Inside Alex Cooper and Matt Kaplan’s Intimate Beachside Wedding in Riviera Maya (2024)

How Alex Cooper and Matthew “Matt” Kaplan—the cofounders and co-CEOs of Trending Media Company, and as of this past weekend, newlyweds—met has been very well documented, as the “Daddy Gang” knows. For the uninitiated, the “Daddy Gang” is how Alex (a.k.a. “Father Cooper”) refers to her faithful following of podcast listeners. Alex is the co-creator and host of the weekly Call Her Daddy comedy and advice podcast on Spotify, and has been referred to as “arguably the most successful woman in podcasting” by Time magazine and “Gen Z’s Barbara Walters” by Rolling Stone—and now, you can call her Mrs. Cooper Kaplan.

It all started in the middle of the pandemic—in July of 2020, to be precise—when Alex’s agent set up a few Zoom meetings for her with film and television companies. “After back-to-back meetings, I got on my last meeting of the day with ACE Productions, Matt’s company,” Alex remembers. “I got on Zoom and immediately started thinking, Wow, this producer is very handsome—but, stay focused Alex. There were about five other people on the Zoom from his company, but I kept just staring at Matt’s video square.”

After the call ended, Alex had a gut feeling it wouldn’t be the last time she saw Matt—and after the television show didn’t work out, the couple decided to roll the dice romantically. “We went on a few dinner dates in L.A. and sat in parking lots, pandemic-style, and there was no doubt in my mind after the first dinner that he would be the man I was going to spend the rest of my life with,” she adds. “I’m extremely picky so this was big for me.”

As they continued their courtship, Alex began to re-think her long-held disinterest in getting married. “I had always been a cynic when it came to marriage,” Alex admits. “[But,] from the beginning of our relationship, I was honest with Matt and told him I might be more interested in the whole ‘life partner’ route. Growing up, I witnessed my parents live the once-in-a-lifetime love—they are still together, 40 years this year. I was convinced I would never find what they had, and so I didn’t expect it and didn’t look for it. Little did I know, I just needed to find my Matt Kaplan.”

It was important to Alex, she explains, that Matt was open to remaining life partners if that was what she wanted—although he made it very clear if he had his way, he would get down on one knee. “I remember waking up one day and realizing that Matt’s unwavering love for me and his commitment to growing with me as an individual and to us as a partnership had completely shifted my opinion of marriage,” Alex says. To that end, Matt took Alex on a date to Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica around December 2022, and there, she told him that she’d changed her mind. “You can do it,” she said. “You can propose. We can get married.”

So, on May 3, 2023, Matt did just that. “I came home from a photoshoot on a Friday—little did I know it was a fake photoshoot Matt set up for me so I would have my hair and makeup done,” she recalls. “It had been a long week. I was excited to get home, get in the jacuzzi, and have some whiskey with my boyfriend. When I pulled up to the house Matt’s car wasn’t at home, so I figured he was still stuck at the office. I walked into our home, guard down, in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, ready to go lay on the couch and watch some Grey’s Anatomy until he got home, but instead walked into the most romantic stunning setup. I was shocked. Adele was playing all throughout my house, candles lit everywhere and there was a laptop that said ‘play me’ sitting on the table.”

Alex pressed play and a video that Matt had made appeared. Wearing the same outfit he had worn three years ago on that first Zoom call, he proceeded to talk about their life and love together but explained that there was one thing missing. “Go find it,” he said. Then, Alex proceeded to follow a scavenger hunt, room by room throughout the house. Each card on the scavenger hunt brought her through a different part of their life together, with each room crafted and styled according to a theme within their romance. The final card prompted her to go down to the courtyard garden, where she turned the corner and saw Matt and their dog, Henry, waiting for her under a canopy of flowers.

