What guests remember about a villa wedding is the week around it: the welcome dinner by the pool and the brunch the morning after, with nobody split across three hotels. A villa gives you that. It also comes with rules a resort would handle for you, starting with how many people can attend and when the music stops. Here is what to ask before you book, and which of our houses allow a wedding at all.
Villa or hotel: what you trade
| Private villa | Resort hotel | |
|---|---|---|
| The venue | The whole property is yours. No other wedding shares it. | Shared grounds. Another wedding may be booked the same day. |
| Your guests | Sleep, swim, and eat together all week. | Spread across rooms, often with a room-block minimum. |
| Vendors | You choose the chef, caterer, and planner. | Many resorts require their own photographer, florist, and officiant, or charge $500 to $1,500 or more per outside vendor. |
| Rules | An event guest cap, outdoor music off at 10 p.m., pre-approval, an event fee, a security deposit, and a minimum stay. | Extra guests beyond the package at about $50 to $150 each. |
| Small-group price | The house plus the event fee. | Packages from about $1,600 to $2,200 for 10 guests at large resorts (agency figures). |
For an elopement or a small wedding on a tight budget, a resort package can win. For 25 to 50 guests who want a week together, a villa usually does. You also organize more yourself. Plan on hiring a planner; the manager behind most of our Guanacaste wedding houses refers them.
What "wedding friendly" means at a villa
Listings use "great for events" loosely. Before you book, get these answers in writing:
- Weddings are allowed, and how pre-approval works.
- The event guest cap. This is a different number from how many the house sleeps.
- The event fee, and what it covers.
- The time outdoor music has to stop.
- Whether you can bring outside vendors, and who supplies tables, chairs, and sound.
- The security deposit, any damage cover, and any cleanup fee.
The two head counts trip people up most. A house that sleeps 36 may take 60 for the event. Another house that also sleeps 36 may allow no events at all.
Villas that allow weddings
These three houses publish their wedding terms. The caps and fees below are as published by the house manager (for GU-01, by the estate itself). Terms change, so confirm the current ones when you book.
| Villa | Area | Bedrooms | Sleeps | Event guests | Outdoor music | Event fee, as published |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GU-01 | Nosara | 15 | 32 to 36 | Up to 60 | Ends 10 p.m. | $1,500 to $5,000 by guest count, house rental separate |
| GU-45 | Hacienda Pinilla | 17, in three villas | 40 | Up to 50 | Ends 10 p.m. | $500 |
| GU-62 | Tamarindo | 10, in two villas | 23 | Up to 35 | Ends 10 p.m. | From $2,000 |
GU-01, a 15-bedroom estate in Nosara
The clearest wedding terms of any house we list. Ceremonies happen on an open lawn, and the estate's packages cover the venue, tables, chairs, and basic sound, with the house quoted separately: $1,500 under 30 guests, $3,000 for 30 to 45, and $5,000 for 45 to 60. Weddings carry a four-night minimum stay, and receptions from May through November need a tent.
The published security deposit is $3,000, refundable, or an optional $119 damage policy, plus a $250 cleaning fee after the event. There are 10 parking spaces, so plan shuttles for guests staying elsewhere. The estate sleeps 32 to 36, and the same team manages neighboring villas that bring the total to about 70. It works from a list of preferred local vendors; ask whether you can bring your own.
GU-45, three villas in Hacienda Pinilla
Seventeen en-suite bedrooms across three houses in Bosques de Pinilla, a newer neighborhood inside the gated Hacienda Pinilla community, sleeping up to 40. The manager allows small weddings with pre-approval: up to 50 event guests, a $500 event fee, and outdoor music off at 10 p.m. The community's approval is also needed in advance.
It also works as a home base. One family rented all three houses for a wedding party, held the welcome party here, and married at a venue elsewhere.
GU-62, two villas in Tamarindo
Ten bedrooms with an ocean view, sleeping 23 between the two houses (14 in one, nine in the other). The manager publishes up to 35 event guests, a fee from $2,000, and the 10 p.m. music rule. Guest reviews describe a wedding week that housed both families. The road up is steep, so plan transport for older guests.
Smaller houses: the venue, with lodging nearby
Four smaller houses are on the same manager's wedding list, all with the 10 p.m. rule: GU-34 in Tamarindo (up to 40 event guests, sleeps 20), GU-46 in Tamarindo (25 to 40, sleeps 19), GU-61 in Tamarindo (30, sleeps 16), and GU-22 in Hacienda Pinilla (50, sleeps 20). Published fees start at $1,000 per event, and GU-22's depends on the guest count. None sleeps more than 20, so they work best as the venue, with a second house nearby for the rest of the group.
Houses to ask us about
GU-74 in Hacienda Pinilla is on the manager's wedding list for larger events. We are still confirming its bed map, so ask us before you plan around it. GU-68 (12 bedrooms, Hacienda Pinilla) and GU-48 (12 bedrooms, beachfront, Nosara) are listed as suitable for events but publish no event rules. Ask us and we find out.
Lodging, not the venue
GU-72 in Playa Langosta (14 bedrooms, sleeps 36) does not allow events on one of its listings. It can still house most of a wedding group near a venue in Langosta or Tamarindo. GU-10 in Hacienda Pinilla (six bedrooms, sleeps 19) is the first house we check for Guanacaste groups. It publishes no event terms, so book it as lodging near a Pinilla venue.
