How much does a wedding at Sonesta Maho Beach cost in 2026?
A 40-guest wedding at Sonesta Maho Beach in St. Maarten costs approximately $11,700, or about $292 per guest, when the couple books 50 or more room nights and takes the complimentary Marry Me for Free reception dinner. That figure covers ceremony and reception venue rental, one added hour of open bar, and a mid-level layer of outside vendor services including a DJ, real florals, eight hours of photography, and bridal hair and makeup. It does not include guest room rates or airfare.
Here is the short version before the long version:
|
What you are paying for |
Estimated 2026 cost |
|---|---|
|
Sonesta resort side (venues, setup, extra bar hour) |
about $3,272 |
|
Outside wedding planner and vendor side |
about $8,424 |
|
Estimated total for 40 guests |
about $11,700 |
|
Per-guest cost |
about $292 |
Most couples land somewhere between $8,000 and $15,000 depending on photography hours, florals, and whether they take the free dinner or upgrade into a paid reception package. The rest of this post shows exactly how the $11,700 is built, line by line.
Why we can answer this question specifically
We get some version of “how much is our wedding going to cost?” on every single discovery call. Yellow Umbrella Events is a destination wedding travel agency founded in 2011, and we have planned more than 600 destination weddings. This is not a scraped estimate. It is the same math we run for a couple sitting across from us, using published 2026 Sonesta pricing and published rates from one of the outside planners Sonesta works with regularly.
Our planning services are completely complimentary. You pay the same rate you would pay booking directly with Sonesta, and the resort compensates us.
If you want the full menu of venues, Marry Me for Free tiers, and reception package pricing first, start with our complete Sonesta St. Maarten wedding packages guide. This post takes that a step further and builds one real, line-item example.
What does Sonesta actually include, and what do you have to source yourself?
This is the single most important thing to understand before you sign anything, and it is the piece most couples do not know until contract time.
Sonesta only sells you part of your wedding. The resort manages:
- Your ceremony venue
- Your reception venue
- Your food and beverage
Everything else has to come from an outside wedding planner, because Sonesta requires it. That includes:
- Florals and decor
- Photography and videography
- DJ and entertainment
- Hair and makeup
- Day-of coordination
- Your ceremony minister
If you have never worked with a resort that splits responsibilities this way, our guide to how destination wedding room blocks work explains why the room block side of the contract carries so much of your savings.
That is not a knock on the property. It is simply how Sonesta operates. But it means your real budget has two halves, and any cost estimate that only prices the resort side is going to be roughly 30 percent of your actual bill. So we are going to price out both.
Meet the real couple
To keep this useful rather than theoretical, here is the scenario we are pricing:
- 40 adult guests, all staying at Sonesta Maho Beach
- 62 total room nights in the contracted room block: 19 rooms at 3 nights each, plus the couple’s own room at 5 nights (this room block total is what unlocks the perks below)
- A symbolic ceremony at Point Gazebo, oceanfront
- A reception at the Royal Pavilion Terrace
- The complimentary Marry Me for Free reception dinner, with one extra hour of open bar added
- A mid-level layer of outside vendor services: a DJ covering ceremony through reception, real flowers for the bride and her bridesmaids, extended photography coverage, and hair and makeup for the bride
Those 62 room nights save more than most couples expect, so that is where we start.
Why 62 room nights unlocks real Marry Me for Free savings
Sonesta’s Marry Me for Free program rewards your group’s total room nights booked, and it scales in tiers at 50, 100, and 150 nights. At 62 room nights, our couple cleared the 50+ tier, which includes:
- A complimentary room upgrade for the couple
- Two free nights for the couple
- A welcome amenity
- Late checkout, based on availability
- A wedding-day room for the wedding party
- 15 percent off Serenity Spa services for all wedding guests
- A complimentary reception dinner with three hours of private open bar, or a dinner credit toward a standard reception package instead
- The Sonesta wedding cake and a sparkling wine toast
At the 50+ tier you get a choice on the reception. Take the complimentary dinner and three hours of open bar as-is, or skip it and apply a dinner credit of $35 to $55 per guest, depending on tier, toward a standard reception package like Ruby, Pearl, or Diamond.
For this couple, the free dinner was the better deal. Their reception dinner and three hours of bar are already covered, so the only real question left is whether three hours is enough, since most receptions run closer to four.
If your group lands closer to 100 or 150 room nights, the perks get noticeably better, including a fully waived ceremony venue fee. More guests booked inside your block means more savings and more perks.
