Some weddings are built around a view. Lauren and August’s was built around their people —but still with the most magnificent views.
I knew it from our first call, before I’d even signed on to photograph them: Lauren has this way of making you feel like you’ve known her for years within the first five minutes. Open, warm, genuinely curious about you, not just polite. By the time I met her in person, it wasn’t a surprise anymore. It was confirmation. She’s one of the top three brides I’ve ever worked with, easily.
What made this wedding different was watching that warmth extend to every single person in the room — for three full days, here in Casa de Campo, one of the places I’ve spent the last several years photographing across the Dominican Republic. It started with a rehearsal dinner at La Casita restaurant at La Marina, surrounded by her extensive family and closest friends.
The next night, a bigger welcome party brought in the rest of the guests. And then the wedding day itself — joyful from beginning to end, where Lauren went around greeting people the way most brides only manage for their parents and their maid of honor: a real hug, real eye contact, real presence, for every guest, all day. At most weddings you see the polite version of that. This wasn’t the polite version.
The ceremony looked like it was set directly on the water — the ocean was there in every frame — but it actually took place at a villa bordering Teeth of the Dog, the golf course that anchors Casa de Campo Resort and Villas. A single majestic tree stood exactly on that line between villa and course, and that’s where Lauren and August exchanged vows beneath it — her parents walking her down the aisle, the ocean behind her, a first kiss that had the whole wedding party celebrating before they’d even turned around.
Portraits came next, chasing the last of the daylight along the water while cocktail hour spilled out poolside behind them.
Reception leaned fully into the setting — rattan pendant lights, a tablescape built around tropical florals, a live band that kept the dance floor full well past dinner. Honestly, the photos from that night speak for themselves more than I can. It was one of the most joyful weddings I’ve photographed in a long time, and it ended the way it should have: fireworks over the water, Lauren and August kissing one more time before the send-off.
The best part of it all? Lauren’s own words, in a review she left afterward:
“Looking through the gallery brings us right back to the joy of that time. Working with Asia was truly one of the best decisions we made during the entire wedding process.”
Lauren & August | Weddings
The Details
Three days in Casa de Campo: a rehearsal dinner at La Casita at La Marina, and a ceremony beneath a single tree on the line between a private villa and Teeth of the Dog, the ocean as the backdrop the whole time.
