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Costa Rica Weddingmoon - Site, Photog, etc

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danners84

Rough_Rock
Joined
Sep 15, 2007
Messages
85
Has anyone gotten married in Costa Rica or been to a wedding there? My fiance and I are planning to have a private sunset ceremony on the beach, and I was wondering if anyone had any vendor recommendations. We primarily need a good planner or good site, and a good photographer.

I'll take just about any tips I can get, including good book/website recs for either DW planning or Costa Rica info. I currently have Frommer's Costa Rica 2010.

Basically, I just need help!

Thanks in advance!
 
I second Best Destination Weddings! I used them ALOT when I was planning my destination wedding in the Dominican Republic.
 
Wow, thank you so much! I've already poked around the site a bit, and it looks great! Maybe I'll still have some hair left by the time the wedding rolls around after all :lol:
 
For your photographer, you might want to consider "taking" one with you. It will give you a lot more options to make sure you get the style and personality you'll love. Additionally US business laws will apply to them, although hopefully you won't need that option. The only thing to be mindful of when taking a US vendor with you is that they may need to obtain a work permit to legally work in CR.
 
Hey, can't give advice on wedding planning, but I just wanted to say - depending on when you go, the Caribbean coast is wetter than the Pacific coast (I went in March and the weather was fantastic on the Pacific coast, and the beach I went to was nicer than the one on the Caribbean coast).

I went to Playa Samara, which was really beautiful, but the one next to it, Playa Carrillo, is supposed to be even nicer and quieter and more deserted.

Also, the one I really wanted to go to, but couldn't afford since there's basically only one hotel (a nice resort) there, is Playa Pan de Azucar.

ETA: I can't seem to upload pictures, but I have a few of Samara and Manuel Antonio (don't recommend the latter for a wedding - very touristy) here: https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/two-weeks-in-costa-rica-lots-of-pics.140030/
 
I didnt get married there/honeymoon there, but as someone who recently vacationed there, I just wanted to give some advice:

*it is very close to the equator, and the UV index is SOOOOO intense compared to other locals you may be used to. The sun is VERY intense, so be care of your time of day of the ceremony and time of year you plan on traveling (this coming from someone who is italian, and tans easily, and actually had her entire chest BLISTER)
*the beach is soso in my opinion. Darker and more "rocks". So if you compare it so the soft white powder of Cancun/St. Thomas, it will leave something to be desired
* there isnt much nightlife, so if you plan doing things with all of the guest, make sure you scout things out. Depending on what hotel you pick, you may be 30 mins away from any entertainment
*be VERY cognizant of your valuables. There is a lot of crime....robbery, car jacking, etc.

Despite the cautions above, it is a BEAUTIFUL location, and a wonderful destination for trip and or wedding. I stayed at the Los Suenos Yacht Club and utilized the Marriott, and it was lovely! I definitely suggest it. Horseback riding through the rainforest, ziplining, surfing and deep sea fishing all highly recommended.

Let me know if you have questions, I would happy to help.
 
I just realized that I neglected to come back and post - in my own thread at that.

I'd love to take a photog with me, but it's out of budget.

We are sticking with the Pacific coast, and are going in January --> need to finalize plans ASAP!

B.E.G. - is there much near Playa Pan de Azucar? I was looking at the Malpais/Santa Teresa area. While we want something more quiet than Manuel Antonio for the first part of the trip and wedding, we still want some activities nearby - canopy tours, Cabo Blanco, Montezuma, or maybe a day at Tortuga Island were activities we were considering.

NakedFinger (I nearly abbreviated your name to just "Naked") - We will make sure to pack the high SPF, UVA/UVB blocking sunscreen! Thanks for that tip - I probably would have just brought my SPF 15 & 30. Rocky beaches are fine with us - we are lovers of nature in all of its varying forms. And we have the Gulf of Mexico as our beach. Brown water anyone?? We are eloping, so no worries about activities for others, just need to find a place that satisfies the 2 of us. Thanks for all the warnings though! Glad to hear you recommend deep sea fishing - I had heard some complaints, and I'm glad to hear that you felt it was worth it.

Any recommendations for hotels along the Central Pacific Coast? Manuel Antonio/surrounding area or somewhere that we could stay and make a day trip to Manuel Antonio? We're maxing out the hotel budget for the first half of the trip, so I'm trying to find something under $100/night for the second half - clearly nothing fancy, just clean and comfortable.

Sorry for not responding earlier - I'm really grateful for everyone's advice!
 
danners84 said:
I just realized that I neglected to come back and post - in my own thread at that.

