Matt & Megan
Hyatt Ziva/Zilara Cap Cana
July 22, 2022
My husband, Matt, and I are from the same small town in East Central Illinois (Charleston) and met in high school....a long time ago :) We casually hung out with each other for about year in 2001/2002, but eventually went our separate ways after graduating. Fast forward about 15 years, a random Facebook message during a happy hour connected us in 2016. My journey brought me to KC in 2009 and Matt was in the Coast Guard stationed in St Joseph, Michigan. We did the long distance thing for about a year and a half before we decided that I would move with him to his next USCG assignment. Little did I know, he had applied for a law enforcement job in the KC area and ended up getting the position. He moved to KC in March 2018 and we were engaged in Dec 2020. We ended up having a long year and half engagement, to make sure all Covid restrictions were lifted prior to our wedding. We knew we wanted a small beach wedding, but definitely not Mexico. I had seen LTT when I was around town and saw their amazing reviews. Matt and I went and talked to Kim and she suggested Cap Cana, Dominican Republic. We are SO HAPPY about how our wedding went. We had 21 total people at our wedding and it was the perfect amount. Hyatt Ziva/Zilara Cap Cana was a dream and everyone had a blast! I wouldn't change the resort or the destination even if I had to redo it. We plan on using LTT for future vacations and cannot wait to have them help plan our next adventure!
Destination & Resort:
Hyatt Ziva/Zilara Cap Cana
Wedding package:
Lavish and Opulent
Number of guests:
21
Ceremony location:
Zilara Gazebo
Reception Location:
Ziva Rooftop
Photographer:
We used a local photographer/videographer and LOVED them! Junior Cruz Photography
Favorite Wedding Memory:
Having our closest family and friends celebrate with us. We are SO GLAD we had a small intimate wedding with the best people we know!
Favorite thing about the resort:
The hospitality. The people in the DR are so accommodating. We formed special relationships with several of the resort staff and my nephews even cried when they have to leave their favorite pool bartender Daniel.
Excursions:
For our welcome party the day before our wedding, we used Hispaniola Aquatic Adventures Punta Cana for a private catamaran. It was AWESOME! If you ask every single person what their favorite thing was, this was it. The drinks were great, the food was amazing, the guides were the BEST! It truly was one of the best days we have ever had! I would recommend this excursion 1000% over and over again!
Why did you choose to partner with Love to Travel for your destination wedding:
I saw LTT a long time ago when I was taking my niece and nephew to Red Robin in OP. I remembered them when I got engaged and did some research prior to calling Kim to make an appointment to come talk. Once we met Kim and she showed us some places, we walked out and Matt said "We are going to Cap Cana". It was that easy and that fast! Everyone LOVED working with Alexis and the team. We were so happy with how things turned out. Alexis has been the sweetest and we are so happy to have them as a part of our vacation planning crew going forward :)
Advice to other wedding couples:
Go with your gut and what you want! I know there were several family/friends that were upset they weren't invited to our wedding. We wanted small! It ended up being the best decision we made. Every single person that came meant the most to us and we would not have changed anything. We didn't feel like we had to entertain a whole crew of people, but we got to spend a lot of time with each person individually and as a group. IT. WAS. AMAZING.
Where do you want to go for your 1 year anniversary:
I think we would like to do something small for our one year. Our plan is to possibly take the train from KC to Chicago and spend time downtown being tourists in a city we are familiar with. 2023 will be a year of relaxation :) We plan to take a trip overseas to Greece/Italy for our 5 year anniversary!
Hyatt Ziva/Zilara Cap Cana
Wedding package:
Lavish and Opulent
Number of guests:
21
Ceremony location:
Zilara Gazebo
Reception Location:
Ziva Rooftop
Photographer:
We used a local photographer/videographer and LOVED them! Junior Cruz Photography
Favorite Wedding Memory:
Having our closest family and friends celebrate with us. We are SO GLAD we had a small intimate wedding with the best people we know!
Favorite thing about the resort:
The hospitality. The people in the DR are so accommodating. We formed special relationships with several of the resort staff and my nephews even cried when they have to leave their favorite pool bartender Daniel.
Excursions:
For our welcome party the day before our wedding, we used Hispaniola Aquatic Adventures Punta Cana for a private catamaran. It was AWESOME! If you ask every single person what their favorite thing was, this was it. The drinks were great, the food was amazing, the guides were the BEST! It truly was one of the best days we have ever had! I would recommend this excursion 1000% over and over again!
Why did you choose to partner with Love to Travel for your destination wedding:
I saw LTT a long time ago when I was taking my niece and nephew to Red Robin in OP. I remembered them when I got engaged and did some research prior to calling Kim to make an appointment to come talk. Once we met Kim and she showed us some places, we walked out and Matt said "We are going to Cap Cana". It was that easy and that fast! Everyone LOVED working with Alexis and the team. We were so happy with how things turned out. Alexis has been the sweetest and we are so happy to have them as a part of our vacation planning crew going forward :)
Advice to other wedding couples:
Go with your gut and what you want! I know there were several family/friends that were upset they weren't invited to our wedding. We wanted small! It ended up being the best decision we made. Every single person that came meant the most to us and we would not have changed anything. We didn't feel like we had to entertain a whole crew of people, but we got to spend a lot of time with each person individually and as a group. IT. WAS. AMAZING.
Where do you want to go for your 1 year anniversary:
I think we would like to do something small for our one year. Our plan is to possibly take the train from KC to Chicago and spend time downtown being tourists in a city we are familiar with. 2023 will be a year of relaxation :) We plan to take a trip overseas to Greece/Italy for our 5 year anniversary!