Get Married in Paradise

Let us help in this important event

Why a Destination Wedding in Costa Rica?

Planning a wedding is an adventure in itself… but if deciding between a beach wedding or a rainforest wedding sounds more appealing to you than deciding between a church or hotel ballroom, an adventure wedding getaway in Costa Rica might be right for you!  What could be a better backdrop for a wedding than a never ending sunset.

With its friendly people, exotic flowers, diverse wildlife, and variety of adventure activities Costa Rica is the ultimate location for a destination wedding getaway and growing in popularity for a variety of reasons..

If you decide to include guests, the perks of a destination wedding pile up even more

QUALITY TIME  One of the most often repeated phrases by couples is that the day flies by so fast they don’t eat anything, hardly remember talking to anyone, and that it all flew by in a blur. With a destination wedding you actually get to spend time with your guests and if incorporating adventure into your itinerary, you get to experience unique challenges with each of them. An adventure getaway allows the opportunity for those close to you to form lifelong bonds with each other, and what better foundation could you possibly have as you begin your marriage? And oh yeah, seeing your Aunt Cathy screaming like a 5 year old as a monkey climbs on her head? Unforgettable.

VACATION FOR GUESTS  In today’s world, most couples have guests traveling from various parts of the country (and world), having made close friends in school and while beginning careers, and odds are the couple’s families are spread out too.  Having a tropical destination rather than a hometown with no appeal to your guests creates a lot more excitement and interest.  Obviously, your guest’s expenses are a consideration in the planning stages, but if they are going to take time off of work and spend money on a flight, hotel, and rental car in your hometown, they would be much happier to make a vacation of it in a tropical destination!

EASY TO GET TO  With direct flights from several cities, Costa Rica is within easy reach of the U.S & Canada. Even though Costa Rica is a small country, there are two international airports, making it easy to get to beach or volcano locations.

SKIP THE FAMILY DRAMA  It’s great if both families are in perfect accord but even if they get along, feelings are bound to get hurt in the decision making process.  Fact is, there are a lot less family conflicts with selecting a destination wedding.  Rather than families haggling over whose hometown is going to host the wedding, whether it is in a church, or the expense of a big city event… all kinds of opinions come out when planning a wedding; you can elect to skip all the drama and hurt feelings by selecting a place that allows you to make decisions that are uniquely yours.

UNIQUENESS  Everyone has photos from their wedding of the first dance, or cutting the cake…you can have those, along with shots of you and your bridal party braving Class III/IV rapids on the Rio Savegre.

Pricing

Because every client is unique, we customize each event according to the client’s specific needs, in order to give every event it’s own individual character. Therefore, as a boutique company, we do not have standardized pricing quotes and costs will vary from one event to the next.

Pricing primarily depends on the following factors:
  • Location
  • Guest count
  • Number and types of services requested
  • Intricacy of event design
  • Number of venues used per event
  • Number of events where the planner is needed on site

While it is impossible to give an accurate cost assessment prior to a venue being selected, we do have a process that allows for timely rough estimates. First you will receive a phone consultation and then fill out our extensive wedding vision questionnaire, which will allow us to draft a preliminary estimate. Then, after we begin a more thorough correspondence, to get a better picture of what you envision, we can help you find your perfect event location and give you an accurate quote.

Is it necessary to speak fluent Spanish when traveling to Costa Rica?

No. Spanish is the official language but English is widely spoken throughout the country. Members of our wedding team are bilingual, as are your guides. We do recommend learning basic courtesies in Spanish such as please and thank you   Locals appreciate an effort to exchange pleasantries in their language.

When to get married in Costa Rica?

Costa Rica is a very unique country in that though it is very small, it is comprised of 12 different micro-climates! That being the case, no matter what time of year you would like to be married there is a part of the country that lends itself weather-wise.

Generally speaking, November through May offers the best weather and overall experience in most parts of the country. The rest of the year, chances of rain shouldn’t bother you as there are plenty of sites with roofs, and tents are easily arranged. Mid September through the end of October is considered the Green Season in most parts of the country, with heavier and more frequent rainfall.

