It’s time for another real destination wedding couple Q&A session!
I first spoke to Delaney and James in October 2021. They had recently traveled to Cancun and stayed at an all-inclusive resort and were interested in getting married there, but had no idea where to start. Delaney’s mom started searching online & found my website, so Delaney promptly scheduled a consultation call.
We discussed their wedding vision and I sent them a short-list of resorts that I thought could be a perfect fit for them. They ended up going with one of my recommendations instead of the resort they’d previously stayed at. Read on to find out if they made the right decision!
Resort: Live Aqua Cancun, an adults-only all-inclusive resort located in Cancun, Mexico
Wedding: April 2023
WEDDING & RESORT QUESTIONS
What were the deciding factors for choosing Live Aqua Cancun?
After Kathryn sent us a few resorts based on our interests, we had a very difficult time choosing which one we wanted to get married at. Live Aqua, however, had everything we wanted. It had multiple swimming pools, excellent staff according to reviews, beautiful modern rooms, an upgraded club for certain guests, and a shopping mall across the street. In addition, Live Aqua is only 15-20 minutes from the Cancun airport, which also was a huge factor in our decision. After looking at reviews of the resort, we knew this was the place we wanted to get married.
We also want to add that we LOVE food, and Live Aqua has the best food for an all-inclusive we have ever had. Every restaurant there is delicious. KP Note: I am obsessed with their habanero cream soup. Soooo good!
What were some of your biggest fears about having a destination wedding?
Planning with and trying to find vendors in a different country was definitely our biggest concern. The timeline for planning a wedding in Mexico is very different then in the states, so it was confusing at first. Also, we were extremely nervous about the process of booking and flying a large group of our closest family and friends to Mexico, as they would be relying on us for their safety and enjoyment.
How was your experience working with the wedding coordinator at the resort? Were there any challenges? Did they excel in certain areas?
There were multiple challenges we faced working with the wedding coordinator for the resort, but everything worked out perfectly in the end. The biggest challenge was that a few months after we chose Live Aqua, their wedding coordinator left her job. We were then left without a coordinator, and without answers, for some time. Eventually, they hired a temporary coordinator for the resort. We had a few months of answers and great communication, until it was radio silent again. Eventually, they hired their new full-time wedding coordinator, Christy. All of the stress and unanswered email were worth it, as Christy was beyond fantastic to work with. She was constantly in touch with us through both email and What’s App, making sure we did not experience any more bumps in the process. Christy is amazing at communication and planning, and we were very sad to leave her after the wedding, as she quickly became like family to us! I do want to add that it rained on our wedding day, ruining our reception plans. Our wedding coordinator, Christy, cried with me. That is how much she cares about her client’s special day.
Tell me about your wedding. Where was it? Did you have a cocktail hour & reception? What were those like?
Our wedding was beautiful. The ceremony itself was on the beach, right in front of the large infinity pool. Although we love the resort, they do have a giant pair of angel wings in front of the infinity pool that we did not want in all of our pictures walking down the aisle. The wedding team did not hesitate to shift our aisle to the right in order to achieve our dream background. Unfortunately, and obviously due to no fault of the resort, it rained almost immediately after the ceremony. The cocktail hour that was supposed to be on the beach next to the ceremony, had to be swiftly moved into Azur restaurant. They had closed the restaurant for the wedding already, so this was not a problem. The cocktail hour was rushed due to the unpredictable weather, but the staff did a great job at getting everything moved inside.
The reception was the hardest part of the day for us. It was supposed to occur around the Azur pool, with string lights, a dance floor, and tons of decor. We waited for 30 minutes hoping the rain would clear up, but the storm kept getting worse. Eventually, Christy informed us that we would have to move the reception indoors for safety purposes. We were glad she made this decision for us, as we would not have been able to make it on our own after seeing how perfect everything looked set-up outside.
While they were breaking everything down and moving it inside, they allowed our wedding group and guests to hang out and drink in Egos bar. Although unplanned, It was a nice intimate moment with our guests. The reception was moved into a ballroom that the resort had in the basement. The wedding team did the best job they could at making it look beautiful. The only complaints I have are that we had to pay a large amount of money to extend the reception an extra hour. Due to the rain and moving everything inside, the reception began an hour after it was scheduled. However, in order to add that extra hour that was wasted onto the end, we had to pay a large sum. Also, a few items that we spent good money on went to waste, as they were not able to be moved indoors. This included the LED dance floor and string lights with poles. We also rented giant LED LOVE letters that could not be plugged in when brought inside, defeating the purpose. We did sign a waiver the morning of the wedding pertaining to weather and the items we rented, so we do not blame the resort or the decor company for any of these issues. Unfortunately, it was simply mother nature’s fault. We still had a night to remember with all of our friends and family with amazing memories to look back on!
Did you splurge on anything wedding-related & would you do it again?
