A Stylish and Tropical Destination Wedding at Hard Rock Punta Cana in The Dominican Republic

It was 2007 when Nicholas Parker first met Joseph Minasi in NYC. “He was going to the School of Visual Arts at the time and we decided to meet for dinner one night,” Nicholas shares. “Dinner turned into walking around New York City literally all night for eight hours, talking about our lives, our hopes, our dreams; not really thinking that moment would be the beginning of an adventure joining our two lives together forever.”

Over the next several years, the couple began their own luxury cinematography company dedicated to filming high-end events, weddings, fashion, and more. During that time, the two filmed countless weddings together, so they knew exactly what they wanted for their own wedding. They just weren’t sure when it would happen.

With their ten-year anniversary approaching, Nicholas knew he wanted to pop the question. Since he and Joseph throw a huge Halloween party every year, Nicholas started working on an over-the-top fire show with a proposal as the grand finale. For 30 minutes, family and friends were wowed by fire breathing, fire throwing, and a bevy of other tricks.

As the music was building, the fire performers began blowing bursts of fire balls into the air – and at that point, Nicholas jumped out of his seat and planted himself in the middle of the show. Joseph had no idea what was happening until Nicholas got down on one knee and everyone around them started screaming with excitement.

During the wedding planning process, the couple decided to fill their celebration with excitement, color, and family time over the span of several days – just like the South Asian weddings they’ve captured together around the world. “In an effort to break away from the New York wedding scene, we wanted a tropical island to say our vows,” says Nicholas. “We had 80 of our closest friends and family join us in the Caribbean for this epic three-day affair.”

Joseph brainstormed ideas for the wedding décor, while Nicholas was tasked with reaching out to their favorite luxury wedding vendors. Clothing was also a major part of their wedding experience, and the grooms’ wardrobes included pieces by Saint Laurent, Versace, Salvatore Ferragamo, and Ted Baker. Of course, the filming of their special day was also of the utmost importance, and Joseph helped shoot and edited the film as a surprise for Nicholas.

“The custom-wrapped 16’ walls and custom dance floor, created by our friends at SHOUT Graphic and Print Solutions, was filled with guests dancing all three-days thanks to the soundtrack by DJ Smith and Vig at D&S Event Solutions,” Nicholas describes. “Gorgeous floral arrangements were beautifully created by MercaFlor while Vaishali Deshpande Events oversaw everything as this dream team worked together for a weekend never to be forgotten.

To help everyone remember, we flew in superstar photographers DivineMethod Photography from Canada and Erum Rizvi Photography from DC to photograph everything, including a special stylized shoot in our 7,700 square-foot suite!”