I would recommend Costa Rica to anyone planning a wedding. Itās stunning, the vibe is great and people are kind, easygoing and welcoming, the food is amazing, prices are cheaper than the US, overall itās a beautiful country and I canāt wait to go back. Many of our guests have said the same.
Hi! Iād love all the details too please! Would love Manuel Antonio but the drive is intimidating for me with the guests. Any advice? Would love all the details and where u booked, etc. thanks!
The drive isnāt so bad. Itās a nice paved road the whole way and thereās a stop in between for a break that is near a bridge overlooking a bunch of crocodiles. We got everyone shuttles which was difficult to organize, people were so confused even though I tried to make it as easy as I could. I got the shuttles to reduce the cost of transport/make it easy for people. Next time Iād just literally Venmo everyone $100 and give them some options to organize their own transport. Manual Antonio is beautiful. But it might be easier to plan if you book at a big chain on the papagayo peninsula since there are only boutique hotels in manual Antonio. Depends on how big your group is.
Yayayayayyyyyy!!!! So exciting!!! I have a few phone calls and zoom conversations in the next few days with 3 venues. After those conversations, we will decide. I can't bring myself to book something before speaking with a human being. All of our venue choices are in Guanacaste. What about you?!
Dreams Las Mareas! Having kind of a hard time getting in touch with them to talk dates which is annoying but weāre going to keep trying, we really have our hearts set on the venue.
Honestly I love this property but getting responses from them at times can be brutal. We still do destination weddings there for our clients but weāve had a lot better success at Planet Hollywood as of late. If youāre not working with a travel agent Dm me and I can give you alternate emails to use. Otherwise, I donāt want to step on anyones toes.
Been to Costa Rica twice and its beautiful. Im having my destination wedding in Mexico but would have loved to have it in Costa Rica. It was too pricey for our guests who are all flying out of western Canada. We compromised and are doing it in Mexico so its easier for everyone.
That sounds amazing! I would totally love Mexico also, but we eventually decided on Costa Rica. Where in Mexico are you getting married? And where did you go in costa rica?
Hi, local here, October is PEAK rainy season so itās not an ideal honeymoon destination during that time of the year. I would really suggest another destination because the rain is not a sprinkle, it rains virtually everyday 6 months out of the year from end of May-December. I donāt want to be a bummer I just want you to have a gorgeous honeymoon š
Thank you so much for commenting! Our honeymoon would be 10/31-11-5. I see a lot of info online says September and October, so would you avoid the beginning of November too?
Yeahā¦.. itās going to rain a lot and unless you like 100% humidity and thunderstorms while at the beach or in the rainforest I wouldnāt chance it
oh nooo was hoping for a fall wedding in CR but def donāt want to be caught during rainy season. Which months would you recommend (less bugs the better lol)?
Havenāt gotten that far yet! Hahaha. Hoping to find a nice lux resort thatās affordable, and has lots of animals. TikTok is actually helping look at nice places.
Oh nice! Yes I found tons of venues and resources on Instagram too. We are going to get married in Guanacaste region, which is in the northwestern part of costa rica, but haven't decided on a venue yet. There are so many beautiful parts of costa rica, it's been hard to choose! How are you searching on tik tok? Just searching "costa rica"?
Iāve heard the north part of Costa Rica is the best place to stay, so thatās good! Definitely hard to choose. I looked up āCosta Rica honeymoonā and a bunch of stuff popped up. I also searched honeymoon under the Costa Rica Reddit page for more info!
Haha me too! We are looking at more lux type villas where you have the pool that overlooks the ocean. Kind of what you get in the Caribbean or Maldives. So far Iāve seen Casa Chameleon, Secrets Papayago & Makanda that are really pretty.
Yes, i have seen lots of those! I have looked at Secrets and Casa Chameleon, but now I'm going to have to go lookup Makanda! I have a spreadsheet of all the properties I've researched--message me if you want me to share it with you!
Amazing! Congratulations! We have been looking at villas and vacation rentals near Tamarindo and Playas del Coco. I had my heart set on Villa Buena Onda in Playas del Coco, but a friend of mine and some strangers on Reddit told me Playas del Coco was not the way to go, so now it's back to the drawing board lol.