As mentioned above, we did splurge a bit on decor for the reception. Although it rained, I would absolutely do it again! We were able to see the reception set up outside before it was moved, and it looked absolutely beautiful. We also spent a large amount of money to extend the reception an extra hour. Do this!!! We had so much fun partying and dancing with our friends and family that we did not want to stop.
Is there anything you splurged on that wasn’t worth it?
We cannot think of anything we spent money on that was not worth it for our wedding. A tip I will provide is that we decided to save money by using the resort’s glasses, silverware, plates, and napkins. They were clear, white and silver and looked just as beautiful as paying a large amount of money to rent dinner necessities from the decor company!
Shout out any vendors you loved (makeup/photography/DJ/etc):
We LOVED the DJ, Alex Nevsky, for our reception. He played all of our requested songs, and added in others that matched the vibe perfectly. We received multiple compliments from guests (even our photographers who have been to many weddings) about him. Also, the decor company, Dezibel, was our favorite to work with. We worked with Angela throughout the planning process, and she was in constant communication making sure everything we were paying for was exactly what we wanted. She even sent pictures of the floral arrangements the night before the wedding to ensure they were what I wanted. There were a few errors with the florals, which she had fixed and perfected for the wedding day! We will miss our Zoom meetings with her!
The makeup/hair team, Anastacio Bridal, was also great to work with. They made everyone, including myself, feel beautiful for the big day. We have not received our video yet, but the videographers were hard at work the entire time. They were both very nice, professional, and fun to work with. They were part of Mike Cantarell films.
Our photographers were brought with us from home. I will give them a HUGE shout-out here, but they are from Connecticut, so I am not sure how far they will travel for clients. Caitlin Mary Mayo did our engagement shoot at home and we fell in love with her work. When we asked her to come to Mexico for our wedding, she was super excited! She brought her friend and second shooter, Farrah Fontano, who was a pleasure to work with. The sneak peek pictures they sent blew us away, and we cannot wait to see the rest. They are amazing people!
Anything you would do differently or advice you’d give to other couples planning a destination wedding?
The only thing I would do differently is relax more during the process. The timeline for planning a wedding in Mexico is much different than in the U.S. Most planning and details do not get done until a month or so before the wedding. I let this stress me out the whole time because I did not know that it would get done! However, they know exactly what they are doing for weddings, and it worked out perfectly.
One piece of advice for other couples: Enjoy it! We stayed at the resort for 10 days, and it feels as if it went by in the blink of an eye. Soak up the moments with your special person, and take time away from your wedding guests to be in each other’s company. You will have a blast!
What kind of feedback did you get from your guests? This could be about the resort, the wedding, or KP Travel Group.
All feedback from our guests was positive. They loved the resort, the wedding team, and the staff! They were blown away by the beauty of the place, as well as how they were treated by the workers. We had many guests say they plan to go back to the resort for vacation in the future!
Of course, we received so many compliments and praises about KP Travel Group. Our guests spoke highly about Kathryn’s communication, as they were allowed to be stress free. We were told that no matter what questions they had, Kathryn always had a swift answer. We had multiple guests even look into her website for their own future travel plans! Everyone loved her and complimented us for choosing her group for the wedding.
KP TRAVEL GROUP SERVICE QUESTIONS
Why did you choose KP Travel Group?
My mother actually heard about KP Travel Group on Facebook. The reviews we had read were great, so we decided to reach out for just an introductory phone call. After our first meeting, we knew we had found the perfect company, and person, to handle our destination wedding. Kathryn made us feel relaxed and super excited about planning the wedding. It was both of our first time’s getting married, so we were lost and confused about many aspects of the process. Kathryn never made us feel bad, and answered all of our questions with eagerness and politeness. Our experience working with her exceeded our expectations.
In what ways did KP Travel Group make planning this wedding less stressful for you?
A major concern we had before talking to Kathryn was how we set-up a wedding in another country in general. She assured us that she would take care of everything from the room block to guest questions to transportation, and she did. We barely had any guests ask us questions about travel because Kathryn remained their point of contact for everything. She created our room block with the rooms we wanted, had transportation waiting for our guests when we arrived in Mexico, and sent weekly updates to us and our guests leading up to the wedding.
Would you recommend KP Travel Group to other couples planning a destination wedding?
Absolutely! Our wedding would not have happened without the expertise of KP Travel Group. She went above and beyond to make sure us and our guests had a smooth and enjoyable experience with traveling to another country!
Is there anything you would have liked me to have done differently? If so, what?
No, you were perfect!
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
We just want to thank you, again, for allowing the wedding of our dreams to come to life. You were the first step in the long process of planning a destination wedding. The first step can either make or break a good mood about wedding plans, and you made us excited about the entire process!
Huge thanks to Delaney and James for sharing their review of their destination wedding at Live Aqua Cancun! It was my absolute pleasure to work with you for 1.5 years to make this dream wedding come true!
If you’re interested in having your wedding at Live Aqua Cancun (or another all-inclusive resort) and need help getting started, I’d love to chat! You can schedule your complimentary consultation here.
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