Inside Alex Cooper and Matt Kaplan’s Intimate Beachside Wedding in Riviera Maya
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.”