What do the ceremony and reception venues cost at Sonesta Maho Beach?
Sonesta Maho Beach sits on the Dutch side of St. Maarten, and both of the venues below are on property, so your guests are not paying for transportation between the ceremony and the reception.
Every Sonesta wedding tier requires a private reception venue rental, and that rental is priced separately from the Marry Me for Free perks above. For 40 guests, here is what our couple booked:
|
Venue |
Purpose |
Rental fee |
Setup fee (40 guests) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Point Gazebo |
Ceremony |
$500 |
$400 (at $10 per person) |
|
Royal Pavilion Terrace |
Reception |
$1,500 |
$400 (at $10 per person) |
Venue subtotal: roughly $2,800
A few notes on these two spaces:
Point Gazebo overlooks Maho Bay and comfortably holds a ceremony of this size. One scheduling constraint matters: it cannot be held later than 5 PM. If you are set on a sunset ceremony, confirm the time with the resort before you build your timeline around it.
Royal Pavilion Terrace fits a 40-guest reception with room to spare. Its listed capacity runs up to 120 for reception seating, so there is real flexibility here if your guest list grows.
Setup fees at Sonesta range from $5 to $15 per person depending on the setup you choose. We used the $10 midpoint. Yours could land lower with a simple floor plan or higher with an elaborate one.
Is the complimentary Marry Me for Free reception dinner worth taking?
For this couple, yes. Because they had more than 50 room nights in their block, their reception dinner and three hours of open bar are already included, so there is no per-person catering bill at all.
The complimentary Marry Me for Free menu has its own offerings, separate from the Ruby, Pearl, and Diamond packages, in both buffet and plated formats depending on guest count:
Buffet format (minimum 40 people): Guana Bay or Lay Bay
A cold buffet of salads and compound salads, a hot buffet with choices like jerk pork, jerk chicken, tilapia, pasta bolognese, rice and peas, and mixed vegetables, plus desserts including carrot cake and fruit tartlets with pastry cream.
Plated format (minimum 20 people): Pelican Key or Fort Amsterdam
Appetizer, salad, a choice of entrée such as grilled jerk chicken breast or seared mahi mahi, and a plated dessert.
At exactly 40 guests, our couple qualified for the buffet format and chose the Guana Bay menu. Full dinner, zero per-person charge.
The one add-on almost every couple wants
Three hours of open bar is the standard inclusion, but most couples want closer to four. That fourth hour is cheap relative to everything else on this list:
- Additional hour of open bar: 40 guests × $10 per person per hour = $400
- Plus 18 percent service charge: +$72
- Additional bar hour total: $472
Resort side subtotal, venues plus the additional bar hour: approximately $3,272
What does the outside wedding planner cost at Sonesta Maho Beach?
Now for everything Sonesta does not sell. Since an outside wedding planner is required for anything beyond venue and catering, here is what a mid-level version of that looks like using published rates from one of the planners Sonesta works with regularly.
Ceremony
- Symbolic ceremony minister: $275
Florals
- Semi-tropical bridal bouquet: $190
- Two bridesmaid bouquets (2 × $100): $200
- Boutonnieres for the groom, best man, and one groomsman (3 × $30): $90
Ceremony decor
- Gazebo decor: $350 and up
- Two floral pillars flanking the aisle: $330
Reception decor
- Four reception table centerpieces (4 × $175): $700
Entertainment
- DJ covering ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception, 6 hours total (1 + 1 + 4): $1,500
Photography
- Photography, 8 hours: $3,000
Hair and makeup
- Bride’s hair styling: $145
- Bride’s makeup: $165
- In-room service fee: $75
Vendor subtotal before coordination fee: $7,020
The 20 percent line most couples forget
Because these services are coordinated through the outside planner rather than booked directly by you, a 20 percent coordination fee applies to the total value of what the planner is managing:
- Coordination fee, 20 percent of $7,020: +$1,404
- Vendor side total: approximately $8,424
That $1,404 is the number that surprises people. Budget for it from day one rather than discovering it at contract signing.
A note on how you pay
Paying by credit card adds a 5 percent processing fee, roughly $379 on this vendor total. Wire transfer fees vary by amount. If your budget is tight, ask your planner which method nets out cheapest for your specific total. Keep in mind that paying by credit card also gives you more purchase protection, which is worth something when you are wiring money to a vendor on another island.
