Tropical Destination Wedding | Madeline & Kody

Madeline and Kody wanted to celebrate their special day in a place that would be absolutely perfect for them. They chose the Dominican Republic, a tropical paradise with white sand beaches and crystal clear waters. Punta Cana was the ideal destination for their wedding, with its sunshine and beautiful views. The Zoetry Resort provided them with everything they needed to make their wedding day unforgettable. From the stunning views of the Caribbean Sea to an intimate ceremony on the resort, Madeline and Kody had an unforgettable wedding in The Dominican Republic!

Madeline shared with me all the details of their destination wedding at Zoetry Resort. She told me how excited she was to have her toes in the sand, feel the sun shining on her face and be surrounded by her closest loved ones on her special day. I asked Madeline questions about what made this destination wedding so special for them and how they chose this location.

How did you know you wanted a destination wedding?

“I wasn’t the little girl who dreamed of her wedding day, but one thing that I knew for sure was that I wanted to get married barefoot at a beach. Though, once I was engaged and it came time to really start wedding planning, the list of considerations seemed to pile up. Don’t we want our grandparents there? What if our friends and family can’t afford to come? Would we be putting people in a tough position? Would people think we didn’t care about them? (Etc.) We actually talked ourselves out of a destination wedding and started planning one in my hometown. And at that point I wasn’t even excited for my own wedding. Moral of the story, my fiancé and I eventually snapped out of it and decided to stop thinking about everyone else and start planning the day that we wanted. So if this dilemma sounds familiar to you, consider this your sign to just freaking go for it! Because let me tell you, we are SO happy with our choice!”

What was your favorite part about your wedding day?

“Oh man… can I say all of it? Honestly, it all felt like a dream. That sounds so cheesy, but it did. My favorite part was seeing all of my favorite people socializing and playing volleyball at the pool each day. Running into each other at the restaurants, on the beach for the beach parties, and evening shows. Watching our families become family while they took a much needed vacation. As for the wedding day itself, it was getting married to my now husband without a worry in the world. Our wedding coordinator had everything handled and I trusted Elle to beautifully capture each moment as she does! So all that was left for me was to enjoy each precious moment of that day!'“

Why did you choose Punta Cana?

“This part was difficult, as there are so many beautiful places in the world that we could have picked. But eventually we had to narrow it down and go all-in. My husband and I had been to Punta Cana together when we were dating and loved everything about our trip. So when we found the resort online, we knew it was time to say yes!”

Advice you can tell other people who are considering a destination wedding?

“If it’s what you want, don’t talk yourself out of it! We were really worried about not having all of our friends and family there, but once we were there, we weren’t dwelling on who was not. We simply had the time of our lives with who was. Do whatever you need to do that will make you look back and say: “That was honestly the best day of our lives.””

Any difficulties you ran into while planning your destination wedding?

“Yes! If we could go back, we would not put a third party travel agency in-between our guest and the resort. It made things much more complicated than they had to be without cost benefit to our guest. I wish we simply would have contacted the resort to set up the accommodations and travel to and from the airport.”

Did you feel like you had more quality time with guests at your wedding?

“My husband and I still talk about how happy we are to have done our wedding the way that we did because we were able to spend a week in paradise celebrating with our friends and family. How often do both sides of the family, along with your closest friends, get to all be at one resort together simply having fun? It may never happen again. Many of our guests mentioned how special the opportunity was, for everyone to have an excuse to go on vacation and make amazing memories together.”