Wedding In Jaco, Costa Rica June 2018

palmtrees · March 20, 2018

Hi Everyone,

Any advice from anyone with Costa Rica Advice would be greatly appreciated!

Getting Married June 2018 in Jaco, Costa Rica.

It's frustrating and difficult to book/reserve vendors that I do not actually know (and just putting the trust into the hotel) all the way from Florida. I have seen some interesting and helpful posts from past brides but the posts date back to 2007... etc and a lot of the links are no longer able to be seen.

The hotel has vendors they suggest, however, if I do not use their vendors they will charge me $100 for each new vendor I bring from the outside...

Hair and makeup- they are charging me $100 for each service! I know that this is expensive because I was just in 2 weddings last year here and they were not nearly as expensive... They aren't willing to give me a group discount for my party either- everyone pays $100 for each service....I've seen the pictures of her work also, its "okay"... not overly impressed ....

Officiant.... We don't necessarily need an official one as we are getting legally married first in Florida but, we'd like someone to hold the ceremony and they want to charge us over $600 for it...

Violin and piano.... music

They are charging me $1,100 for 2 hours.... I also need a DJ for the last hours but this price makes it difficult to do anything else...

Flowers and Decor....

For tall floral centerpieces they are charging $350... what do you think?

Favors...

Does anyone have a suggestion of what they gave their guests seeing as though its a destination wedding and you don't want to fill their luggage with something unnecessary...

Can anyone recommend a vendor they know, trust and like?! Also, if you've been married in Costa Rica, how do the above prices and features sound to you? I always thought the prices in Costa Rica should be a little better than in the states- I don't want to feel like I'm getting taken advantage of...

Any input and advice is very appreciated!

THANK YOU!

Meegab · March 21, 2018

The same thing was happening to me, I ended up hiring a planner and received many more vendor options for each service (and better quality), at the vendors real prices rather than Hotel marked up prices. The savings on receiving the regular vendor prices made up for a good amount of the planning fee. And the rest of the fee was well worth it for how much less stressful it was. Good luck!