How to get married in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica works for a destination wedding because it offers something that most beach-only countries cannot: landscape variety within a compact footprint. You can get married on a cliff above the Pacific in the morning, host your rehearsal dinner beside an active volcano the next evening, and send guests home via a cloud-forest zipline. The country is small enough that a multi-day wedding weekend can feel like a genuine tour rather than a logistics nightmare.

The country is also politically stable, tourism-mature, and fluent in wedding hospitality. Vendors, planners, photographers, florists, officiants, are accustomed to English-speaking couples, and most resorts have in-house wedding coordinators who have run hundreds of ceremonies. The currency is the Costa Rican colón, but U.S. dollars are accepted almost everywhere, which simplifies budgeting.

A Costa Rica wedding tends to appeal to couples who want something a little wilder than Mexico or the Caribbean. If your ideal ceremony involves howler monkeys as witnesses, barefoot vows on black sand, or a welcome dinner beside a thermal pool, this is your place.

Costa Rica is not one destination but several, and choosing the right region matters more than picking a specific venue. Here is how the wedding-friendly areas break down.

Guanacaste and the Papagayo Peninsula sit on the northwest Pacific coast and see the most destination weddings. This is the driest part of the country, with reliable sunshine from November through April, and it holds the highest concentration of resort venues. Liberia International Airport (LIR) is the closest gateway and often cheaper to fly into than San José.

Manuel Antonio, on the central Pacific coast, pairs dense rainforest with a crescent of beach. It is greener, lusher, and slightly more humid than Guanacaste, with a shorter dry season. Weddings here often lean boho, open-air ceremonies on jungle-edge platforms, with monkeys and sloths overhead.

Nosara and Santa Teresa are surf towns on the Nicoya Peninsula. They attract a younger, more design-conscious crowd: yoga-retreat aesthetics, driftwood altars, intimate guest counts. Access is harder (a long, sometimes unpaved drive from Liberia), but the payoff is seclusion.

La Fortuna and the Arenal volcano area is the inland option. You trade beach for volcano views, hot springs, waterfalls, and cloud-forest light. Wedding photos here look nothing like a beach wedding, which is exactly the point for some couples.

The Osa Peninsula and Corcovado, in the far south, is the wildest region, think private eco-lodges, rainforest ceremonies, and very small guest lists. It is expensive and logistically involved, but unmatched if you want a wedding that feels like a Planet Earth episode.

Costa Rica has two seasons: dry season (verano) and green season (invierno). For weddings, the choice is almost always dry season, which runs roughly mid-December through April.

December through April is peak wedding season. Expect reliable sunshine, calm seas on the Pacific, and the lowest chance of your outdoor ceremony getting rained out. This is also peak tourist season, so airfare and hotel prices are at their highest, and venues book 12 to 18 months in advance.

May and November are shoulder months. The rains are arriving or departing, skies are dramatic, and prices drop noticeably. Most days still have long sunny stretches, with rain clustered in late-afternoon showers that you can plan around.

June through October is green season. Landscapes are at their most vivid, crowds thin out, and costs fall by 20 to 40 percent. Rain is a real factor, particularly on the Caribbean and central Pacific coasts, but Guanacaste stays relatively dry through July. If you book here, plan for an indoor or covered ceremony backup.

September and October are the wettest months and generally not recommended for a beach wedding, though jungle and volcano ceremonies can still work with the right backup plan.

The good news is that Costa Rica makes it easy to get legally married as a foreigner, no residency requirement, no waiting period, no blood tests, and no pre-trip paperwork from your home country.

What you need: a valid passport for each partner, both partners at least 18 years old, and a sworn statement (affidavit) confirming you are free to marry. If either partner has been previously married, a divorce decree or death certificate is required, translated into Spanish and apostilled.

Who can officiate: only priests, Costa Rican judges, and licensed Costa Rican attorneys (abogados) can perform legally binding ceremonies. If you want a symbolic ceremony led by a friend or non-Catholic officiant, a lawyer still needs to sign the paperwork for legal recognition. Most wedding planners have a partner attorney on call.

Witnesses: two witnesses over 18 who are not related to either partner within the third degree.

Registration: after the ceremony, the attorney files the marriage with Costa Rica's Civil Registry. Your certificate, translated and authenticated, typically arrives at your home address within 8 to 12 weeks. Marriages performed in Costa Rica are recognized in the United States, Canada, the UK, and most of Europe without further action.

Many couples choose to legally marry at their local courthouse before traveling, and treat the Costa Rica ceremony as symbolic. This avoids any paperwork delay and is the planner-recommended approach if you need the marriage certificate fast (for a name change, insurance, or immigration purposes).

For a destination wedding with 20 to 50 guests, budget roughly $25,000 to $45,000 for a mid-range celebration in 2026. Luxury weddings at private villas or Peninsula Papagayo resorts can run $75,000 to $150,000 and up. Elopements with just the couple and a photographer start around $2,500 to $5,000.

Here is a rough breakdown for a 40-guest wedding in the $30,000 to $40,000 range.

Venue and ceremony fee: $3,000 to $8,000 depending on whether you book a resort package or a standalone private venue.

Catering and bar: $150 to $250 per guest for dinner and open bar at a resort; $100 to $180 per guest at an independent venue. Budget $6,000 to $10,000 for 40 guests.

Photography: $3,500 to $7,000 for a full-day package from an established local photographer. Costa Rica has a deep bench of international-level wedding photographers, and this is not a category to cut.

Flowers and decor: $2,500 to $6,000. Tropical blooms (heliconia, ginger, orchids) are locally abundant and affordable; imported peonies and garden roses get expensive fast.

Planner and coordinator: $3,000 to $8,000. A local planner is effectively required if you are not booking an all-inclusive resort package, and genuinely worthwhile even if you are.

