What You Should Know About A Destination Wedding in Costa Rica

Having a destination wedding in Costa Rica was the best decision we made! We had tossed around the idea beforehand, but we weren’t locked in on it when we started planning our wedding. Then my wife, Jaimie, said out of the blue, ‘How about Costa Rica?’

Living in Denver, it would let us escape the cold (it was 5°F when we flew out, so that checked out), see a beautiful destination, and spend more time with family and friends instead of on the wedding day and welcome party.

Once the ball started rolling on getting married in Costa Rica, we couldn’t stop it. The venues looked fantastic, and while the prices were higher than I anticipated, they weren’t terrible, and the opportunity to honeymoon there was too good to pass up!

Inside, I share my thoughts and tips on having a destination wedding in Costa Rica, plus more. I hope it helps if you’re thinking about getting married in Costa Rica.

What To Know When Choosing Costa Rica as a Wedding Destination

Here are a few high-level things to know about getting married in Costa Rica.

Provide your guests with as much information as possible

A destination wedding in Costa Rica can feel scary, especially for some people when you’re going to Central America. (It’s not scary.)

On our wedding website, we provided as much information as humanly possible. This included suggested flights, how to get to the hotel (shuttle links), and what to do in the area.

We also gradually opened our hotel block at Bahia Del Sol Resort. We opened it up to immediate family and the bridal party, then aunts and uncles, then everyone else. We did this because the hotel only had ~30 rooms, and we wanted to make sure those involved in the wedding got first crack at booking.

Easy to Get to From The USA

Costa Rica is incredibly easy to reach from almost anywhere in the United States, except maybe the PNW. For us, coming from Denver, we had nonstop flights to Liberia that took about five hours. It was basically the same time zone, so we didn’t feel groggy before our wedding.

Those arriving from the Midwest (Chicago) or East Coast also have nonstop flights, or a quick stop in Houston/Atlanta/Miami before continuing on.

Not A Big Money Saver

Ha! So when my wife suggested Costa Rica, I was like, sure, this will be cheaper than having a wedding in the United States. Welp, I was naive. Costa Rica is not a cheap Central American spot. It’s quite expensive during peak season – at least anywhere that caters to Americans.

Maybe it ended up costing less than in the USA, but it wasn’t a 30-50% reduction like I wrongly assumed.

Furthermore, Costa Rica has an almost 25% tax on many wedding-day services, which bumps the price up considerably. (10% service charge + 13% VAT.)

Your Wedding Planner Can Make or Break Your Day

Our wedding planner, Heidy Quesada, was phenomenal. We would have been absolutely lost without her. Her knowledge of the area, her ability to get things done, and her ability to keep us on track were 10/10. And we weren’t the easiest clients.

My wife was in residency/fellowship, and I travel a lot for work, so we didn’t communicate much for weeks at a time.

Still, it all worked out, and things went off without a hitch!

When Is the Best Time to Get Married

For the best weather, December through February are the prime months for destination weddings. This means drier climates and no need to hold an umbrella during the wedding.

Now, this isn’t a secret. Most couples get married then, so book as far in advance as you can to secure the venue and wedding planner you want.

One popular place in Tamarindo hosts only one wedding per week. We didn’t realize this. Once we realized the venue wouldn’t work, we shifted gears and chose another area. (This turned out to be a blessing.) But we also had to make sure our wedding planner was free that day.

When we visited Tamarindo after our wedding, it was wildly busy, commercialized, and not what we would have wanted for our wedding. Playa Potrero was much quieter and less busy, and the beaches weren’t flooded with people.

How Early Should You Book Your Venue and Set Your Date?

Our wedding was January 26, 2026. We locked in our wedding date in early March of 2025. While it worked out for us, many dates were already taken, so we felt squeezed doing this only eight to nine months in advance.

Unless you plan to get married in April-November, in a smaller area, or at a harder-to-reach destination, I suggest locking in your venue 11 months out.

This also helps your guests, as they can plan international travel well in advance. We set our save-the-dates 7-8 months out. (But we also told people beforehand too, so it wasn’t a surprise.)

Legal vs Symbolic Marriage

We got married legally in Colorado, and our wedding in Costa Rica was purely symbolic. However, because of how it all worked out, our wedding certificate lists the date we were married in Costa Rica.

Thanks to Colorado‘s self-solemnization rules, we mailed the marriage certificate form the day we left (a Friday), and because of the ensuing weekend, it wasn’t processed until Monday – the day we were actually married!

Traveling with Wedding Attire to a Foreign Country

This is one of the more annoying parts of a destination wedding. Luckily, we didn’t have much to bring, since our wedding planner printed almost everything in Costa Rica.

But I had my suit, and Jaimie had her wedding dress. The week before our flight, we called United Airlines to ask whether the wedding dress counted as a carry-on.

We were told it was not.

Of course, when we were scanning our boarding pass, they told us we had too many carry-ons. Thankfully, my parents and brother were there, so we just handed off some pieces, and it was fine. *Big eye roll ensued from the five of us.*

Tap Water is Fine, but Play it Safe

Tap water is safe in Costa Rica, but the water in Guanacaste, where we had our wedding, apparently has more sediment (according to locals). It’s totally safe to drink, but my stomach felt a smidge off after a day or two of tap water, so I switched back to bottled and filtered water leading up to the wedding.