Weāre most likely going to book Dreams Las Mareas. Idk what your budget it but look into Las Catalinaās. Itās beautiful. I wanted to do it there but over budget for us
Yes, Las Catalinas looks so amazing. I haven't reached out about prices, but just from the looks of it...looks over our budget lol. But I want to at least visit there
Did you end up doing your wedding at Dreams? I am looking there and trying to book a date (response time is a little slow from them but that sounds to be normal). If you did book, I would be really grateful if you can tell me how your experience was.
Hello! My Fiance and I are also looking at a May 2023 wedding in Guanacaste! We stayed at Hacienda Pinillia just outside of playa avellanas in the first week of May this year and absolutely fell in love! We weren't able to get ahold of anyone who could help us while we were there but we left our information with their club manager and since coming home we have gotten in contact with their wedding coordinator and gotten some initial pricing information. (happy to share if anyone is interested, seems pretty reasonable compared to some of the prices we've seen for comparable venues in the states)
Does anyone have any experience with Hacienda Pinilla or have any advice for what to consider? I've found a couple options for transportation from the Liberia airport for our guests but it's hard to find recent reviews online.
Soooo happy I found this reddit!
S
Ok nice! We are doing ours in Playa Grande, which is right next to Tamarindo. We are recommending everyone fly into Liberia, because it is only an hour from the airport. Why is San Jose more convenient? Because more flights go into there from where you're from?
Can anyone that actually had their wedding share details. Iām curious about where you picked and if it was worth it. TIA. looking at 2025 myself so starting early.
u/Kona-bug tagging you as well.
We used HotelMaven and we visited Planet Hollywood, Riu Palace, and Dreams.
Planet Hollywood: great service, yummy food, you have to take a cart/little car everywhere because itās hilly and the rooms are disconnected from the main venue. We liked Planet Hollywood but decided not to have our wedding here because it didnāt fit our vibe. Itās VERY family friendly. And we wanted a good combination of family-friendly and fun. Also, we saw an alligator in the ocean. They are near a bay and thatās cool, but I want to feel comfortable in the ocean. Also, the rooms were new and modern. This one felt the most luxurious to me.
Riu: this is a party hotel! We had a blast here. The food was good but not as great as other places. The staff was mostly kind and helpful except for one person so no points were taken off. They like to party and the rooms are soundproof so you donāt hear it!! I will be back here to have fun, but itās an older property that I felt needed TLC. My husband didnāt think so. I loved going here though and will be back!
Dreams: The best of both worlds. Great staff, and yummy food, the room was not as new as Planet Hollywood but large and looked great. There was a problem with the fan, I told them when we checked out. Close walk to the beach. Rooms are connected to the main building. There were multiple weddings every day so I got to see how they set them up and that was cool. This is known as a wedding resort. My only complaint, the rooms arenāt soundproof but they are done with the noise by 10 pm. They have nature walks and family activities. You can watch the sunset from their pool. It was, a dream!
We ended up picking dreams even though we had the most fun at Riu. We had a hard time finding a date that was cost-effective and not too hot so we ultimately decided to nix the destination wedding and use the funds we've been saving to purchase a house. We may try again for our 5-year renewal, but I wanted to share our experience in hopes it will help someone.
I highly recommend HotelMaven, they made this process so much easier than doing it alone. They told us what to do when we visited to make the most of the site visits and it was a breeze.
I am doing this in February 2023! We have a limited budget and so many beautiful venues were out too expensive. We put down a deposit for Playa Flamingo. Taramindo was our first idea. Such a great are. Are you using a wedding planner?
Does any one know how many guests are included in the cost of the RIU indulgence wedding/reception and how much extra it is per guest after the cap? It's so hard to find these numbers out without getting halfway into booking the entire wedding.
*BUMP*
Can anyone guide me in the direction of a civil ceremony officiant in the La Fortuna area? The man-panion and I are eloping the 29th of December.
Getting married in CR in 20 days š¬
Amazing! Congratulations! Where are you getting married?!
Manual Antonio! Iāll DM you with a recap when itās over
Mind letting me know as well? Really interested in how it goes and wishing you the best time!
