One of the many reasons couples choose to have their wedding at an all-inclusive resort in Mexico is the value. With stunning venues, top-tier service, and a range of options to suit different budgets, Mexico offers incredible bang for your buck.
Here’s a breakdown of what you can generally expect:
Wedding Packages: From Basic to All-Inclusive
Most resorts offer a variety of wedding packages, from simple ceremonies to all-out celebrations.
Here’s a rough idea of the price ranges:
- Basic Wedding Packages: $1,000 – $3,000 USD
These often include just the essentials: a ceremony venue, a basic floral arrangement, and a small cake. While the price point seems attractive and pulls you in due to the price point at first glance, this type of wedding package is the least like an at home wedding because it doesn’t include a cocktail party or a reception. It’s more suited to vow renewals or elopements with just the couple or possibly a friend or two in attendance. - Mid-Range Wedding Packages: $3,000 – $7,000 USD
With these packages, you’ll typically get more inclusions, like a private cocktail hour, and maybe even a semi-private reception, and sometimes even a cake or other extras. It’s certainly a step up from what you see in most basic wedding packages but there are likely still additions you will want to make. - Luxury Wedding Packages: $7,000 – $15,000+ USD
For couples who want the full experience – ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception. These wedding packages often include most of your basic wedding day needs and sometimes can even include welcome cocktail parties, DJ, and more
Additional Costs to Consider: Wedding Extras
- Photographer – very few wedding packages include a photographer so you will want to factor this into your overall wedding costs. For destination weddings at Mexico all-inclusive resorts you can expect to spend between $3,500 and $5,500 for 8+ hours of photography. Inclusions can vary based on the photo vendor offered by your resort.
- Flowers & Décor – the pricing for flowers and decor can range drastically depending on your style and the extravagance of your choices. Couples with smaller guest counts and simpler tastes can expect to spend approximately $3,500 – $6,000 and couples with moderate to larger guest counts with more focus on floral and decor can expect to spend $5,000 – $7,500+.
- Lighting – This may be one of the biggest surprises for wedding couples. Most outdoor venues do not automatically come with lighting so you will often need to rent overhead lighting, like the beautiful string lighting you see in a lot of pictures. You can expect to spend anywhere from $700 – $2,000+ on lighting, depending on the size of your venue and the type of lighting you choose.
- Entertainment & Dance Floor – Some resorts offer a DJ as part of the wedding package, but a lot of resorts still do not have this as an included item. And the dance floor is almost never included in the wedding package either. Depending on the resort you can expect to spend anywhere from approximately $1,500 – $3,500 for a DJ and appx $1,000 – $2,000 for a dance floor.
- Outside Vendor Fees – this is another one of those fees that often surprise destination wedding couples. Every resort will have a list of vendors that you must choose from and if you decide to hire a vendor that is not on their list the resort charges an outside vendor fee per vendor per service. This vendor fee typically ranges from $850 to as much as $3,000! So the easiest way to avoid paying an outside vendor fee is to only utilize vendors on the resort’s vendor list.
The Yellow Umbrella Take: Making Your Budget Work for You
Every couple is unique, and we’re here to help you make the most of your budget. Whether you’re looking to keep costs down or want to go all out, we’ll guide you to where you can ensure the best value without compromising on your dream day.
As you can see, gone are the days where you could have a Mexico destination wedding at pennies on the dollar of a US wedding, unfortunately. However, that doesn’t mean there’s not an opportunity for savings. We typically see a savings of approximately 40% of what you would spend for a US wedding of the same caliber and inclusions. For example, if your wedding budget in the US was $100K we would typically see the pricing for the same wedding in Mexico to be around $60K (or a $50K wedding to be around roughly $30K).
Let’s Talk Numbers!
We hope this email has helped you better align your overall spending expectations. If you have an exact budget in mind – or you’re just not sure where to start, let’s chat. We can help you create a customized wedding plan that aligns with your vision and your budget.
