Getting married? Congratulations! If you’re anything like me, once you get engaged, the planning begins. Over this three part series, I’m going to tell you everything I know about how to plan a wedding in Mexico. I am naturally a big planner, so planning a wedding felt like on big fun project to me. I got engaged in March 2022, civilly married in May 2022 and had a wedding party in September 2023. This means we planned and did everything in less than 6 months! Here’s the thing – this is absolutely possible! Mexico, and I think other countries, aren’t exactly as booked out as the U.S., but it still may mean you have to compromise on some things. Note that all of the timing I am noting in this guide is when we personally booked each item. Obviously, the farther you book in advance, the more choice you will have.
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Wedding Planning – The Big Picture
First of all, let’s talk big picture. The experience of planning a wedding can be overwhelming, so knowing what to focus on and when is important. In my opinion, these are the big milestones in priority order. In the upcoming posts, I’ll go over how I approached each of these milestones, as well as things to consider. Whether you plan a wedding in Mexico or anywhere else, I think all of these still apply.
- The Budget (Part I)
- Do I need a wedding planner? (Part I)
- How do I get civilly married? (Part I)
- The Venue (Part II)
- The Hotel for your guests (Part II)
- The Music – DJ or Live (Part II)
- The Photographer (Part III)
- The Flowers & Decoration (Part III)
- Hair & Makeup (Part III)
- Other Final Touches (Part III)
Planning a Wedding Budget
It is definitely important to think about your budget ahead of time when you plan a wedding in Mexico or anywhere. You don’t need to know your exact spend, but you should have a general range. It is very easy to go over-budget and you really need to know what’s important to you. For example, I knew that the venue and food was important to me, and this was my biggest expense. Since we got married in a gorgeous outdoor setting, I was able to cut some cost on decorations and flowers. Also know that you can always ask vendors for options to reduce cost. In my experience, they’ll quote you the biggest, most expensive option first. Here is a breakdown by percentage of how much each main item cost for our wedding:
- Venue, Food, Alcohol – 46%
- Flowers & Decoration – 13%
- DJ, Lighting & Audio – 11%
- Wedding Planner – 8%
- Photography – 6%
- Transportation – 5%
- Dress – 6%
- Hairdresser for Bride + 3 People – 2%
- Other – 2%
Do I Need a Wedding Planner?
Timing: Six months in advance of the wedding.
I think this choice is very dependent upon how much you want to spend, how much time you have to dedicate to planning and coordinating, where you’re getting married, and whether or not you speak the local language. There are several types of wedding planners:
- Full Service – Help plan the wedding, find and coordinate vendors, and coordinate minute-by-minute on the day.
- Medium Service – Help you find vendors and coordinate minute-by-minute on the day.
- Day-of Service – Coordinate minute-by-minute on the day.
Because we were getting married in Mexico and neither of us are from here, and because our wedding was in another city in Mexico (Playa del Carmen), we chose a full service wedding planner. It was the right choice for us, but I ended up finding a lot of my own vendors and coordinating a lot myself, so I think in hindsight, we could have done the medium service option.
My tip is, if you know already where you want to get married in Mexico (or anywhere), look for local wedding planners in that area and get quotes. It’s incredibly helpful if your wedding planner is familiar with the people, vendors, and venues in the location where you’re getting married. Also – if you have a venue in mind – absolutely ask if it includes a wedding planner!
How to Get Legally Married in Mexico
This may not apply if you’re getting legally married in your country and having the party in Mexico, but my husband and I are actually legally married in Mexico. This was something our wedding planner was incredibly helpful for because she knew a Civil Registry Official in Mexico City and arranged for her to come to our home and marry us. In Mexico, there are two choices – you can go to the civil registry office to get married, or pay more and have someone come to you. Apparently the offices aren’t super nice, so we chose the latter. This site theoretically tells you everything you need to get married in Mexico, however, I don’t think it’s 100% correct. For example, we did not have to get a physician’s certificate.
A Few Things to Know About Mexican Civil Marriage
- You both need to be legal residents of Mexico or obtain a marriage permit from Mexican immigration if you’re a tourist. My husband and I are both legal temporary residents, so this part was easy for us.
- You need both of your birth certificates, in Spanish, with an official apostille. We used Ostria Traducciones in Mexico City for our official translations.
- To get an apostille in the U.S., you have to first request an original birth certificate, and second, contact the Secretary of State for your state. Then you send an application with your original birth certificate to the Secretary of State and request an apostille. I’m from Wisconsin, so here is an example of how to get an apostille on their website.
- You need two witnesses, and our total fees with the marriage certificate, four copies, and the cost to have the civil registry official come to our house to perform the marriage was about 9,000 Mexican pesos, or around $500 USD.
I highly recommend having the Civil Registry Official come to you. Ours did a beautiful ceremony in Spanish for our small group of guests, and it was really special. We kept it super simple and inexpensive by having the ceremony at home and buying refreshments for our guests, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
