight from the heart to fulfill Bride’s dream… On the side of gazebo there was prepared a covered beach house, Palapa. A solution for the case of rain. Little decorated chapel, next to the ocean but not on the beach which make it perfect for religious ceremonies. While I do’s ware echoing over the ocean, indistinct murmur and cheering of guests at Kukua Punta Cana amazed with pure manifestation of love in front of their eyes, starts to expand on the beach and streams of good food and exotic drinks start to flow all the way into the reception. Party by the pool… Love was shining… While we were leaving into the night our hearts was full of love and joy.
Wedding dress by Sottero and Midgley
Ballroom wedding dress by Essense of Australia
Examples of elegant wedding decor at destination wedding
Examples of elegant wedding decor at destination wedding
Mermaid style wedding dress
Wedding decor at destination wedding
A-line wedding dress by Made with love
Bohemian wedding dress by Riki Dalal
Wedding decor at destination wedding
Sheath Wedding gown by Anais Annette
Wedding dress by Luciana Vieira – Dalu Atelie
Trumpet style wedding dress without train by Allure Bridals
Sheath wedding dress with Sweep Train by Anais Annette
Ballroom style wedding dress with Chapel Train by Essense of Australia
Wedding dress with Cathedral Train by Enzoani
Wedding dress with extra length Cathedral Train – Royal train by Essense of Australia
Wedding dress with extra length Cathedral Train – Monarch train by Essense of Australia
Wedding dress with Bustled Train by Martina Liana
Mid-Length Veil and wedding dress by Hayley Paige
Blusher Veil
Cathedral Veil by Pnina Tornai
Cathedral Veil and wedding dress by Martina Liana
Walkway at Kukua Punta Cana
Badgley Mischka Bridal Shoes
Barefoot sandals
Christian Louboutin Bridal Shoes