Music and entertainment: $1,500 to $4,000 for a DJ plus ceremony musicians; live bands start around $3,500.

Officiant and legal fees: $500 to $1,200 if you want the marriage legally binding in Costa Rica.

Welcome events, rehearsal dinner, and farewell brunch: budget an additional $3,000 to $8,000 if you plan a full wedding weekend.

Guests typically pay their own airfare and lodging. Airfare from the U.S. to Liberia or San José runs $400 to $800 round-trip in dry season. Hotel rates at wedding-friendly resorts range from $250 to $800 per night, and more couples are blocking villa rentals as a mid-priced alternative.

These are the names that come up repeatedly when planners talk about Costa Rica weddings.

Andaz Costa Rica Resort at Peninsula Papagayo is the luxury benchmark. Ceremony sites include a hilltop overlook, a private cove beach, and an open-air pavilion. Expect Peninsula Papagayo prices, which are among the highest in the country.

The Westin Reserva Conchal is an all-inclusive in Guanacaste, popular for mid-to-upper-budget resort weddings. Ceremonies happen on the beach or a cliff-top terrace; the resort handles most logistics in-house.

Cala Luna Boutique Hotel in Tamarindo is a smaller, design-forward alternative. Cala Luna Point is one of the country's most photographed ceremony spots, a rocky outcrop where the beach curves out to sea.

Hacienda Pinilla is a sprawling private residential-and-resort community with a historic colonial chapel, beach club, and multiple hotel partners. Couples who want a multi-day weekend with varied settings often land here.

Nayara Tented Camp and Nayara Gardens, near La Fortuna, are the benchmark for volcano-view weddings. Sister properties share the views but deliver different aesthetics, safari-tented versus lush garden.

Lapa Rios Lodge on the Osa Peninsula is the pick for small, fully-immersed rainforest weddings. Maximum 30 or so guests; booking often requires buying out the lodge.

Pranamar Villas in Santa Teresa and Hotel Nantipa in the same area anchor the boho-surf end of the spectrum. Both favor barefoot beach ceremonies and small counts.

Secrets Papagayo and Dreams Las Mareas are the better-known adults-only all-inclusive options in Guanacaste, with published wedding packages that start around $3,000 to $6,000 before per-guest add-ons.

A destination wedding in Costa Rica benefits from a 12-to-18-month planning runway. Here is a compressed version of how the months should shake out.

Twelve to fifteen months out: lock in region, date, and venue; hire a local planner; send save-the-dates; book your photographer. Peak-season Saturdays at the best venues go first, often a full year ahead.

Nine to twelve months out: book your room block, vendors (florist, DJ, officiant, ceremony musicians), and rehearsal dinner venue. Set up a wedding website with travel details; guests will appreciate flight recommendations, airport guidance (LIR vs SJO), and transportation logistics.

Six to nine months out: send invitations, start tastings (many planners arrange video tastings or in-person during a planning trip), finalize decor direction, confirm transportation for guests between the airport, hotel, and ceremony.

Three to six months out: finalize guest count for catering, confirm room blocks, order attire, schedule hair and makeup trials (a planning trip to the country three to four months before the wedding is common and highly useful).

One to three months out: final vendor payments, seating charts, welcome bags assembled, marriage paperwork submitted if going the legal route.

One month out: confirm flight arrivals, coordinate welcome events, finalize timeline with your planner.

A Costa Rica wedding asks more of guests than a closer destination, so plan accordingly.

Fly into Liberia (LIR) for Guanacaste, Nicoya, and Papagayo weddings; San José (SJO) for Manuel Antonio, La Fortuna, and southern coast weddings. LIR is dramatically closer to most wedding venues, tell guests explicitly which airport you want them to use.

Internal travel is slower than a map suggests. Even short distances can take two or three hours on winding roads. Budget extra transfer time, and consider arranging group shuttles rather than leaving guests to rent cars.

U.S. citizens do not need a visa for tourist stays under 90 days. Passports must be valid for the duration of the trip.

Pack for humidity. Linen suits, lightweight dresses, and open-air fabrics are the standard dress code for Costa Rica weddings. Most beach ceremonies are explicitly barefoot or sandal-friendly.

Yellow fever vaccination is not required for travel from the U.S., Canada, or Europe, but is required if arriving from certain South American and African countries, a relevant note if you have guests flying in from those regions.

Travel insurance is worth recommending. The combination of long flights, rainy-season unpredictability, and adventure-heavy itineraries makes it a sensible spend.

A few patterns come up again and again in planner debriefs.

Booking green season without a real indoor backup. Rain is not a maybe; it is a given. Every outdoor ceremony needs a tent, covered pavilion, or indoor alternative.

Underestimating transfer times. Couples who schedule a welcome dinner the same day as international arrivals regularly watch guests trickle in hours late.

Importing too much decor. Costa Rica has gorgeous native flora and strong local vendors. Shipping peonies from Ecuador or rentals from Miami adds cost, logistics headaches, and customs risk.

Skipping the planner to save money. Resort coordinators handle the venue well, but a dedicated local planner handles the country, vendor negotiations, paperwork, transportation, contingencies. This is not where to cut.

Forgetting about the humidity for hair and makeup. Beach-proof, humidity-proof trials are essential. Air-conditioned getting-ready spaces save the morning.

Costa Rica gives you variety, ease, and genuine wildness in a single destination. Book dry season, hire a local planner, pick a region that matches your aesthetic (Guanacaste for reliable sunshine, Manuel Antonio for jungle-beach, La Fortuna for volcano, Osa for wild seclusion), and treat the country itself as part of the wedding experience. Guests who travel for a Costa Rica wedding do not forget the trip.