Arrange to have all your guests stay at one hotel and use the hotel’s wedding planner.

Most of the big 4-5 star All-Inclusive hotels have Wedding Planners on-site. Using hotel facilities the hotel can make all arrangements and supply catering and entertainment utilizing the hotel resources. These need to be booked well in advance to ensure room availability for your guests. Prices vary depending mostly on the room-plan selected for your guests.

Beach weddings are the most common and most hotels offer beach weddings, usually in the midst of all their hotel guests, or weddings in their chapel, if they have one. If you wish a secluded beach wedding, it is important to ask the hotel’s wedding planner if that option is available. One positive, is that hotels do offer protected areas in case of bad weather.

Hire a Wedding Planner.

If you are looking for something special like a secluded beach wedding, Mayan wedding or holding your wedding next to a cenote or in a Spanish Colonial Church then you need to hire a Wedding Planner. You have so many possibilities to create a special wedding incorporating exotic Mayan, Spanish and Caribbean influences that without an experienced planner you may never know what is really available to you.

A Wedding Planner will also do all of the running around for you to gather the necessary forms and paperwork for a civil or Catholic wedding, arrange for all your wedding suppliers, schedule your blood test with a local clinic for a civil ceremony, etc.

We strongly recommend packing ALL wedding apparel in plastic bags [garbage bags work great] inside your luggage. Pack wedding dress in carry-on. This is to prevent any jet fuel fumes from leaking into your bag or the possibility of your bags being left in the rain during loading unloading. Union rules dictate that all outside airport workers immediately seek shelter in the advent of a thunderstorm. They will leave your bags right where they are when they receive the call to go in.

THINGS TO KNOW WHEN PLANNING YOUR WEDDING

Civil Marriage

Only a civil marriage is recognized as legal in Mexico. You don’t need to have a religious ceremony but if you omit the civil ceremony, the marriage will not be legal in or outside Mexico.

Civil marriages in Mexico must be performed by a Mexican Justice of the Peace.

Religious & Mayan Marriage

If you would like to get married in a church in Mexico or have a traditional Mayan ceremony, this can be arranged, but couples who have a wedding performed by a Priest, Shaman or Minister in Mexico do not receive a Mexican marriage license unless they also register with the Justice of the Peace.

In the state of Quintana Roo, women who have been previously married may not re-marry there for 300 calendar days following the date of the final decree of divorce unless during that time they have given birth or can prove that they are not pregnant.

Marriage Certificate

The Marriage Certificate you receive is valid world-wide.

Required Documentation

• Passport

Valid Passport and photo-copy of Passport for Bride and Groom. Must be valid for at least 6 months.

• Tourist Visa

One Copy of the tourist visas for Bride, Groom and Witnesses. These are usually handed out on-flight or presented to you at your port of entry.

• Divorce Decree

[documents MUST be “Authenticated or Apostilled” in country of origin]
If previously married, Authenticated Copies of copies of the Divorce Decree are required. Exceptions can usually be arranged if the Bride’s Passport is in the maiden name of the bride.

• Widowed

[documents MUST be “Authenticated or Apostilled” in country of origin]
If either partner is widowed, Authenticated Copies of Death Certificate are required. Exceptions can usually be arranged if the Bride’s Passport is in the maiden name of the bride.

• Birth Certificates

[documents MUST be “Authenticated or Apostilled” in country of origin]
A Birth Certificate is NOT required for a groom if he has a valid passport. Birth Certificates are only required for the Bride if she is divorced and her passport is NOT in her maiden name. If a Bride’s passport is in her maiden name, her birth certificate is not required in Quintana Roo (Riviera Maya, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, etc.). If a Birth Certificates is required, it will need to be certified and translated by an approved translator.

• Marriage Application Forms

These forms are attained from any registry office in Mexico.

• Blood Tests

It is best to get this done in Mexico. If you do this in your country of origin then you must translate all written documentation into Mexican Spanish accompanying the blood tests and all documents must be Authenticated. It is best to get this done in Mexico as well.

NOTE: Blood tests MUST be done a minimum of 3 days prior to the day of the wedding.

