Kukua Beach Club & Restaurant

We had our wedding on May 23, 2022 and it was everything I could have asked for. We were a total of 73 people (68 adults, 4 kids, & 1 infant (our own 10-mo old baby!)). I knew I wanted to have a destination wedding and since my husband is Dominican, I thought it would be great to have it in Punta Cana. I initially looked at several resorts to have the wedding there & their packages were “eh” and I didn’t really like where the resorts had their ceremony & reception. I didn’t want other guests to be overlooking, so I was trying to find a private (or at least semi-private) location. I was on WeddingWire and found Kukua! I read all the reviews I could find so I thought I’d reach out and see what their packages were like. On behalf of Kukua, Rachel, who will be the one you’ll be planning the wedding with, was the one to respond back to me and sent me a detailed email with all the info you’ll need. Kukua was different from the rest because they do A-la-carte so your wedding will LITERALLY be whatever you want it to be! I absolutely loved that we were able to choose every detail & not have to pick from a package. Also, the response time from Rachel was *chefs kiss*. I appreciated how fast she got back to me! She’s also on WhatsApp so any little question I had, I just sent her a message. Communication was so easy.

Planning: Planning the wedding was so fun, especially since there’s a Kukua Pinterest page. I saw what kind of décor past brides had chosen and that helped me decide what I liked or didn’t like for our wedding. There’s an outline the couple will have to fill out so that everything is all in one document. I literally copied&pasted so many images just to make sure that the vision for the wedding was clear and the whole Kukua team definitely delivered. Mayte is the other wedding planner, who is based in DR, that runs the whole set up for your wedding. Rachel & Mayte are the best!

Wedding: My husband and I didn’t want a beach wedding, so we chose The Palapa & it was perfect. Made the ceremony more intimate and provided the shade that I knew our family would have wanted. There was a refreshing breeze so it wasn’t hot at all. The cocktail hour took place outdoors around the pool area, Dinner in the Main Salon, and then the dancing back outside. The weather was perfect, however, it did rain towards the end of the night and so everyone went back in the Main Salon & mingled. Music was still playing though when the rain slowed to a drizzle, my husband and I danced alone on the dance floor during our last 2 songs of the night J It was so perfect.

Food: The food & drinks here were great! We decided with 4 appetizers for cocktail hr (garlic shrimp, shrimp mofonguito, chicken pineapple, and yucca balls). We chose the Cap Cana menu for dinner, but made a few adjustments due to allergies & preference. Open bar throughout the night & our signature drinks were Passion Fruit Mojito (A MUST) & Blue Hawaiian. Everyone will eat the same thing for dinner, just FYI! Unless there’s an allergy, of course, but the guests won’t choose what they prefer to eat. We also had a dessert table of mini desserts (passionfruit mousse, chocolate mousse, crème brulee, and lime cake. Our wedding cake was 3 tiers – two of vanilla cake w/ dulce de leche filing & 1 tier of vanilla cake w/ guava filling.

Music: We chose to use Kukua’s DJ and he was great! We have to submit a DJ music outline as well and he followed everything we put in there.

Entertainment: For ceremony & cocktail hr, we hired a piano/guitar duo called LoveInPuntaCana & they were amazing! Unfortunately, I think they’re moving out of DR but I’m so glad we had them play in our wedding. For the reception, we got the “Crazy Hour” and it was so fun! They really get the party going and it’s pretty much like a Zumba class BUT everyone was on the dance floor! We also had a photobooth and our vendor was FunBoothPC.

Photography & Videography: Karina Jensen & Cores Films. I personally chose 2 different vendors, so if you’re on the fence about it – it’s definitely doable! They’ve worked together plenty of times so there was no issue.

Overall – If you’ve been looking to have a wedding in DR and want to have more freedom in making your wedding more unique, definitely consider Kukua! They’ll do their best to work with your budget & everything will turn out beautifully.

*pictures are a mix of professional photos and my own*