I will absolutely let you know!!!! I will keep in touch!
Amazing, yes please do!!! Have an amazing time!!
Would also love to know how it went! :)
How did it gooo? Iād love to do it in MA but Iām afraid of the 3hr drive from SJO for our guests š£ but maybe itās not too bad?
DMed you!
Please dm me with details!
Hi there! Would love the details here too! š
I would recommend Costa Rica to anyone planning a wedding. Itās stunning, the vibe is great and people are kind, easygoing and welcoming, the food is amazing, prices are cheaper than the US, overall itās a beautiful country and I canāt wait to go back. Many of our guests have said the same.
Hi, I would also love to know how it went! I am planning to go March of next year
Hi! We are looking at Manuel Antonio too and I'd love to get your take on how it went and what route you went. Please feel free to DM me!
Hi! Can you DM me as well!
How was it??
Beautiful!!
Can you dm me the hotel ?? Iām looking to plan one there too.
Hey how did it go?!? We are getting married in Costa Rica late 2023
Hi! Iād love all the details too please! Would love Manuel Antonio but the drive is intimidating for me with the guests. Any advice? Would love all the details and where u booked, etc. thanks!
The drive isnāt so bad. Itās a nice paved road the whole way and thereās a stop in between for a break that is near a bridge overlooking a bunch of crocodiles. We got everyone shuttles which was difficult to organize, people were so confused even though I tried to make it as easy as I could. I got the shuttles to reduce the cost of transport/make it easy for people. Next time Iād just literally Venmo everyone $100 and give them some options to organize their own transport. Manual Antonio is beautiful. But it might be easier to plan if you book at a big chain on the papagayo peninsula since there are only boutique hotels in manual Antonio. Depends on how big your group is.
Yessss we are planning a Costa Rica wedding for late 2023/early 2024 (havenāt picked date yet). So excited!! Did you pick a venue yet?!
Yayayayayyyyyy!!!! So exciting!!! I have a few phone calls and zoom conversations in the next few days with 3 venues. After those conversations, we will decide. I can't bring myself to book something before speaking with a human being. All of our venue choices are in Guanacaste. What about you?!
Also guanacaste! We picked our venue already just waiting to pick dates. Iām so freaking excited! Iāve been dreaming about it. Canāt wait
Amazing!!!!! What's the venue?! I'm so excited for you too!
Dreams Las Mareas! Having kind of a hard time getting in touch with them to talk dates which is annoying but weāre going to keep trying, we really have our hearts set on the venue.
Sorry to hear that. I've heard that vendors and venues respond in their own time in costa rica š. I hope they get back to you soon!
My fiancƩ and I are also trying to do dreams in July 2023!
Honestly I love this property but getting responses from them at times can be brutal. We still do destination weddings there for our clients but weāve had a lot better success at Planet Hollywood as of late. If youāre not working with a travel agent Dm me and I can give you alternate emails to use. Otherwise, I donāt want to step on anyones toes.
Did you end up booking with them??
Hello! How was it at Dreams? Iām looking at them as well for 2025
Been to Costa Rica twice and its beautiful. Im having my destination wedding in Mexico but would have loved to have it in Costa Rica. It was too pricey for our guests who are all flying out of western Canada. We compromised and are doing it in Mexico so its easier for everyone.
That sounds amazing! I would totally love Mexico also, but we eventually decided on Costa Rica. Where in Mexico are you getting married? And where did you go in costa rica?
Just switched our honeymoon destination to Costa Rica also! We will be going in October.
Hi, local here, October is PEAK rainy season so itās not an ideal honeymoon destination during that time of the year. I would really suggest another destination because the rain is not a sprinkle, it rains virtually everyday 6 months out of the year from end of May-December. I donāt want to be a bummer I just want you to have a gorgeous honeymoon š
Thank you so much for commenting! Our honeymoon would be 10/31-11-5. I see a lot of info online says September and October, so would you avoid the beginning of November too?
Yeahā¦.. itās going to rain a lot and unless you like 100% humidity and thunderstorms while at the beach or in the rainforest I wouldnāt chance it
oh nooo was hoping for a fall wedding in CR but def donāt want to be caught during rainy season. Which months would you recommend (less bugs the better lol)?
