Dallas Stars Goaltender Jake Oettinger Asked His 10-Year-Old Brother to Be His Best Man at His Minimalist Wedding in Mexico

Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger and Kennedi Schumacher have known each other for most of their lives. “We grew up together and were in the same friend group,” Kennedi tells Brides exclusively, “but we didn’t start dating until 2019.” After over a decade of friendship (and four years of something more), the pair got engaged while vacationing at Amangiri in Utah, “the most beautiful place ever,” notes the bride. The pair returned to another chic locale for their June 29, 2024, nuptials: Nobu Los Cabos in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. “We went for the first time four years ago and we said, ‘We have to get married here one day,’” Kennedi shares.

They made good on that promise alongside 124 of their closest friends, teammates, and family a year after their engagement. Kennedi says waiting 12 months for the big day to arrive was the most challenging part of the wedding-planning process; Manda Worthington of Mae&Co Creative made the rest a dream. “It was a breeze with the help of Manda and her team!” Kennedi shares. “I sent my vision, wants, and ideas and they made it happen.” Her and Jake’s vision was centered around a minimalist aesthetic, complete with sand tones, pops of white, and romantic draping, which resulted in a one-of-kind ceremony stage and the ultimate oceanside reception setup.

Kennedi’s best advice for couples currently on the cusp of their own events? “Take it all in!” she says. “It goes so, so, so fast. We wish we could go back and relive it every weekend!” Do just that by breezing through every standout photo from the couple’s celebration—complete with round after round of espresso martinis, the sweetest best man speech (courtesy of Jake’s 10-year-old brother!), and a surprise fashion change—which was captured by Duey Photo.

The couple’s neutral invitation suite from Ivory & Stone previewed their sand and stone-inspired color palette and minimalist big-day aesthetic, both of which played off the vibe of their venue, Nobu Los Cabos in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Jake and Kennedi’s celebration kicked off with a welcome party at the hotel, where guests dressed in elevated resort wear in shades of cream and white. “Our theme was the Oettinger Beach Club, complete with sushi, custom merch, and signature drinks,” says the bride, who stood out in a cocoa-hued maxi dress from Revolve and brown mules by The Attico. She cites this celebration as one of the wedding weekend’s highlights, since it involved “getting to see all our favorite people at one place, at one time!” she says. “It was incredible to see all the amazing people in our life come to our favorite spot to celebrate our love. The sushi and the merch weren’t bad, either.”

Kennedi opted for a Ines Di Santo satin sheath dress with an illusion strapless neckline and high slit; she paired her simple ensemble with a veil and Stuart Weitzman pumps with an ankle strap. She settled on a natural makeup look (“I wanted to look like me!” she says) and asked Anna Sullivan Hair to leave her hair down—for the first part of the event, that is. “Anna is amazing and we did a couple trials. I knew I wanted my hair to be down and we settled on that specific curl for the day,” she says. “We also wanted every look to be super different.” Light pink nails and a spritz of Maison Francis Kurkdjian Baccarat Rouge 540 completed her bridal ensemble. 

As for her bouquet? Noble Floral Company created an arrangement with cream, beige, and tan flowers. It was “fun, modern, and dramatic, and made with a mix of lush luxe blooms and unique textures,” says Kennedi.

Kennedi’s best friend of 15 years served as her maid of honor; she and the rest of the bridesmaids wore latte-hued gowns from Billy J Boutique in a style of their choosing. “I wanted something to complement Nobu’s color and architecture,” Kennedi says of her attendants’ looks. “They were able to choose which dress they wanted in that color—my main goal was for all the girls to feel comfortable and confident in their dresses!” The women carried monochrome, mono-bloom bouquets with the same flowers that appeared in the bride’s arrangement.

Jake opted for a black BALANI Custom Clothiers tuxedo for the occasion, which he paired with a bow tie, a Rolex watch (a wedding gift from his bride), and one particularly special accessory: a pocket square made from the lace of his mom’s wedding dress. His groomsmen, which included his 10-year-old brother (his best man!) and a mix of hockey players (Chad Krys, Ryan Poehling, Pat Curry, Tye Felhaber, and Ty Dellandrea all stood up next to him), wore State and Liberty tuxedos. “This is Jake’s favorite brand of suits, so he knew he wanted the guys to wear them!” says the bride.

The couple prioritized time for an (emotional) first look ahead of their ceremony. “We knew we wanted to see each other before we walked down the aisle and give each other a quick kiss,” says Kennedi. “By doing this and taking pictures before, we were able to do cocktail hour with our guests.”

Kennedi and Jake wanted their ceremony to “stand out from anything else we had seen at Nobu before,” notes the bride. “Our planner designed a custom stage and backdrop that made our ceremony feel intimate, but also grand.” A curved seating map was the perfect contrast to the venue’s modern lines and reinforced the soft, organic nature of the ceremony’s floral design, which consisted of lush grounded arrangements that framed the entrance of the stage (if you ask us, we'd say the installation looks a bit like a hockey net—a nice nod to the groom's profession). “With the custom build being such a statement piece, our planner focused a lot of our floral design on the stage and the aisle to not distract from the view or custom installation,” adds Kennedi. 

On the arm of her father, Kennedi walked down the aisle to an instrumental version of Tyler Childers’ “Lady May,” courtesy of Luciano Pavan Productions. The pair stuck to a traditional ceremony script; they had exchanged personal vows earlier that day. 

During the couple’s sunset cocktail hour, guests sipped on the pair’s signature cocktail—espresso martinis—as they mingled on the patio and visited the washed-wood bar, which was shrouded by a draped pergola suspended with jute lamps. When it was time for dinner, attendees found their seating assignments from a stone-inspired block chart.

The pair wanted their dinner and reception space to feel “magical and almost hidden” and like “an entirely different space,” says the bride. Manda and the Mae&Co Creative team utilized hanging lanterns, taupe-hued draping, and gauzy linens to meld modern and organic aesthetics and bring plenty of texture to the wedding's second act.

A mix of white concrete tables (some were left bare, while others were covered in organic linens) and wood stations increased the area’s visual intrigue; simple ceramic dinnerware, smokey glassware, acrylic flatware, and black ribbon-wrapped menus were placed at each setting. Small cream-hued centerpieces, anchored by stones, were placed down rectangular stations; fuller iterations were placed in the center of the rounds.

The couple took their first dance to “Off My Face” by Justin Bieber before the bride shared a spin with her father to “I Don’t Dance” by Lee Brice. One of the reception’s biggest highlights, however, was the best man speech, delivered by Jake’s little brother. “He’s 10 and did so good,” says the bride.

Jake and Kennedi skipped a wedding cake and—after another round of monogrammed espresso martinis and late-night chicken fingers and pizza—went straight into dancing, thanks to DJ Alex Updike. At this point, the bride stepped into her second look of the night (which was also a surprise to the groom). “Jake didn’t know I was changing into a different dress for reception,” she says of her iridescent DŽO maxi dress complete with a plunging neckline and sheer skirt, which she paired with a sleek updo. “He said seeing me for the first time in that dress was one of his favorite moments!” 

At the party’s close, after all of the espresso martinis had been drunk and the guys had ditched their shirts, a fireworks display lit up the night sky. “Just have fun with it!” Kennedi, now on the other side of the couple’s wedding and Italy honeymoon, says. “It’s such a special time—like, how amazing to plan a weekend to celebrate our love and with the people we love? And hire an amazing wedding planner!”