Mexico cartel chaos upends dream wedding as couple scrambles for last-minute plans

Kaitlin Bucaro and Robbie Morris couldn’t wait to get married in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Friday. 

But their vision took a shocking turn this week as Mexico was ravaged by violence after the killing of cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera, known as "El Mencho."

The Chicago couple abruptly canceled their long-planned destination wedding amid safety concerns and government warnings, as Fox32 Chicago reported. 

Even so, the couple — who met in college and dated for four years — was determined to get married Friday. With less than a week to find a venue and vendors, the bride and groom scrambled to see if a reception hall or restaurant was available at very short notice.

MEXICO CRUISE STOPS ARE SUDDENLY SCRAPPED AS SAFETY CONCERNS CONTINUE IN REGION

Enter a local restaurant. 

"I said, you know, I'm going to see what I can do to help," Nicholas Cuda, managing partner of The Alston restaurant in Chicago, told Fox32 in an interview.

"Marriage is [a] unique thing, and for her and her fiancé to be going through this at this point in time, not being able to continue to the destination wedding [that] they'd planned — for me, it was heartbreaking."

Before finding a local venue, Bucaro and Morris had to alert 150 guests that their wedding in Mexico had been canceled. 

It felt like grieving, the couple said.

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"[We were] dealing with the shock and sadness, and kind of like grieving that our dream kind of died," Marcus told Fox32.

"We then very quickly realized we want to get married on Friday — and whether it's Guadalajara or not, it's still, I think, something we were determined to pull off."

Earlier this week, the couple still did not have a venue, photographer, DJ or florist lined up. 

Bucaro started to see the government warnings online as of last Sunday.

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"We had to make so many quick decisions," Bucaro said. 

"But also grieving the fact that the wedding we'd been trying to put on for a year and the vision we have in this beautiful location [is] no longer available to us," she told NBC Chicago. 

Morris said they took turns crying. 

"We decided that we were going to press on, and we're going to find a way," he recalled.

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Bucaro agreed. 

"We're going to be surrounded by people who love us so much, and that's what really matters."

Ultimately, the couple found The Alston restaurant in Chicago — which embraced the wild challenge the couple was facing. 

Savannah Jimenez of The Alston in Chicago spoke about how her venue took on the happy occasion within mere days. "Pulling off a seamless event on such short notice is exactly what we want to do best," she said. "We're just happy to be part of this."

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Bucaro and Morris' wedding is far from the only event in Mexico that was canceled this week.

Four professional soccer matches in Mexico were postponed Sunday after violence flared near Guadalajara — one of the country’s host cities for the 2026 World Cup — in the wake of a military operation that left the cartel leader dead.

Concerts and music events in several parts of Mexico were also scrapped or rescheduled. 

Colombian artist Kali Uchis was slated to perform in the Mexican state of Jalisco on Sunday, but her show was reportedly canceled. 

A Feb. 24 security alert indicated that shelter-in-place orders have now been lifted in cities including Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Cozumel, Tulum, Tijuana and Puerto Vallarta, as Fox News Digital previously reported. 

As of Thursday afternoon, Mexico was still at a level 2 travel advisory, according to the State Department — whose guidance is that Americans use increased caution.

Fox News Digital's Landon Mion contributed reporting.