The 10 p.m. rule comes from the law, too
Every house in this guide stops outdoor amplified music at 10 p.m. That is the manager's rule, and national law sits behind it. Costa Rica's noise regulation, Decreto 44486-S, counts vacation homes, condominiums, and cabins as residential and sets a low limit for homes at night, which starts at 8 p.m. In a condominium, the administration is the first to act on a complaint.
Plan the day around it:
- Hold the ceremony in the late afternoon, before sunset.
- Do the toasts and the first dance before 9 p.m.
- After 10, move the party inside where the house allows it, or switch to acoustic music.
Beach ceremonies
By law, the first 50 meters inland from the high-tide line is public and cannot be closed off (Ley 6043). You can say your vows on the sand, but expect walkers and surfers to pass by. Whether a short ceremony on the beach needs a permit varies by place, and the same goes for a private event at a house. Your planner or the house manager confirms what applies before you book vendors.
GU-16, an eight-bedroom house on Playa Langosta, opens straight onto the beach and is on the manager's wedding list (up to 40 event guests, fee from $1,000, as published). Its listing also has a quiet-house policy that asks for no music during a stay, so confirm the music policy for your wedding night before you book.
Getting legally married in Costa Rica
US and Canadian couples can marry legally here. A Costa Rican notary performs the civil ceremony, at the villa if you like, and registers the marriage with the Registro Civil. Embassies do not perform weddings.
- No residency requirement under the current Family Code.
- Both of you present, both 18 or older. There is no marriage by proxy.
- Two adult witnesses who are not close relatives of either of you or of the notary. Two friends from the wedding party work fine.
- Proof that you are both free to marry, and a divorce decree if either of you was married before. US citizens can sign a single-status affidavit at the US Embassy in San José, by appointment; the embassy lists the fee at $50 each on its notarial services page.
- Passports, plus anything else your notary asks for. Ask early whether they also want birth certificates or a police record, apostilled and translated into Spanish.
- After the wedding, ask your notary how long the certificate takes, then have it apostilled at Costa Rica's foreign ministry for use at home.
Back home, the US recognizes a marriage abroad according to your state's law, so check with your state. Canada says marriages legally performed abroad are usually valid there and do not need to be registered (Government of Canada). Same-sex marriage is legal in Costa Rica.
Many couples skip the paperwork: they sign at home and hold a symbolic ceremony here. Officiant estimates run from about $450 for a symbolic ceremony and about $800 for a legal one, and notary fees for foreign couples about $300 to $700. Confirm the document list and fees with your notary, and confirm with your home country that the marriage will be recognized.
When to have it
Guanacaste is dry from December to March. April is a transition, rain sets in around late May, and September and October are the wettest months. The Central Pacific, Manuel Antonio included, is dry from January to March, with December and April in between, and gets much more rain over the year. Outside the dry months, plan a tent or a covered rancho for the reception; GU-01 requires a tent from May through November.
Christmas, New Year, and Easter weeks carry minimum stays of a week or more and non-refundable terms at many of the big houses we list. Plan those dates early.
Food, drink, and the rest: what it costs
Every figure here is an estimate from published prices. Confirm with us for your date and group.
- Catering: about $50 to $90 per person for a buffet, $80 to $150 plated.
- Private chef dinner: one Tamarindo caterer publishes $120 per person, with groceries, service, and cleanup included.
- Bartender: one Central Pacific chef service lists $90 for four hours for up to 10 guests, plus $6 per extra guest. For 40 guests that is about $270, alcohol separate.
- Rentals: chairs from about $3 each and a ceremony arch from about $180. We found no published tent prices, so ask for a quote.
- Reception lighting: about $1,500 to $4,000.
- Planner: about $3,000 to $9,000.
For 40 guests, the meal alone comes to about $2,000 to $3,600 on a buffet, or $3,200 to $6,000 plated, before the bar, rentals, staff, and tips. For the whole picture, one wedding agency puts a villa wedding for 20 to 50 guests at $25,000 to $45,000 or more. For the week's other meals, our guide to choosing a villa for a large group covers how a private chef works.
A wedding week at a villa
- Arrival day. Everyone lands, picks a room, and ends up at the pool.
- Welcome dinner. One long table at the house, cooked by a chef.
- Wedding day. Ceremony in the late afternoon, dinner, toasts before nine, and the party moves inside at 10.
- The morning after. Brunch at home. Nobody has to drive anywhere.
- A free day. The beach, a tour, or nothing at all.
That is the case for a villa in one week. Check the minimum stay first: some houses set one for weddings, and GU-01's is four nights.
Manuel Antonio
Manuel Antonio has the jungle and the sunsets, but fewer houses big enough for a wedding group, and none we list publishes wedding rules. The one to ask about is MA-23: 10 bedrooms, sleeps 24, a private elevator, and a chef for breakfast and dinner Monday to Saturday. The other way to do it is a ceremony at a venue, with everyone sleeping at one or two villas nearby. Ask us and we check what each house allows.
What to send us
- Your date range, and whether it can move
- Guest count for the event, and for sleeping (they are usually different)
- Coast, or open to either
- A legal ceremony here, or a symbolic one
- Your budget for the house
- Whether you already have a planner
Our concierge team arranges the chef, the transfers, and private events around the week. The houses that sleep big groups are on our large group villas page, and the large-group guide covers bed maps, two-house setups, and pools with toddlers. More planning guides are on our guides page.