“We cried, we kissed, we celebrated, and it was the most magical night of my life,” Alex remembers. Finally, Matt had one more surprise up his sleeve. “I thought he was taking us out for a special dinner for two, and when I walked into the lobby of the restaurant to my absolute surprise he had flown out all my closest friends and family,” Alex says. “We got to spend the remainder of the night celebrating. One thing about Matt Kaplan—he is the most romantic man I have ever met in my life. I’m a very lucky woman.”

After the engagement, the two jumped into planning mode—with the groom leading the way. “The planning process was a dream,” Alex says. “Matt handled almost everything so I was quite stress free. In my defense, as a producer, Matt's specialty is planning and visualizing and bringing things to life, so I knew if I wanted it to go perfectly, leave it to Matt. Of course, I contributed where I could—like what flavor the cake would be—but I give Matt so much credit because he truly took on the heavy lifting, and it was perfect.”

Matt explains that they were keen for it to feel like a vacation for their family and friends, meaning they quickly settled on Mexico as a destination. “We weren’t looking to have a formal wedding,” he says. We wanted it to feel relaxed and authentic to us and the location, so from the decor to the festivities it all was very naturally curated.” The two worked with the event planning company Bash Please to coordinate all of the logistics and decor. “We wanted to choose a destination that was private, romantic, and felt like a vacation for not only us but all of our guests,” Alex says. “It was really important to us to keep the guest list small so we could be present with each other and the people who we love the most and who have helped us become who we are today.”

Alex’s wedding weekend wardrobe—and especially the dress—was unfortunately something Matt couldn’t help with. “At the beginning when we started to discuss wedding planning, I truly had no idea what I wanted to wear,” she says. “There were no vision boards I had made from when I was younger nor did I create one once Matt got down on one knee and I said yes. I had no idea what direction I was going to go, and I was a bit overwhelmed. So I just started trying things on.”

She tried on multiple designer dresses with her stylist Mimi Cuttrell, but nothing felt right. Eventually, she resorted to Pinterest, and after hours of scrolling through inspiration photos, she came across a dress that was in the realm of what she wanted, by Danielle Frankel. “I immediately sent it to Mimi and asked her to get me the dress as I needed to try it on ASAP. I had a feeling the pearl off-white color and the vintage, yet modern elements would be a perfect match for me,” Alex explains. “The minute I tried it on I knew we had found what I was looking for.”

Mimi reached out to Danielle Frankel and from there they began the process of creating a custom gown, while using the designer’s existing original dress as the inspiration, tweaking the V-neckline to a straight line and adjusting the drop waist. At an appointment with Danielle, they tried many different variations of how big the train and skirt could be but kept going back to the simplest, smallest version with no train. In the final fitting, Alex tried on veils and ultimately the short blusher veil just felt right. “The dress truly turned out to be my dream,” the bride says. “I felt so classic and chic in it. I felt confident and sexy while still elegant and timeless. [From there,] the rest of the looks fell into place.”

Another Danielle Frankel showstopper featuring pearls was selected for Thursday night—Alex wanted a dress that worked for the venue’s speakeasy vibe, and this one delivered. And on Friday night, the bride wore a vintage Donna Karan dress. “In one of our fittings, Mimi had this one dress in the midst of a lot of white, and I couldn’t stop staring at,” she remembers. “It was so beautiful on the rack. After all the white try-ons, I grabbed the dress, and the minute I tried it on, Mimi and I were thrilled. We found it.”

The last major look that was chosen was a vintage Alexander McQueen dress for the after-party. “Again, the minute I tried it on I knew,” Alex recalls. “Everyone in the room was silent, and we all just stared at each other in shock. It is one of the most beautiful dresses I have ever worn in my life.” Once they’d wrapped all of the main components of her wedding wardrobe, Alex still wanted to source the option of an after-after-party look, and they found it in one of their last fittings: a vintage Versace corset. “It was breathtaking and sexy, but still lived in the same pearl off-white family as the rest of the looks. We finished all the main looks in about two months, and I remember thinking that there was not one look I liked more than the others, and that was the goal.”

