Planning a Wedding in Costa Rica
Selecting a Costa Rica Wedding Location
Who is coming to your Wedding in Costa Rica is the first question to ask and your answer to this question will make the decision of what happens next. If your answer is less than 6 people counting the bride and groom then you may consider using an elopement package even if it has to be customized a bit. If this is the case then couples can be married almost anywhere within the country. However, if your guest list is 7 or more then you really should plan a Costa Rica wedding with at least an event planner if not a wedding coordinator because location and where you stay will now become the biggest part of the planning process.
Here’s a basic formula to remember when planning your wedding in Costa Rica; add wedding theme + size of your guest list, to = location options of where you can have it. Ideally you want all guests staying together right? So, if your determined to have wedding in the rainforest and you have 100 guest, then there’s a very good chance that all guest may not be staying at the same hotel unless it’s booked 2 years in advance. At the same time a beach wedding more offers location possibilities to couples due to larger facilities and more rooms yet, it can also be much more costly. For any Costa Rica wedding, couples need to understand that until you determine how many guest you’ll have and where your going to have it then discussing the actual wedding details are a waste of time because the details will change depending on the location. Group transportation is another concern and is always a big part of any wedding in Costa Rica. Being able to move all guest from an airport to the wedding location can be tough at times. If you can talk guest into departing and arriving at the same times then you’ve won half of the battle.
Costa Rica Wedding Planner vs. Wedding Coordinator
What’s the difference? It’s a BIG difference. Most Costa Rica wedding planner jobs are located at lodging facilities. Many facilities hire a man or woman, give them 2 hours training, the title of “Wedding Planner or Coordinator” and pay them only $300 to $600 dollars per month with a promise of a small commission for every wedding that they book. Now, here comes you the customer and you want to save a little money so you’re calling the resort directly and they say “Let me transfer you to our wedding coordinator”. Jiminy Crickets, if you only knew what you were doing then you would shoot yourself! Your about to bring 40 of you’re best friends and family members down here for a wedding in Costa Rica that is being planned by a girl who was passing out hamburger coupons last month! Don’t get me wrong a wedding planner is able to help you with a “small” wedding or an elopement maybe but they are not Costa Rica wedding coordinator and your first clue should be that they only promote their establishment. On the other hand a real coordinator will customize your wedding to fit you and will offer several locations depending on wedding themes, date and amount of guest.
Choosing a good Wedding Coordinator in Costa Rica can be difficult nowadays due to the mighty internet. Professional web designers can make anyone look good with breathtaking wedding pictures stolen from the internet. However, any reputable wedding planning in Costa Rica should be able to not only provide photos of previous weddings but reference letters and contact information for the married couples themselves. Good choices for wedding coordinator or planning would be like Larissa Banning who lives in the central valley but can coordinate a wedding in Costa Rica no matter where the location is. Also there is Donna Mickley that lives in Tamarindo and offers her Costa Rica wedding coordinator services in Guanacaste only.
Any knowledgeable wedding coordinator will always work closely with couples to make sure that everything goes off without a hitch. The exact job of a Costa Rica wedding planner is to coordinate not only the wedding itself but to handle all the logistics of the guest also. The wedding planner assistant usually takes care of everything behind to scenes such as ordering, pick ups, scheduling and making sure that everything and everyone arrive on time. Meanwhile, the wedding coordinator works with the bride and groom to establish the main theme of the wedding, leads rehearsals, receive everything from the vendors, delegate’s authority and makes the wedding come to life onsite. Another good tip is that if you’re talking to a wedding coordinator in Costa Rica that says that they will show up on the day of your wedding instead of the evening before then you need to keep looking.
Costa Rica Wedding Ceremony Issues
Although that your probably not aware of it, couples can only be married legally in this country by two people. The first way is by a Catholic priest. They can perform the wedding in Costa Rica and it is completely legal however there are other problems. Catholic weddings can only be performed in a Catholic church, so there goes the tropical backdrop ideas if you had any. It is also difficult to find priest in all towns that have a church and also perform a wedding in English. Priests also want to council with you first and most will not do it by phone. Then there is the second choice which is a lawyer. Many Costa Rica Weddings are done by English speaking lawyers and these can be done at any location.
Now here’s what I think; I always tell love birds to get married in the states at the courthouse, don’t tell anyone and then come here for the ceremony. Why? There are a lot of reasons. Having a wedding in Costa Rica is all about the day, the atmosphere and memory. Not about paying a lawyer $1000 bucks for travel expenses, a five minute wedding ceremony, translating all wedding documents, sending them thru the National registry and then having them Fed Ex’d to you so you can store them in a box.