Live Aqua Cancun Destination Wedding: Casey & Gage

Photo Credit:  Quetzal Wedding Photo

Planning a destination wedding can feel equal parts exciting and terrifying — especially when you’re planning from afar, hosting a large guest list, and stepping outside traditional expectations. For Casey Lapham and Gage Bauer, their early November destination wedding at Live Aqua Cancun turned out to be more than just a wedding day — it became an unforgettable, joy-filled week spent with nearly everyone they love.

One of the most meaningful surprises came after everyone arrived.

Instead of rushing through quick hellos on the wedding day, Casey and Gage found themselves spending real, quality time with every single guest throughout the week — whether it was poolside drinks, casual dinners, or lounging between activities.

By the time the wedding day arrived, the social pressure was gone.

“We actually got to enjoy our wedding day instead of feeling like we had to talk to everyone all at once.”

For them, this alone made the destination wedding experience priceless.

Photo Credit:  Quetzal Wedding Photo

Some of their favorite memories came from moments they never could have planned. After weather forced a venue change, rain began pouring just as they started their vows, creating a dramatic and unforgettable ceremony. Another standout moment was a Friday pool party where friends and family from every stage of their lives came together in one place — a moment that felt surreal in the best way.

They were intentional with their choices, splurging on photography to ensure every emotion was captured, while saving on décor by letting Live Aqua’s natural beauty shine. Reusing florals, skipping unnecessary upgrades, and adding small personal touches kept everything elegant without feeling overdone.

Looking back, the only thing they would change is making decisions earlier to avoid last-minute stress. Even so, when unexpected weather hit, the resort staff handled everything seamlessly, allowing them to simply enjoy the day as it unfolded.

Photo Credit:  Quetzal Wedding Photo

Guest feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Loved ones raved about the resort, the food and drinks, and the chance to turn the wedding into a vacation. Many guests appreciated having activities for every interest and loved spending extended time together rather than rushing through a single evening.

For Casey and Gage, the destination wedding experience exceeded every expectation. Their advice to couples considering the same path is simple: if you’re on the fence, do it. A destination wedding doesn’t just create a wedding day — it creates shared memories that last long after everyone returns home.

Real Wedding Q&A with Casey & Gage

What were your biggest fears when planning a destination wedding?

Our top initial concern was – how do we get our guests on board and ensure they are comfortable with traveling for our wedding. We were not totally familiar with the customs and details of another country, piled on with the planning occurring far away. I can be a bit of a control freak and was worried I was giving up control/insight into the whole planning process. We are so lucky to have so many friends and family and were concerned that choosing a destination wedding, not enough people would be able to make it, however we were proven very wrong with ~90 guests!

Is there anything about the actual destination wedding experience that surprised you?

Not necessarily a surprise, but not something we thought about was the amount of quality time we got with every single one of our guests. Throughout the week, we got to spend at least an hour with every person/group that attended our wedding (via drinks, dinner, or hanging by the pool). This allowed us to really enjoy our actual wedding day and put less social pressure on the actual day.

Photo Credit:  Quetzal Wedding Photo

What is your favorite memory of your destination wedding?

We cannot choose just one – so our favorites include:

 – Although we had to move our venue locations day due to rain, it all made it worth it as the second we started giving our vows, it started pouring down like the director was off to the side and said “cue the rain!” (You can see the rain falling off the awning in the photos lol). It felt so special and magical.

– Friday’s pool party! By Friday afternoon, almost all of our guests had arrived and we had what felt like a pool party with every person we knew. Being in the middle of a college friend chatting with a cousin, chatting with another side’s childhood best friend was surreal. I would recommend a passion fruit margarita and pool bingo with all your friends!

Did you splurge on anything travel or wedding related? If so, what was it and was it worth it?

Yes, photographer – as we did not invest in a videographer, we wanted to ensure our photos were exactly what we wanted and more in the moment. I found the local photographers (Quetzel Photography) and they did just a fantastic job at capturing all the small moments of the day.

Additionally, we came earlier, and stayed a bit later than most of our guests to ensure we could enjoy ourselves. I could have even done with more time if possible.

Photo Credit:  Quetzal Wedding Photo

Did you attempt to *save* on anything travel or wedding related? If so, what was it and was it worth it?

For savings, we really focused on the decor since Live Aqua is already so beautiful. We did not upgrade the dance floor, and leveraged the same florals from the ceremony, as centerpieces at the reception. We did the tiniest bit of DIY by bringing faux bougainvillea with us for some of the tables and it made a big impact with a lower cost.

If you could change anything with your wedding (planning, the day itself, the location, resort, ANYTHING) – what would you change?

I only wish we had made decisions much earlier in the process, but that just comes down to decision fatigue and procrastination. The month leading up to the wedding was quite hectic to finalize how we wanted things and preparing. Why did I think I could make 90-plus name cards the week before my wedding and get my dress tailored?) The staff at Live Aqua did great at working with us on everything as we got to crunch time.

As mentioned before, it was perfect weather the whole week we were there and of course on the actual day – storms all around us. At the end of the day we were thankful as the resort staff did a great job to get creative with new rain friendly locations and it took all expectations off what we had been envisioning for months and let us just enjoy what they could come up with.

Photo Credit:  Quetzal Wedding Photo

What kind of feedback did you get from your guests?

Everyone loved it – Gage’s family said they may even come back to the resort in spring if possible. My parents would not shut up about how perfect of a weekend it was when we went home for the holiday’s right after and spoke about how special is was for both our parents to get room upgrades. Our families really enjoyed getting to spend quality time with each other as they live in different states and that was super important to us. 

Our friends had such a blast and it was so cool to watch friends from different parts of our life connect and make friends by being all in the same place. The resort had something for everyone and I heard from so many people that they were able to find activities/fun. (From yoga, to jet skiing in the ocean, to a late night trip to coco bongo by some lol). Since our family and friends are from all over the US (and world) almost everyone was going to have to travel. I had a friend say “I am so glad you let me go to Cancun rather than dragging me to Dallas, Tx and I only had to pay like 1/4 more the cost!” 

Finally, everyone could not stop talking about how the food and drinks were sooooo good the whole weekend!

Now that you’ve been through it, what is your #1 best piece of advice for wedding couples entering the planning process?

If you are wafering – DO IT – book the destination wedding! You will not regret it. No matter where you decide to have a wedding, you will have to be okay with asking people to spend money, time, and effort on you and it’s really rewarding to give that to them in the form of a vacation. 

Photo Credit:  Quetzal Wedding Photo

In what ways did Alpaca Your Bags Travel make this less stressful for you?

The top and first item was helping us pick the perfect resort for our group. Having never been to Mexico prior, we had no idea where to start with planning, let alone if we needed a planner or other vendors. From the get-go, we were able to get Ashley’s recommendations based on our priorities. Flash forward and it really paid off as food/affordability for our guests was so important and I think that is a big reason why so many of our friends showed up/ had a good time. Secondly, with Ashley’s recommendation, we could trust the resort staff to plan and provide a quality service and that showed with how smoothly they managed our day (rain and all). We sent so many “is this normal/ how does this normally work or look” emails to Ashley throughout the planning processes and always got thorough answers.

Finally and probably most important, managing all the travel questions from guests without us even thinking about it. With 90 people and an array of travel experience, we did not have to even think about questions or helping folks, as Ashley took care of it all! We even faced a government shutdown that really tried to force our trips to be extended in Mexico, but luckily everyone got home safely – eventually.

Photographer:  Quetzal Wedding Photo

Travel Advisor: Alpaca Your Bags Travel 

Resort: Live Aqua Cancun