Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Wedding

This was hands down the longest wedding I’ve ever photographed! We shot for 18 hours straight and I left a little delirious! Sarah and Chris’ wedding planner, Gabriella, of DeFlora Events told me that weddings in the D.R. only stop when they run out of alcohol or people quit dancing. At 4am the dance floor emptied. I’m proud to say that of the 300 wedding guests, I was out there to the end. There is embarrassing video of my last dance at the bottom of this post.

Diego Columbus’ Castle

Christopher Columbus’ son, Diego, Built a castle in 1502 on the coast of what is now known as the Dominican Republic (seen below). Parts of that site have been remodeled into Hodelpa Nicolás de Ovando Hotel and Resort. Wedding guests and myself stayed here and it’s where their beautiful wedding ceremony was held.

Custom Built Reception

The open air reception site was built from the ground up for this wedding. Among the lists of normal vendors, in the D.R. it’s common for people to hire carpenters and rent lumber. Every structure that is pictured at the reception was built two days prior to Sarah and Chris’ wedding, and was then taken completely apart the day following the wedding! All that remained were the trees and grass!