There are two parts of the year that should be avoided. These are the two Peak Weeks (Christmas/New Years and Easter) during the year when tourism is at its highest, hotel prices are substantially increased, quality of service is decreased and the most popular destinations are crowded. These factors make for an unpleasant and unsuccessful experience all around.

Will our marriage in Costa Rica be legally recognised

Costa Rica does not require any length of stay or complicated paperwork for a legal marriage, making Costa Rica one of the easiest countries for your destination wedding. The following is a list of the information we will request from you prior to your wedding:

  •  Full Name
  • Occupation
  • Current address
  • Mailing address
  • Phone Number
  • Passport number and nationality
  • Martial status
  • Date and place of birth
  • Full name and citizenship of parents

OTHER DETAILS:

Witnesses Costa Rica Law requires two witnesses for the marriage. Family and friends can be witnesses. If this is Just the Two of You, we can make the necessary arrangements for local witnesses such as hotel staff.

No notarized documents:

You will not need to bring any notarized legal documents because all of your information will be included in a sworn statement which you both sign the day of the wedding. This avoids you having to notarize at the Costa Rican Consulate, and will save you time and money.

The Certification of Marriage:

The procedure for a valid marriage in Costa Rica involves the signing of two documents once the ceremony is concluded. One is a sworn statement attesting to your marital status, thus avoiding any further proof. The other is the marriage document itself. After the ceremony, the paperwork will be submitted to the Civil Registry of Costa Rica. The processing of documents, which includestranslation and authentication by the Consulate of your country of residence will vary but normally takes 4 months. Once everything is ready, the Marriage Certificate will be sent, along with instructions, to the address you provided. We will update you on the paperwork progress, so you will know when the documentation is sent.

What time should we get married?

There are several factors to take into consideration when selecting the time of your ceremony. If the ceremony is intended to be a sunset ceremony, the main factor of course if what time the sun is actually setting! The exact time of the sunset varies depending on the location, as well as the time of year.

The average sunset in Costa Rica is 5:30pm so a ceremony that begins at around 4:00 or 4:30 is recommended, depending on how much time you want for photos afterwards. This will allow you the best lighting for post-ceremony photos while your guests enjoy themselves sipping cocktails and snapping their own sunset photos!

Another factor to take into consideration if you are being married on the beach is the tides, but don’t worry – we always check the tide charts!

How do we get started with our planning?

You have probably done some searching, are a little overwhelmed, and unsure how to move forward. Don’t worry, that’s completely normal! There is an overload of information out there, often conflicting, and we are here to keep it easy on you. We are located in Costa Rica, we know these properties, we know the hotel and private villas owners and managers by their first names, and can provide you with reliable recommendations based on years of travel planning experience

Now that you know you are considering or would like to be married in Costa Rica, we recommend completing our Request Form to receive your Custom Wedding Getaway Itinerary. This request form walks you through the simple information we need in order to create a customized trip plan and wedding quote. You can also give us a call and we can walk through the information together.

After you have received your proposal from us, we recommend reviewing this and compiling your guest list (which you probably already started loosely doing once you became engaged!). Next, we recommend dividing your guest list into four groups: Definite, Most Likely, Not Sure, and Probably Not. There will always be surprises in your guest list and some of those Probably Not’s will surprise you, but some of those Definite’s and Most Likely’s will have schedule conflicts that prevent them from making it to your event.  So in our experience, the number you come up with for your Definite’s is usually the number of guests you end up with. This will give us an idea of what type of properties and venue to recommend to accommodate your party.

At the same time you will be working out your itinerary with us to meet your preferences and when it is ready you will order your Save the Dates and create your Wedding Website.

You will want to give your guests as much notice as possible to ensure they have time to plan for the getaway. Your will contain your wedding date and wedding website.  Your wedding website will contain information to assist you guests with travel planning and to help field questions so that you don’t end up playing travel agent to your friends and family! Your guests itinerary options will be on your website, with our contact information so that they can contact us directly and we will coordinate their plans.