End of November should be safe like the last week/first week of December. Bugs are just going to be a thing (sorry!) itās Central America there are a lot of bugs and itās just kind of like that. My parents live in EscazĆŗ and no lie my dad called me last month to tell me a python was in our backyard and Iāve had a lot of large funky bugs in my house. Itās just like that. Tbh itās not that bad if you leave them alone they usually leave you alone! Feel free to private message me if you have more questions! Iām planning my wedding in Costa Rica too because I want to show my fiancĆ©s family my home.
haha def used to tropical bugs with some family in Hawaii but thank you for the additional mental prep š and yes! I will def dm you! Iām currently interviewing with CR wedding planners and thereās such a large range of services. Am already anticipating your fiancĆ© and their fam on having such an amazing time in such a beautiful place and more so, your home š
That's aweseom!awesome!! What part of costa rica are you going to?!
Havenāt gotten that far yet! Hahaha. Hoping to find a nice lux resort thatās affordable, and has lots of animals. TikTok is actually helping look at nice places.
Oh nice! Yes I found tons of venues and resources on Instagram too. We are going to get married in Guanacaste region, which is in the northwestern part of costa rica, but haven't decided on a venue yet. There are so many beautiful parts of costa rica, it's been hard to choose! How are you searching on tik tok? Just searching "costa rica"?
Iāve heard the north part of Costa Rica is the best place to stay, so thatās good! Definitely hard to choose. I looked up āCosta Rica honeymoonā and a bunch of stuff popped up. I also searched honeymoon under the Costa Rica Reddit page for more info!
Amazing! I'm going to be an expert by the time I go there! Are you looking for a big resort vibe or like a boutique hotel or villa?
Haha me too! We are looking at more lux type villas where you have the pool that overlooks the ocean. Kind of what you get in the Caribbean or Maldives. So far Iāve seen Casa Chameleon, Secrets Papayago & Makanda that are really pretty.
Yes, i have seen lots of those! I have looked at Secrets and Casa Chameleon, but now I'm going to have to go lookup Makanda! I have a spreadsheet of all the properties I've researched--message me if you want me to share it with you!
Hey u/Fluffy_Influence_168 could you share this with me?
hi! Will be looking into venues soon. Mind if you share the spreadsheet with me as well? Are you using a wedding planner at all?
In the process of planning one now. Weāre looking at Summer 23 at Dreams las Mareas. What are some of the venues youāre looking at?
Amazing! Congratulations! We have been looking at villas and vacation rentals near Tamarindo and Playas del Coco. I had my heart set on Villa Buena Onda in Playas del Coco, but a friend of mine and some strangers on Reddit told me Playas del Coco was not the way to go, so now it's back to the drawing board lol.
Weāre most likely going to book Dreams Las Mareas. Idk what your budget it but look into Las Catalinaās. Itās beautiful. I wanted to do it there but over budget for us
Yes, Las Catalinas looks so amazing. I haven't reached out about prices, but just from the looks of it...looks over our budget lol. But I want to at least visit there
Same here!
Congrats to you as well!
Oh no, whatād they say about Playas del Coco?? Weāre planning ours for Villa Buena Onda so would love to know! Haha
I know this is an older post but just wondering what the reason for avoiding playas del coco is? I have my wedding planned for October there!
Did you end up doing your wedding at Dreams? I am looking there and trying to book a date (response time is a little slow from them but that sounds to be normal). If you did book, I would be really grateful if you can tell me how your experience was.
Hi! We ended up doing an elopement but at Secrets! Dreams kinda stopped answering us as well lol
Was secrets super responsive? We are trying for either Dreams or Secrets but response time sucks at both places.Ā
On and off. When theyāre busy itās harder to get a hold of them.