The wedding weekend kicked off on April 4 in Riviera Maya, Mexico. On the morning of the wedding, Alex got ready in a beach view suite with her closest friends, who all wore matching blue Skims robes. For her elegant, pared-back bun, she worked with hair stylist Cherilyn Farris and colorist Jacob Schwartz, while makeup artist Jenna Kristina executed the bride’s minimal beauty look.

After co*cktails accompanied by a string quartet, the ceremony began at 5 p.m. sharp. “It was everything we wanted it to be,” Alex says. “It was emotional, heartfelt, and we tailored it to exactly how we always envisioned it.” The couple forewent the typical tradition of bridesmaids and groomsmen, and devised a unique layout for the ceremony. “There were these huge antique wooden doors facing the courtyard, [so] I decided rather than walking by our guests down the aisle, the doors would open and I would walk towards everyone seated as they were all facing me. A runway if you will! It was the perfect moment because as soon as I came out, the only thing I saw was Matt. It was a very dramatic moment revealing my dress but also a very beautiful euphoric moment between the two of us.”

Alex also chose to break tradition by walking down the aisle alone, instead of having her father walk with her. “At the beginning of wedding planning, I really rejected the concept of being walked down by a man to be handed to another man,” Alex says. “Although to clarify I have such an incredible relationship with my father and both of my parents—it wasn’t about that. To me personally, I just never loved that tradition. It’s old and antiquated. My mom also walked herself down the aisle, so in a sense, I guess we are creating our own tradition for the women in our family.” And for Alex and Matt, no special moment would be complete without their beloved dogs, Henry and Bruce. “Some may recognize them as goldendoodles but we see them as our children,” Alex jokes. “They were the ring bearers. They each had one of our rings around their collar and when my brother asked for the rings, they had their own moment entering from the double doors and came running down the aisle. It was perfection.”

Alex’s brother Grant officiated the wedding. “He has been so instrumental throughout my life, and he and Matt have built such a great bond,” Alex says. “My brother did such an incredible job speaking so beautifully about our relationship.” The couple also chose not share their vows with one another until the ceremony itself. “Although my life is pretty public, the true intimate bond and connection Matt and I have we actually keep pretty private,” she says. “So for our families and closest friends to hear us verbalize our feelings towards one another in the most intimate setting felt electric—as you will see in almost every photo, there were no dry eyes in sight. We will never forget that moment.”

Instead of going directly into taking portraits, the bride and groom thought it would be more fun to have all of their guests process out with them, follow them down the aisle, and go directly into co*cktail hour. “It was the perfect way to start the evening, have a couple of drinks, and if I’m real, let my guests see my dress up close and get some pictures before we moved on to my next outfit. Priorities!” Because with a location change, came the bride’s next outfit change. Guests were shepherded from co*cktail hour down to the beach where there was an open-air tent. “You could hear the waves in the background as we sat and ate dinner,” Alex says. “Since Matt and I both have two left feet, we opted out of a first dance and once again did things our way…we instead had a first shot with all of our guests.”

After speeches were given by family members and friends, everyone made their way to the dance floor. “And I know what you’re thinking: A small intimate wedding sounds like a potential recipe for an extremely awkward dance floor—but that couldn’t have been further from reality,” Alex says. “The vibes were immaculate. There were dance-offs, bottles being passed around, crowd surfing…and once again, I’m not a dancer, but there wasn’t a care in the world from anyone that night. Everyone was on cloud nine.” For the finale, Alex’s dad got on the microphone and announced to everyone that everyone would run into the ocean—dresses, suits, and all. “I was expecting maybe just my close friends to join in, but to my complete shock almost the entire wedding took charge to the ocean,” Alex recalls. “Parents, grandparents, family, and friends.”

Many brides post-wedding talk about their wedding day being a blur, but Alex wouldn’t describe it that way at all. “Matt and I were both so intentional about making the weekend about being present with each other and our friends and family, and that’s exactly what we did,” she says. “There’s no detail or moment I won’t remember—and I will cherish this celebration of our love forever.”