I'd love to take a photog with me, but it's out of budget.

We are sticking with the Pacific coast, and are going in January --> need to finalize plans ASAP!

B.E.G. - is there much near Playa Pan de Azucar? I was looking at the Malpais/Santa Teresa area. While we want something more quiet than Manuel Antonio for the first part of the trip and wedding, we still want some activities nearby - canopy tours, Cabo Blanco, Montezuma, or maybe a day at Tortuga Island were activities we were considering.

NakedFinger (I nearly abbreviated your name to just "Naked") - We will make sure to pack the high SPF, UVA/UVB blocking sunscreen! Thanks for that tip - I probably would have just brought my SPF 15 & 30. Rocky beaches are fine with us - we are lovers of nature in all of its varying forms. And we have the Gulf of Mexico as our beach. Brown water anyone?? We are eloping, so no worries about activities for others, just need to find a place that satisfies the 2 of us. Thanks for all the warnings though! Glad to hear you recommend deep sea fishing - I had heard some complaints, and I'm glad to hear that you felt it was worth it.

Any recommendations for hotels along the Central Pacific Coast? Manuel Antonio/surrounding area or somewhere that we could stay and make a day trip to Manuel Antonio? We're maxing out the hotel budget for the first half of the trip, so I'm trying to find something under $100/night for the second half - clearly nothing fancy, just clean and comfortable.

Sorry for not responding earlier - I'm really grateful for everyone's advice!
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, I hear there's pretty much nothing near Azucar - one of the big reasons we chose not to go there. I highly recommend Playa Samara - it's a small little town but has some restaurants and bars. We stayed for a week and enjoyed it a lot. If you go there, and want to splurge, definitely definitely book at the Treehouse Inn. It's $100-$150 (I forget exactly) per night, but you have a treehouse! All to yourself! (Well make sure to ask for one). You also have hammocks and chairs and table for your own use underneath it, it has a pool, etc. Book in advance. They only had one vacancy the entire week we were there plus we could only afford one night anyway. Pics -

file.jpg

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Also, Playa Carrillo is right next to Samara and is supposed to be super quiet and deserted - more so than Samara, which is not really crowded but still has a nice amount of people (and surfing lessons, and horseback riding). It is a few miles away so you want a car probably to get to Carrillo and back (or you can do a cab but you have to tell the cab when to pick you up because it'd be hard to just catch one from Carrillo). We didn't check it out - we liked Samara and got lazy :P I also have some other hotel recommendations for Samara if you decide not to do Treehouse (Treehouse is on the beach, we stayed most of our time at the hotel across the street - Casa del Mar - that has a beach lot and chairs - oh bad news about Treehouse is you can't take their chairs onto the beach). We really liked Casa del Mar.

In Manuel Antonio, I highly recommend Hotel Vela Bar. It's a little ways away from the beach/main area (about 5 min. walk) which is nice because it's very spring breaky near the beach (at least in March when I was there) and lots of bars and stuff. Vela Bar is quieter, and really really cute. It's set up in little cabins.

http://www.velabar.com

Oh and it's well under your $100/night max :)

And yes, high SPF sunscreen is a must!
 
Thanks! Vela Bar looks great, especially for the price. The Samara Treehouse Inn is highly recommended, and I remember you mentioning how much you liked it before. From what I've read, Samara is pretty popular with the locals, and we would be there over a weekend during peak/high season. I'm concerned that it would be too busy for what we want for the first part of our trip, especially for a wedding on the beach.

You've been a ton of help. Thanks for taking the time =)
 
danners84 said:
Thanks! Vela Bar looks great, especially for the price. The Samara Treehouse Inn is highly recommended, and I remember you mentioning how much you liked it before. From what I've read, Samara is pretty popular with the locals, and we would be there over a weekend during peak/high season. I'm concerned that it would be too busy for what we want for the first part of our trip, especially for a wedding on the beach.

You've been a ton of help. Thanks for taking the time =)
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Oh that's very true about wanting it quieter for a wedding - sorry! I guess I was focusing more on the honeymoon part! You could try to do the wedding in Playa Carrillo but stay in Samara but that seems like that might be more hassle than it's worth (especially if you can find another beach that gives you options for things to do, but is quieter when you get married). Good luck! Sorry I can't recommend more on that line.

Let me know if you have any other questions. And if you have the time, I would definitely check out Monteverde for some gorgeous scenery, ziplining and horseback riding (and the cloud forest itself of course, and the hanging bridges). It was one of my favorite places from CR.
 
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