Fun-loving couple Kyle Woods and Avery Aston celebrated with a weeklong fiesta in Mexico that was full of surprises.

Kyle Woods and Avery Aston travel the world together, but their most spontaneous trip to date was their wedding day. The adventurous couple knew they wanted a destination wedding, but they weren’t exactly sure where. Kyle, the self-proclaimed “groomzilla,” was up to the task of finding an intimate spot that could house their out-of-town guests under one roof. When he stumbled upon the Las Palmas resort nestled in the cliffs of the Pacific Ocean in Huatulco, Mexico, he booked the entire property sight unseen. “It was a ‘gut thing’ that this is where our wedding should be,” Avery explains.

It’s no surprise, then, that their engagement wasn’t hyperplanned. “There were two things that I really wanted: One was a dog. The other one was getting engaged,” Avery says. Kyle wanted to grant her both on the same day. His original idea—picking up their new goldendoodle, Big City Bubs, and asking Avery on the side of the road—was deterred by a sleeping pup. Plan B: Putting the ring on his collar once they arrived home, but again, Bubs wouldn’t cooperate. So, it was Plan C, which turned out to be a perfectly laid-back proposal on their front courtyard. Kyle poured some drinks, put on their favorite song—Lennon & Maisy’s “That’s What’s Up”—and asked Avery to be his wife.

Three years prior, the couple met through mutual friends in Dallas. “It wasn’t your typical courtship. We were just friends for about six months. It happened naturally. I guess we are free-spirited in that sense,” Kyle says. Avery recalls their meeting as an immediate attraction. “We love adventures and traveling, and he makes me laugh harder than anyone else,” she says.

The week of March 26, 2016, they hosted 60 of their best friends and family for their greatest adventure—with plenty of laughs to boot—in the idyllic coastal town in Mexico. Kyle made sure there were ample bonding moments planned for their guests, from a taco truck and karaoke night to a chartered catamaran ride and snorkeling day. “Avery’s family is in Texas; mine is in Iowa. No one had really spent a lot of time together,” he explains. “The goal was to create relationships and bonds that wouldn’t have occurred otherwise.”

The week’s events also allowed Avery and Kyle to log in quality time with their guests, which led to a serene wedding day with little nerves. They married at sunset on the resort’s rooftop patio overlooking the cliffs of the ocean with a ceremony led by their two best friends. “It was intimate, and I loved that,” Avery says.

After a cocktail party complete with a mariachi band, guests were led to the reception set amongst organic-style arrangements of garden roses, ranunculus, native greens, and lisianthus in tones of coral and pink. The couple called on GRO Floral & Event Design to execute their wedding details, from the floral arch at the ceremony to the handpainted tile place cards.

At the reception, Avery hired fire dancers as a gift for Kyle, but he had another surprise up his sleeve. At the end of the night, Kyle grabbed the microphone and ordered everyone to jump in the pool. And they did—even Avery in her Johanna Johnson silk wedding dress. As Kyle sums it up, “This was the craziest night of our life—this was the best night.” 

“The goal was to create relationships and bonds that wouldn’t have occurred otherwise.”