Sharon, the O.G. Barefoot Bride
If there’s one thing I never thought would happen when I was planning my wedding, it was this. I’m referring to this right here, this webpage you’re on, this website, this company! I’ve always loved the ocean and couldn’t imagine anything more romantic than a beach wedding and that’s all I cared for. Well, that and for my guests to say that this was the very best wedding they had ever been to (spoiler alert: that’s exactly what they said).
The idea of a toes in the sand, sea salt hair in the wind, glittering ocean backdrop destination wedding was born when we took our first trip to Mexico together. We stayed at the Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya and had an amazing time. I vividly recall looking at the beautiful water and us deciding, “when we get married, we’re going to have a destination wedding.” We weren’t even engaged!
Fast forward a few years and an engagement ring and we were saying our vows in the paradise that is Punta Cana.
You probably already caught on to this well-kept secret, but… wedding planning is actually pretty stressful! Add to the mix that you’re planning a wedding from another country, possibly to a location you’ve never been to and may not ever visit, plus it’s a vacation for all of your guests that are spending thousands to come celebrate your love, and oh boy, the pressure is on! At least for me, that’s how it all felt. I wanted the perfect location for our wedding, yes, but I also knew that I wanted everyone to be happy with the vacation they were going on, that I was choosing and planning for them.
I looked at every island, Mexico, Hawaii, most of Central America; I considered renting out an entire small boutique hotel for a long weekend; I looked at all inclusive options and non all inclusive options. I researched so much and became so overwhelmed, I had to take a break! And I never found my travel agent to be super helpful in the process. I really wished she would have helped guide me a little and reign me in when I felt like I was about to go overboard.
Ultimately, we decided that the best thing to do was choose an all inclusive property. Our guests would know exactly the amount it would cost them in advance, no one would have to worry about bringing money to pay for food or drinks, trying to buy out a whole property and negotiate all inclusive rates with them was way too complicated, and an all inclusive property was what brought us to the conclusion of a destination wedding to begin with!
After more research, we chose Punta Cana (we decided we wanted to go somewhere new, so we ruled out Mexico and Hawaii was too far and expensive) and ultimately ended up with Paradisus Palma Real. The property was so beautiful, the service great, the food was good, our guests had an amazing time!
And the wedding? We love sunrises and chose to get married off property at Huracan Cafe with Mayte and Nati the wedding designers dream team I didn’t know I needed. Our resort was unable to accommodate a sunrise ceremony. The sunrise ceremony was fantastic! Everyone got to go back to the resort for breakfast together and then hang out until cocktail hour and the reception later that day. Add in a fire show and our guests were raving about the wedding and whole experience.
You might have noticed in our photos already, but we had a Jewish destination wedding, with a chuppah, a rabbi, and breaking the cup!
We later “mini-mooned” at Breathless Punta Cana and it was fantastic! It’s where we had our trash the dress sesh (you guessed it, at sunrise!).
I might be biased, but a destination wedding is “the way” to do it: the best way to get married. Stressful? Sure. Worth it? Absolutely. I had days and days of memories with my favorite people on the planet. Who else can say that about their domestic wedding? Most of my friends barely had time to even say hi to all their guests!
Going back to my travel agent, not only was she unhelpful when planning everything, she also disappeared for days at a time, not responding to my guests who wanted to book, misspelled people’s names on their reservations, and overall just added more stress to an already stressful process. But, I owe her my gratitude. Because she didn’t help, I decided to start Barefoot Bridal with the mission of making sure no Barefoot Bride (or Barefoot Groom or Barefoot Wedding Couple!) goes through what I went through. I am so, so happy that I get to help wedding couples make their wedding dreams come true! So for that, I thank her along with every wedding couple that has trusted Barefoot Bridal with helping create their priceless memories.
