Planning: First I would like to say that planning our wedding was an absolute breeze. I can’t even imagine what it’s like having to plan a wedding in the states after doing it like this. The hardest part of planning was picking out what style decor I wanted. It felt so luxurious sending inspiration pictures and saying “I’d like to do this” and Kukua made it happen. I booked with Kukua a little over a year and a half before my wedding date so I had plenty of meetings and email exchanges with Rachel. Rachel was so easy to work with and very responsive to all my emails. She made the planning process stress free, exciting, and fun! If had the opportunity to do everything all over again, I would do everything all the same.

Venue/Decor: Absolutely breathtaking, Mayte took my inspiration pictures and made them come to life but 10x better. When I first saw our decor the morning of my wedding I couldn’t help but cry because everything was just SO beautiful. Our guests raved about the decor/details and how picture perfect everything was. The staff was also amazing, everyone was so friendly, professional and they made sure we were all taken care of. For having a destination beach wedding everyone was very impressed by how formal everything was which is exactly what we wanted!

Food/Drink: For dinner we did the caesar salad, penne pasta, beef tenderloin and red snapper. For our dessert table we had chocolate mousse, churros, and crème brûlée. We all loved everything, it was delicious. For our drinks we had Sex On The Beach and Something Blue, these were also very tasty! We did have hors d’oeuvres for cocktail hour but we ended up never trying them because we were busy taking photos. The staff did bring us over some plus cocktails while we were taking photos during cocktail hour, but we opted to finish photos rather than take a break to eat but they looked great. Our guests said it was all very good! They always say that food is one of the most memorable parts of a wedding and that is certainly true!

DJ: As a type A person who takes music playlists VERY seriously I created separate Spotify playlists for cocktail hour, dinner, and dancing to give to the DJ. We had no issues with him following the playlists and during the dancing he mixed the music so each song flowed into the next smoothly. We had so much fun dancing, I never stepped off the dance floor all night!

Photography/Videography: Love & Sea Photography! In my opinion, the absolute most important part of planning a wedding is picking the perfect photographer because at the end of the day the only thing you have left to relive the moments of your wedding is through photography/videography. I picked right and the sneak peak pictures attached are proof. When I was searching for a photographer I had a certain aesthetic in mind, I didn’t want a ton of cookie cutter family portraits, I wanted those “in the moment” beautiful photos. I remember when I found Love & Sea Photography on instagram and I knew instantly that I needed to book with Severine. We picked the “Love & Sea Full” package so we could have photography, videography, and drone footage. I have to say having a drone there was pretty cool and the sneak peak photos from it look amazing! I only had a few types of photos I knew I wanted to take and other than that I told Severine I trust her creativity and to just tell us what to do! It’s obviously a little awkward taking photos in front of so many people but Severine and her team did an excellent job making us feel as comfortable as possible. (side note: I can’t believe how many people on the beach completely stopped what they were doing to watch us! Thank god for photoshop!) I’m absolutely in love with the sneak peak photos we have received so far, and I can’t wait to get the rest. I also did flower perseveration with Fleurever Bouquet Preservation which is a business Severine started and I am so excited to see how it comes out!

Makeup/Hair: Olga Montilla! Olga was wonderful, very easy to talk to, and professional. She did my sister, mother, and I’s hair and makeup. I was very nervous having someone else do my hair and makeup due to negative experiences in the past back home so I scheduled a trail day to play it safe. I didn’t even need to show Olga a picture of what I wanted, I just told her “soft bridal glam” and my hair half up half down and she worked her magic. My makeup wore beautifully, we only made a small tweak to the makeup for the day of the wedding (I just wanted my skin more matte). The three of us loved how our hair and makeup came out and we each received so many compliments on it. I honestly can’t believe how beautiful my makeup and hair was, I wish I could have my makeup like that everyday haha. Olga also stayed literally up until the moment I walked down the aisle so that she could touch up my makeup if needed which I really appreciated!

Travel consultant: Passion Getaways Int LLC! My husband and I have been using Anastasiya at Passion Getaways for several years now so it was a no brainer to have all our guests for our wedding book with her as well. Anastasiya makes booking trips so easy and stress free. She helped us with booking our resort, flights, and transfers. We can’t wait to book with her again for our rest trip!

Our dream wedding took place on 15th January 2025 and it truly was the best day of our lives and everything we wanted and more, I wanted to do a long review with our overall experience with Kukua and all the vendors we chose💍 we could not fault anything from our day, it was everything we dreamed off and it was so surreal to see all of our visions come to life 💘

Pre-wedding - 10/10: they say organising a wedding can be one of the most stressful things, however for us this was not the case, we absolutely loved the whole process and journey of planning our dream wedding and that is all thanks to Rachel. Rachel was an absolute joy, the sweetest person ever and was there for us through every little step. We looked forward to all of our meetings with her and she makes you feel so special. With every question I had she would respond so quickly. With all my crazy ideas she was honest about what she would think would work with our small intimate party and made so many good suggestions to make things more cost effective for us. We are so thankful to you Rachel and couldn’t have done this without you.

