Sanctuary Cap Cana Wedding – Lilly and Manny

What happens when you mix Persian and Latin in a new family? “Lots of food & hugs!!!!” Sanctuary Cap Cana Dominican Republic Wedding

“When Manny and I first met we had no idea how similar our cultures actually were. Both Persian and Latin cultures have a strong focus on close family ties, respect, and hard work.” – Lilly

Multi-cultural weddings are incredible experiences. Lilly and Manny blended their Persian and Dominican heritages to create a spectacular wedding at the Sanctuary Cap Cana Resort in the Dominican Republic.

“We put A LOT of planning and effort into our wedding. We didn’t want to let our hectic work lives prevent us from paying attention to all the details. Manny and I lived 1.5 hours away from each other so every weekend was filled with wedding planning (which I miss now but can’t say the same for Manny!) With a Persian bride I think everyone who was part of the planning knew they had their work cut out, LOL! This wouldn’t have been possible without our amazing vendors – especially Jaime Gonzalez who was able to bring to life all those Pinterest photos and ideas I would email him! :D” – Lilly

Lilly is clearly a bride with impeccable attention to detail, including the perfect wedding day gift for her husband to be:

“Before the ceremony one of the bridesmaids hand delivered a card and little notebook from Lilly – the notebook was filled with “Reasons Why I Want to Marry You” on every page. All of a sudden, from that moment, all the franticness of that day, all the commotion around me suddenly disappeared and I had a moment where I felt her heart next to mine and nothing else mattered. Even from across the room she can still find a way to show me that everything will be ok.” – Manny

It was great to see old Persian wedding traditions like the knife dance, “raghse chaghoo”, where the newlywed couple has to ‘earn’ the knife to cut their cake with.

“Typically, women of the bridal party will begin dancing to Persian music with the knife, one by one. The groom then has to try and bribe one of the dancers with cash in exchange for the knife. The dancer can then either hand the knife over or can play coy and keep passing the knife to the next dancer until someone is satisfied with what the groom is offering (typically after a few dancers the women finally give in!).” – Lilly

With all the planning and attention to detail in their wedding we wanted to know how Lilly and Manny felt enjoying their incredible celebration.

“I remember Manny and I sitting at our sweetheart table eating dinner, feeling ecstatic, and watching our lovely guests when all of a sudden we looked at each other and asked “what are we doing wrong? Have we forgotten to do something?” We had always heard from other couples how the bride and groom doesn’t have time to eat or enjoy their reception at all. Well, for us it was the opposite! We ate, drank, and danced as much (if not more than) our guests! A big part of that was possible because the amazing Sol whisked us away immediately after our ceremony and got all the incredible shots done super-fast so we didn’t have to miss out on anything!”

We love to travel but most of our weddings are in the Riviera Maya. We asked Lilly and Manny how did a couple from New York getting married in the Dominican Republic decide to hire a Mexican photographer?

“We saw photos from an article on Janine – the bride-to-be who tragically lost her husband 52 days before her wedding. Those photos were so extraordinary and each one told a story. You could tell there was a connection with the photographer. That beautiful work of art is what drew us to Del Sol. After one Skype conference with Sol, Manny and I knew we had found the perfect person to capture our special day. Sol’s energy, love for life, and passion shine through immediately and she was one of the best decisions we made throughout this entire process!!” – Lilly

“We really truly had a BLAST during our wedding and seeing our friends and families faces when they saw everything come together was priceless. It felt like a real life fairytale and I was the princess who got to marry the handsome prince.” – Lilly

Lilly and Manny didn’t touch the sand on their wedding day but Sol took them for a pre-wedding session for Sanctuary Cap Cana beach portraits beach engagement photos.

Principal Photographer: Sol

Wedding Location:

Sanctuary Cap Cana Dominican Republic Wedding

Wedding Planner: Jaime Gonzalez of VIP Eventos. “My life saver! Without Jaime we would’ve been lost. He brought to life everything we had envisioned no matter how ridiculous it was!!” – Lilly

Gown Boutique: Dennis Basso “The dress…I  can’t describe how much fun it was twisting, twirling, and happy dancing in that huge dress!!! I knew she’d be perfect for the job from the moment I tried her on at Kleinfeld’s and she took up the entire fitting room and demanded attention!! :D” – Lilly

Make-Up: Edward St Hilaire “Edward and his team did an amazing job for my bridal party and I” – Lilly

Cake: Cake Studio by Mily Pimentel “Delicious and beautiful” – Lilly