Sonesta Maho Beach wedding cost breakdown: the full 2026 total
|
Category |
Estimated cost |
|---|---|
|
Ceremony and reception venue rental and setup |
$2,800 |
|
Reception dinner and 3 hours open bar (Marry Me for Free) |
$0 |
|
Additional fourth hour of open bar |
$472 |
|
Ceremony minister |
$275 |
|
Florals, ceremony decor, and reception centerpieces |
$1,860 |
|
Entertainment (DJ, ceremony through reception, 6 hours) |
$1,500 |
|
Photography (8 hours) |
$3,000 |
|
Hair and makeup |
$385 |
|
Outside planner coordination fee (20 percent) |
$1,404 |
|
Estimated total |
about $11,700 |
That works out to roughly $292 per guest for a 40-person wedding at Sonesta Maho Beach in St. Maarten.v
What raises or lowers your Sonesta Maho Beach wedding cost?
Your version of this math will look different. Here is what actually moves the number.
Things that push you higher:
- A legal ceremony instead of a symbolic one, starting at $1,000 rather than $275
- Hair and makeup for a larger bridal party rather than the bride alone
- Upgrading into a Ruby, Pearl, or Diamond reception package instead of taking the complimentary dinner
- Adding videography
- A more elaborate floor plan, which pushes setup fees toward $15 per person
Things that bring you lower:
- Trimming photography from 8 hours to 6
- Sticking with the included three hours of open bar and skipping the fourth
- Simplifying or declining reception florals
- A simpler setup, which pulls setup fees toward $5 per person
Couples who pull two or three of those levers commonly land in the $8,000 to $9,000 range instead.
And one counterintuitive lever: growing your guest list usually improves your per-guest cost. Most of the outside vendor spend, including the DJ, photographer, minister, and ceremony decor, stays flat whether you have 40 guests or 60. Add more guests to your group room block and you may also climb into the 100-night Marry Me for Free tier, where the ceremony venue fee is waived entirely.
Frequently asked questions about Sonesta Maho Beach wedding costs
No. That figure covers the wedding production itself: venue rental and setup, catering add-ons, and outside vendor services. Your room nights are billed separately as part of your stay. Our example couple’s Marry Me for Free perks at the 50+ tier do include two complimentary nights for the couple.
Yes. Trimming photography from 8 hours to 6, sticking with the included three hours of open bar, and declining reception florals are the three most common ways couples bring this number down toward $8,000 to $9,000. Adding videography moves you the other direction.
The complimentary Marry Me for Free dinner has its own menu, either buffet or plated depending on guest count, with three hours of open bar at no per-person cost. Ruby, Pearl, and Diamond are different formats entirely. Ruby, for example, is built around a cocktail-style reception with passed hors d’oeuvres rather than a seated or buffet dinner. Some couples prefer that format enough to skip the free dinner and apply their dinner credit toward it instead. Either path is fine. It is a style choice as much as a cost one.
The program tiers at 50, 100, and 150 total room nights across your group. Our example couple hit 62 nights with 19 guest rooms at 3 nights each plus their own 5-night stay, which cleared the 50+ tier. At 100 and 150 nights the perks improve further, including a fully waived ceremony venue fee.
Reception package cost scales directly with headcount, but most outside vendor costs stay flat whether you have 40 guests or 60. The DJ, photographer, minister, and ceremony decor do not change. So your per-guest cost actually improves as your group grows, and a larger group is more likely to reach the higher Marry Me for Free tiers.
No. Outside vendors and planners are welcome at Sonesta with no vendor fee, as long as their names are submitted 30 days out for security clearance. You are free to work with a local vendor or bring in your own preferred team.
The ceremony was at Point Gazebo, an oceanfront gazebo overlooking Maho Bay, at $500 rental plus setup. The reception was at the Royal Pavilion Terrace, at $1,500 rental plus setup, which seats up to 120 for a reception. Point Gazebo cannot be scheduled later than 5 PM.
Yes, and it depends on format. The Guana Bay and Lay Bay buffet menus require a minimum of 40 people. The Pelican Key and Fort Amsterdam plated menus require a minimum of 20. Our example couple at exactly 40 guests qualified for either and chose the Guana Bay buffet.
Nothing. Our planning services are completely complimentary. You pay the same rate you would pay booking directly with Sonesta, and the resort compensates us for the booking.
Let us build your real number
Every couple’s version of this math looks a little different depending on package, venue, guest count, and how many extras you want. That is exactly what we are here for. We will run these numbers against your actual guest list and give you a realistic picture of what you would spend at this resort.
Working with Yellow Umbrella Events costs you nothing extra. Connect with us here and let us figure out what your Sonesta Maho Beach wedding actually costs.