I didn’t want to feel ‘meh’ on my wedding day, and it was an easy fix.

I drank tap or filtered water the entire trip after the wedding and had no issues for the other 11 days in Costa Rica.

Some Luxury Resorts are Stupid Expensive

The uber-luxury resorts like Andaz Papagayo, the Four Seasons, the Westin, and others are beautiful destinations, but we couldn’t justify asking our guests to spend $1,000+ per night on hotel rooms. We were already asking people to take an international flight, so it didn’t feel right to force people into a $6,000 vacation.

The rooms at Bahia Del Sol ranged from $260-$480 per night. These rates seemed much more reasonable, especially given the location, just 20 yards from the ocean.

We never visited Costa Rica before our wedding

Some people call us crazy, but we put our faith in photos/videos and our wedding planner. In this technological age, we could get a great sense of the venue and how beautiful the region was.

Plus, an expensive site visit was something we didn’t A) have much time for, living in Seattle (we moved to Denver in the middle of wedding planning) and B) have money for.

So, we took a leap of faith, and it worked out!

Wedding Weekend Day-By-Day Breakdown

How we planned out a destination wedding in Costa Rica:

Is a Destination Wedding For You?

A destination wedding isn’t for everyone. And that’s okay. You have to relinquish a decent amount of control over your day. If you’re okay with that, then great.

But if you need to try the food, see the venue multiple times, and whatever else, I don’t think picking a foreign country is the right call.

Also, make sure everyone has a passport (if going international), and that everyone is comfortable flying and handling the travel from start to finish.

All of Our Wedding Details for January 2026 in Playa Potrero

Here are the key details from our destination wedding in Costa Rica, in case you want great vendors and people to work with!

• Wedding Planner: Heidy Quesada
• Photographer: Sylvia Guardia
• Videographer: DWStories
• Venue: Bahia Del Sol Resort
• Jaimie’s makeup: Nadia Cambronero
• Live Music: OnVacation
• DJ: DJ Teemor (highly recommended)
• Officiant: Jaimie’s brother
• People: 80 guests
• Weather: Bluebird day, warm, humid
• Wedding started at 4 pm and ended at 12am
• Photo/Video were on-site from about 1:30-8:30pm
• Cost: $58k range, including our welcome party; about $23k of that was food/drinks on the wedding day, which you can’t really avoid. And we did a buffet and a mid-tier open bar.

Wedding and Travel Related Items You May Want To Get

• Apple AirTags
• Ring Travel Case
• Bug Spray/Repellant
• BugBite Thing (Suction tool)
• Suit Travel Bag
• Wedding Dress Travel Bag
• Portable Carbon Monoxide Detector (CR doesn’t have these in rooms)
• Packing Cubes
• Nikon Binoculars
• Quick-Dry Towel
• Packable Rain Jacket
• Sun Hat
• Hiking Sandals

My Thoughts and Tips on a Destination Wedding in Costa Rica

First look was the right call

We opted for a first look before the wedding, and it was a superb decision. This meant we didn’t have butterflies at the altar and gave us the chance to knock out a lot of photos beforehand.

Additionally, while we still did a pass at each table, we had already talked to everyone throughout the weekend, so we didn’t feel obligated to have long catch-up sessions.

Open Credit Cards for Points

As someone who plays the credit card points game, we did as well as we could. I think I opened three or four credit cards and spread the payments out, landing us lucrative Sign-Up Bonuses.

I found that if we asked nicely enough, we could put almost everything on a credit card. And when we technically weren’t able to, we could go through PayPal and use a CC to pay that way. Yes, we paid some fees, but it was worth it for the points.

We were also very fortunate that, by filling up the hotel, we didn’t have a venue fee. For some weddings, this could have been a $10,000-$15,000 expense we avoided.

Tell people no physical gifts in Costa Rica

We strongly asked people not to bring physical gifts to Costa Rica. This would have meant we’d be stuck with them throughout the trip. Most of our gifts were experiences or money, but if someone wanted to give us a physical gift, we asked them to send it to our home.

Do your honeymoon in Costa Rica

We tossed around doing half our honeymoon in Costa Rica and then going elsewhere (maybe Panama or Belize). After thinking it over, we realized it would require at least a full day at the airport, so it made more sense to enjoy one country.

And it worked out. We had the most amazing time exploring Manuel Antonio, Uvita, and La Fortuna. Our honeymoon was about 10 days and let us see so much of this beautiful country, and now we want to come back for more!

Fun Facts About Our Wedding Weekend in Costa Rica

• We finished writing our vows watching a huge iguana climb up a nearby palm tree.
• Right before our first dance, Jaimie accidentally stood on an ant hill in the grass as we waited to be announced. After walking to center stage, Jaimie started getting attacked with several small ant bites as they climbed up her dress and legs – who knew ants loved tule so much?!
• We saw humpback whales on our boat tours the day after the wedding! Maybe a good omen?

Places to Stay on Your Honeymoon

Thinking of honeymooning in Costa Rica? There are some great hotels and Airbnbs to stay at.

Until next time, adventurers, stay safe.

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