Sports and the beach are constants in the relationship of Sarah and Alex Hennessey. For their wedding, they took a step off the beaten path to combine their two favorite things. Sarah and Alex were married June 11, 2013 on a beach in Punta Cana.
Neither had ever been to the Dominican, but a love for the ocean drove them to choose this paradise to exchange their vows in an intimate ceremony in front of their families.
“It was a laid-back, stress-free wedding,” says Sarah. “The atmosphere was very relaxed. I was barefoot. Fifty to 60 people who weren’t our guests were around when the ceremony took place, and they cheered when it was over. It was pretty perfect.”
After their picture-perfect wedding in the Dominican, the Hennesseys returned to Cincinnati for a reception with their friends at Paul Brown Stadium.
“Sports is one of our commonalities," says Sarah. "We have season tickets to the Bengals every year, and Paul Brown is a really reasonably priced venue so it ended up working out really well."
Keeping with the beach theme, Sarah, her mother, and her sister used carnations, sand and shells to create centerpieces for the reception. Guests snacked on sliders, salads and a pasta bar as they mingled. Instead of cake, Sarah, a high school teacher, opted to have one of her former students make gourmet cupcakes.
From a beach proposal to a beach wedding to a beach-themed reception, this couple used beautiful simplicity to highlight the most important part of their marriage: their love.