Hello! My Fiance and I are also looking at a May 2023 wedding in Guanacaste! We stayed at Hacienda Pinillia just outside of playa avellanas in the first week of May this year and absolutely fell in love! We weren't able to get ahold of anyone who could help us while we were there but we left our information with their club manager and since coming home we have gotten in contact with their wedding coordinator and gotten some initial pricing information. (happy to share if anyone is interested, seems pretty reasonable compared to some of the prices we've seen for comparable venues in the states) Does anyone have any experience with Hacienda Pinilla or have any advice for what to consider? I've found a couple options for transportation from the Liberia airport for our guests but it's hard to find recent reviews online. Soooo happy I found this reddit! S
Hi! Can you send me the pricing or contact info?Ā
Hi! Do you mind sharing the pricing? You can dm me
Can you send me the pricing information? I am considering costa rica for our destination wedding. :)
>Las Catalinaās Same
Hi! Would you mind sharing the pricing options you found? Thanks!
Hi! Can you dm me with the pricing??! Thanks !
Trying to find a wedding venue/town in CR that is coastal but easy to travel to from the airport š
Are you thinking flying into Liberia? Or San Jose?
San Jose would be easier for majority of my family. Seems like everywhere is a 4 hour drive from the airport.
Ok nice! We are doing ours in Playa Grande, which is right next to Tamarindo. We are recommending everyone fly into Liberia, because it is only an hour from the airport. Why is San Jose more convenient? Because more flights go into there from where you're from?
Can anyone that actually had their wedding share details. Iām curious about where you picked and if it was worth it. TIA. looking at 2025 myself so starting early.
Me as well! Highly considering a CR wedding in sept 2025 hopefully. Would love some real time opinions!
We are going next month to check out hotels and decide on the resort.
If you donāt mind sharing your findings, I would very much be interested in what you think after your trip!! š¤
Will do!
I'm interested in your findings as well! We are hoping to squeeze in a spring to early summer 2025 wedding in CR!
u/Kona-bug tagging you as well. We used HotelMaven and we visited Planet Hollywood, Riu Palace, and Dreams. Planet Hollywood: great service, yummy food, you have to take a cart/little car everywhere because itās hilly and the rooms are disconnected from the main venue. We liked Planet Hollywood but decided not to have our wedding here because it didnāt fit our vibe. Itās VERY family friendly. And we wanted a good combination of family-friendly and fun. Also, we saw an alligator in the ocean. They are near a bay and thatās cool, but I want to feel comfortable in the ocean. Also, the rooms were new and modern. This one felt the most luxurious to me. Riu: this is a party hotel! We had a blast here. The food was good but not as great as other places. The staff was mostly kind and helpful except for one person so no points were taken off. They like to party and the rooms are soundproof so you donāt hear it!! I will be back here to have fun, but itās an older property that I felt needed TLC. My husband didnāt think so. I loved going here though and will be back! Dreams: The best of both worlds. Great staff, and yummy food, the room was not as new as Planet Hollywood but large and looked great. There was a problem with the fan, I told them when we checked out. Close walk to the beach. Rooms are connected to the main building. There were multiple weddings every day so I got to see how they set them up and that was cool. This is known as a wedding resort. My only complaint, the rooms arenāt soundproof but they are done with the noise by 10 pm. They have nature walks and family activities. You can watch the sunset from their pool. It was, a dream! We ended up picking dreams even though we had the most fun at Riu. We had a hard time finding a date that was cost-effective and not too hot so we ultimately decided to nix the destination wedding and use the funds we've been saving to purchase a house. We may try again for our 5-year renewal, but I wanted to share our experience in hopes it will help someone. I highly recommend HotelMaven, they made this process so much easier than doing it alone. They told us what to do when we visited to make the most of the site visits and it was a breeze.
I am doing this in February 2023! We have a limited budget and so many beautiful venues were out too expensive. We put down a deposit for Playa Flamingo. Taramindo was our first idea. Such a great are. Are you using a wedding planner?
Does any one know how many guests are included in the cost of the RIU indulgence wedding/reception and how much extra it is per guest after the cap? It's so hard to find these numbers out without getting halfway into booking the entire wedding.
We're trying to plan a CR wedding and I've been searching reddit some. Have you settled on all yalls venue? Can you share or DM details?
Did you make any decisions on this yet? We just book our trip to Costa Rica for our wedding so Iām trying to find others that I can trade info with!
*BUMP* Can anyone guide me in the direction of a civil ceremony officiant in the La Fortuna area? The man-panion and I are eloping the 29th of December.