Venue / Decor - 10/10:We were lucky enough to have a holiday in Punta Cana two years before our wedding and got to see Kukua in all its beauty before making a decision. As soon as we looked round we knew this was going to be our wedding venue. Kukua is absolutely stunning in all of the pictures however it is even better in person. Our decor was exactly how I envisioned and there was so many small touches that just made it so personal and special. When arriving at the venue on the day I was blown away with how beautiful everything was. Being a small party our biggest concern was filling the space. Rachel squashed all my worries and mayte did an incredible job in filling space and making it look perfect. I was absolutely obsessed with my flowers from our arch to my bouquet to the small details if

Mayte / Kukua Staff - 10/10: when arriving for our meeting and tasting of cocktails 2 days before the wedding we honestly felt like royalty. The staff wouldn’t let us carry anything and was given Prosecco on arrival, we had a tour round the venue and then was met with the lovely Mayte. She is the loveliest person and went through every small detail and was so accommodating when we had a few little tweaks to make. On the wedding day she was there for us all through every little step, kept checking in to see if we needed anything and most importantly made my dreams come to life. The staff at Kukua were exceptional, couldn’t do enough for you and were so professional throughout our wedding day.

Alejandro - 10/10: We feel so lucky to had Alejandro as our officiant and MC. He made me feel at ease and so comfortable throughout the ceremony. He came to see me before and made sure I was happy with the script. Everyone in our party said how organised everything was and that is thanks to this man here. He made sure all of us stayed on track with speeches and dances and the whole day and evening went perfect!

Food/Drink 10/10: Due to our small party we didn’t get to have the full tasting of food when we met mayte. However we did get to taste all of our chosen cocktails and just wow, incredible. We chose pina colada as our welcome cocktail and it was delicious. Our two signature cocktails were passion fruit mojito and something blue, both were absolutely incredible however I think majority of our party preferred the something blue. The menu we picked was ‘Isla Catalina’ and I was a bit nervous as like I said we didn’t get to try the food before however i could not fault any of the food that was served to us that day. All our guests loved every single course and loved the appetizers during cocktail hour. For dessert we had our wedding cake and again was so delicious. We picked up our wedding cake the next day and kept it in our room, we had our last bit of cake a week after the wedding and it still tasted as fresh as it did on the wedding day.

DJ: Amazing, played a lot of our playlist however then played some songs from the type of genres on the playlist and absolutely nailed it. Our guests loved the fact we could also request songs on the night.

Saxophonist: an extra that we were debating for a while but I am so so glad we went ahead. It was a lovely experience for our guests to have during cocktail. Of course me and Liam were off having our photos done so didn’t get to experience it fully however we could hear him in the background and got to see the last 15 min or so and it was perfect. Our guests absolutely loved it.

Overall I could not fault a single thing about our wedding, our dream Pinterest wedding came to live thanks to all of these beautiful people. I can’t believe it’s all over :( my biggest advice would be to take in every single moment and enjoy it as it really is over so quickly. Thank you so much again to everyone involved in our wedding you truly made it the best day of our lives 💍🌴

📅 Wedding Date: 11/23/2024
👥 Guest Count: 59
⭐ Kukua Experience: 10/10

Choosing Kukua Beach Club & Restaurant for our wedding was truly one of the best decisions we made. From start to finish, everything was seamless, magical, and beyond what we imagined.

From the moment we arrived, we felt welcomed and genuinely cared for. The entire team—Rachel, David, and Mayte—went above and beyond to make sure we had the most incredible day. David constantly checked in to ensure I was eating and drinking (a lifesaver for any bride!), and when my bustle broke, Mayte and my bridesmaids pinned my entire train on the spot so I could dance the night away without worry. Mayte is truly the Fairy Godmother of Weddings—she made sure every detail was flawless and that the day flowed effortlessly. Their attentiveness and kindness made all the difference.

Food & Drinks: A Culinary Dream
Our guests are still raving about the ceviche, pasta, and passion fruit mojitos—and I have to say, the pasta was unbelievable! Instead of a traditional cake, we opted for a dessert table, and everything disappeared in record time. The quality, presentation, and flavors were perfection.

Decor & Planning: A Dream Come to Life
The venue looked absolutely stunning. Rachel helped me make smart design choices to bring my vision to life while staying within budget. She gave brilliant advice—suggesting different height centerpieces for dimension, a cigar table instead of a roller, skipping chargers, and adding greenery to the ceiling. Mayte then executed it all beautifully, and seeing the space transformed on our wedding day was a moment I’ll never forget.

The Weather Curveball
The morning of our wedding, it rained. But thanks to the Kukua team, we never had to stress. They reset everything as soon as the rain cleared, handed out umbrellas to guests, and made sure our ceremony still happened on the beach—just as we had dreamed. Their ability to handle every challenge with grace made all the difference.

The Party: A Night to Remember
The reception was a non-stop celebration! The DJ followed my playlist perfectly, reading the crowd and keeping the energy electric all night long. So many of our guests told us it was one of the most fun and unforgettable weddings they had ever attended. And of course, we ended the night with a jump in the pool!

Extra Touches That Made the Night Special
✅ 360 Photo Booth – A fun addition, though most guests were too busy dancing to use it. In hindsight, I could have skipped it.
✅ Hora Loca – A MUST! It had everyone on their feet, and the energy was through the roof.
✅ Ice Cream Cart (Joy Nutritional Pop) – Perfect for the warm weather! The alcohol-infused popsicles were a huge hit. They were on time and extremely attentive of our guest!

Looking back, the night flew by in the best way possible. My husband and I are beyond grateful to the Kukua team for making our wedding a true fairytale. If you're considering getting married here, don’t hesitate Kukua is pure magic! ✨