• Blood Test Results including:
• HIV
• RPR (social disease)
• Blood Type
• Medical Certificate (in Spanish)
• Four Witnesses

You will need to have 4 witnesses present for a legal ceremony, and they must have valid Passport – no other ID is accepted. Witnesses can be provided if necessary.

• Witnesses not from Mexico must have:

• Proof of citizenship:
• Original Birth Certificate (2 photocopies) or
• Valid Passport or
• Drivers license (2 photocopies)

NOTE: Thorax X-ray Plates (Chest X-rays) are not required for marriages in Quintana Roo (Riviera Maya, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, etc.).

DOCUMENT AUTHENTICATION

Authentication or an Apositille is the official confirmation that a signature, seal or stamp appearing on a document is genuine.

• USA Office of Authentications – official business documents only
  Authentications are done by the Secretary of States in the various States (State of issue for the document).
• Canada Authentication of Documents
• UK Legalization

The Authentication of documents in Mexico [if needed] can be done through your Wedding Planner.

LOCATION FOR YOUR WEDDING

If your dream is to hold your special event on a secluded tropical beach, near a Mayan ruin, in a Cenote, or require 100% privacy with security, then this can be arranged.

Popular locations include: secluded tropical beach, jungle, Spanish colonial church, hacienda, private villas or condos on the beach, and hotels.

WEDDING RECEPTION

Where you hold your wedding reception depends on a number of things. If you are booking all your guests into the same hotel you may want to use their facilities including dining requirements.

Not every hotel is large enough to accommodate large or even small events so you may have to have your reception somewhere other than the hotel(s) you are staying at. There are a number of venues that can accommodate small to large size parties and your Wedding Planner can make all the arrangements according to your budget.

Hacienda Maya Menu

A 19th Century French Influenced Mayan and Mexican Cuisine menu featuring fresh lobster and seafood, USA Certified Angus Beef, Duck, Venison, and Roasted Chicken served with elegance and fine wines.

Maya Menu

Our authentic Mayan and Mexican Celebration menu including Pollo Pibil, Chicken Mole, Cornish Game Hens and Seafood Kebab.

Beach BBQ and much more…

ENTERTAINMENT

From mariachi to polka, any “theme” is available. Not only that but there is no shortage of bright entertaining MCs that can manage your affair with only the kind of jun he say que that a Mexican MC can bring you. If you think your airport transfer guide was entertaining then wait until you experience a Mexican Wedding MC.

Also available are salsa shows and lessons, Aztec Dance shows, and more. A Wedding Planner can provide customized menus [traditional Mayan delicacies a specialty!], wedding flowers and cakes, party favors, wedding decor, and whatever else you may need or desire.

A great gift idea for your guests can be found when you are wandering around Playa looking in the shops. If you see some nice exotic picture frames, buy a bunch. Talk to the store owner if you want to try and get a discount. Send your guests your wedding picture already framed in something Mexicana and they’ll love it!

HOTELS AND AIRPORT TRANSFER

You have a few options here for booking hotels. Depending on your budget or your guests’ budgets you have the option of going All-Inclusive or just book rooms.

Sometimes hotel room availability becomes an issue and you cannot book all your guests in at the same hotel. This is not really a problem in Cancun or Playa del Carmen and in fact lends even more to the atmosphere when guest can walk across the street to visit friends/relatives in another hotel. There are so many hotels in Cancun and Playa del Carmen, that should you run out of space in one, you usually can find space very close by.

If cost is an issue for your guests then it is a good idea to price out other hotels and give your guests the option of hotels other than the one selected for the bride and groom.

AIRPORT TRANSFERS

Unfortunately you can’t give your guests the true Mexican experience by landing them at the airport with directions to the hotel bound colectivo. So you need reliable airport transfer to whisk them to their hotel’s front door, and back at the end of your event.

Your options are to book individual transfers for each person so as they arrive they are picked up and escorted to the hotel or if a large group is arriving at once it is more economical to book a VIP transfer, which would be your own private transfer [accommodates up to 8 people with luggage].

For more information and on-line booking please visit Airport Transfers