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Plan a Wedding in Riviera Nayarit

This special place abounds with perfect locations for your special day. Here are four of our favorites.

By: Sharon Boone

On Mexico’s west coast, just north of Puerto Vallarta, lies Riviera Nayarit, the country’s newest vacation area. It’s a land of resorts, low-key fishing villages and world-class surfing spots. Riviera Nayarit abounds with perfect locations for your special day. Here are four of our favorites.

Sophisticated Mexico

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Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit

The luxury all-inclusive Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit in Nuevo Vallarta, a town on Banderas Bay, features a gorgeously understated décor of polished teak and gleaming marble. The combination of luxe accommodations and an oceanfront locale inspires and invites glorious sunset celebrations. Couples can host a beach wedding at dusk or exchange vows in the garden or on the stately stone terrace. Then they can enjoy a sit-down reception dinner in an oceanside tent or host a buffet banquet poolside. Whichever you choose, ask the on-site coordinator to recommend a mariachi band; your guests will love the authentic experience. The resort’s spa is perfect for some post-wedding pampering (the guided hydrotherapy ritual is amazing!), and the three-level, three-climate infinity pool is heaven on earth. The hotel also offers four restaurants featuring gourmet Mexican, Italian, French and international cuisine. Visit velasweddings.com for more information.

Tropical Tranquility

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Playa del Sol Grand

The Playa del Sol Grand, a five-star all-suite resort, sits on a prime spot on beautiful Flamingos Beach. The lush tropical landscaping of the grounds and the Tahitian-influenced décor give the resort a more intimate feel than most hotels in the area. This large property also has another advantage: Weddings with up to 150 guests can be held on the beach. And smaller ceremonies—10 people or less—are often hosted in an open-air, beachfront palapa. The resort offers several options for receptions, including poolside, the more formal Palm Terrace—
the hotel’s oceanfront restaurant—or the Bar Nautico, a two-story beachside “clubhouse,” with a preppy yacht-club vibe. For more information visit playadelsolpv.com.

Quirky Hideaway

The small fishing-village-turned-surfer haven of Sayulita is also home to the rustic but luxurious Villa Amor hotel. Set on a hilltop above Banderas Bay, the hideaway has the appearance of a colorful outcropping of rocks. Wedding ceremonies and receptions can be held in the lush garden or on one of the brick terraces overlooking the water. And you and your guests can dance to the music of a local salsa band (ask the on-site wedding coordinator to arrange this) while enjoying the view of the coast and fishing boats placidly bobbing in the brilliant blue water. Afterward, your party will navigate a long (and somewhat steep) series of stairs that leads to the accommodations. The 33 unique suites feature breezy designs that combine outdoor and indoor living spaces, some equipped with terraces and private plunge pools, others with open-air kitchenettes and lounging areas. Details, like thatched roofs, gossamer mosquito nets, wrought-iron lamps and mosaic tiles the color of the sea, add charm. What you won’t find here are telephones or televisions. For more information visit villaamor.com.

Tops for Luxury

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Four Seasons, Punta Mita

If your idea of a perfect wedding is having your every whim catered to, then look no further than the Four Seasons Punta Mita. Located on a nearly virgin strand of beach on the northern tip of Banderas Bay, with casitas sprinkled amid beautifully manicured grounds, this resort excels at making you feel as though you are the only guest. Sure, you may glimpse others sunning themselves on the crescent-shaped beach, but the effect is that of other people briefly wandering through your dream. Pre-wedding, you and your guests can relax with outdoor mani-pedis. Or you may decide to unwind with your groom during a 50-minute couple’s massage in a private spa cabana, with the lulling sounds of the ocean as a backdrop. Host your ceremony on the beach or beneath a picturesque chamomile tree overlooking the ocean. Reception spaces include a private stretch of beach, several terraces or courtyards, as well as more formal banquet rooms with ocean views. For a treat, ask for a candlelit dinner to be set up for you on a rock outcropping that juts into the ocean. For more information vist fourseasons.com.

Lawfully Wedded
Here’s what you’ll need to get legally hitched without a hitch: original and certified copies of passports, apostilled (or notarized) to ensure that the document will be recognized in a foreign country, copies of birth certificates that include parents’ nationality and birth information, a tourist card issued upon entry to Mexico, a blood test taken in Mexico and a medical certificate. You must also present four witnesses, 18 years or older, with copies of their passports and tourist visas. And if applicable, you must present a death certificate, translated into Spanish if you are widowed, or a final divorce certificate, translated into Spanish and apostilled. (Note: You cannot legally marry in Mexico until one year after a divorce has been finalized.)