First of all this article was assembled literally bit by bit, several brides, several wedding planners and resorts were interviewed, also my own experience was included, so you can be sure that the prices here are not taken from the ceiling, but several surveys were analyzed.
Let’s begin. The destination itself. The destination place you choose for your wedding plays a huge factor in your budget.
After researching in nearly every site in the Caribbean, North, Central, and South America, most likely you will find one of the cheapest destination wedding locations is the Dominican Republic.
And that means not just cheap destination wedding packages, but also inexpensive travel. Of course you understand that the farther or more expensive the destination place, the more you’ll spend. And the more expensive your destination wedding will be.
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic is the best place for your Destination wedding.
One more thing about your destination place is in comparison to your hometown. If you live in an expensive place like New York, having a destination wedding could be cheaper.
Punta Cana is famous for the fact that prices are lower than those in your home country.
Punta Cana has several options where to make your wedding like private villa, resort wedding or some popular off resorts venues.
How Much is A destination Wedding in the Dominican Republic (Punta Cana)?
The average price for an all-inclusive wedding in Punta Cana is $3,000-$5,000 USD at a 5 stars resort.
$1,000 USD wedding with 10 guests
$3,000 USD wedding with 20 guests
$4,000-$5,000 USD wedding with 30 guests
$8,000-$9,000 USD wedding with 40 guests
These packages most likely include standard things like:
- wedding coordinator,
- symbolic ceremony,
- symbolic certificate,
- decorations,
- chairs,
- bouquet and boutonniere,
- ambient music,
- some bottles of sparkling wine,
- private cocktail after the ceremony,
- private reception (buffet, decor, wedding cake, etc.)
Some packages already include photography and videography services (companies that work fixedly in the resort, their name is usually Photoshop), some offer them separately.
In hotels you can also get some services as a gift (like breakfast in the room for the newlyweds, massages for the bride and groom, etc.)
Quite nice I would say.
The things included in the wedding package may vary depending on the hotel, here I'm giving you the most standard package waiting for you.
The good thing to do inside the resort wedding is it perhaps will be the cheapest way, hotels always have discounts, some stuff they can give you even for free for your wedding (with a certain number of nights booked of course).
Another reason that works in your favor is that if the resort lets you eat at the restaurants for your dinner so that you don't have to pay for the dinner in advance and you don't bother your wedding reception being inside one of their regular restaurants. It will save your money too.
But you should know that resort wedding for 100 people will be more expensive than offsite. Resort weddings are only cheaper for really small groups of less than 20-30 people.
Just pick your resort wisely!
Punta Cana Destination Wedding Photographer and Videographer.
If you take photography and videography services from companies in resort, then prices start at about $ 500 USD and included around one hour of coverage (ceremony and photo session after) and you get around 40-50 edited pictures. Accordingly, the more hours of coverage you want, the higher the price, etc.
Often in resorts, if you want to get more photos from your wedding, you will have to pay extra for them separately from the package. And here resorts usually play with the price for EACH extra photo, that in the end you can pay a decent amount to get your extra photos. Cunning enough.
If you want to bring an outside photographer or videographer you have to pay a vendor fee, whose rank is from $ 500 USD and higher, depending on the resort. Sometimes resorts even offer to buy couple of nights for your vendor, in order to avoid paying vendor fee.
Photographer and Videographer in Punta Cana range from $1,500 to $2,500 USD each, which includes photography of the entire day usually, and hundreds of photos (for more information, ask each one separately).
Punta Cana is rich in trendy, creative and talented photographers and videographers.
Find out!
What About wedding venues outside of the resort in Punta Cana?
Especially in the last few years, more and more brides are choosing weddings in off-resort venues because they want to do something (more) special for their Big Day.
A private wedding in Punta Cana starts at $20,000 USD (for the group of let's say 50+ people and literally added every extra that you could think of from crazy hour, fire show, starlit dance floor, ice cream truck, cold fire sparklers, two giant signs and more) and can hit 50k+.
Custom weddings mean choosing each vendor: wedding planner, florist, photographer and videographer, DJ, hair stylist, MC, officiant, etc.
Don't worry, I'm not scaring you in any way, I just want to say these places are exclusive and with an individual approach.
Here below is a list of the top 4 wedding venues you can arrange off-resort.
Jellyfish Restaurant
Here is a link to their website Jellyfish
As one of the past brides said: ''For all the bells and whistles at Jellyfish, you will pay about $270-$350 per guest not including photo or video. That's with taxes out the door''.
You can rely on this price and make an approximate estimate for your wedding, but AGAIN, every wedding is different and every bride's wishes are different, and prices may change from every year, or depending on the season or time of discounts.
So, always try to contact the supplier directly and prepare a list of your questions and wishes ;-)
I will not qualify every wedding, and this is not necessary, since every wedding is absolutely individual and original, and where one bride wants to add a crazy hour in the package, another wants a fire show or more flowers in the decoration, where the price will change accordingly.
Kukua Beach Club is a personalized venue that customized and works with their couples budget.
I already talked about this amazing place in more detail in my article
and you can also go to their personal page
Prices upon request!
Huracán Café
I wrote more about this place here
You can also visit their personal website https://puntacanaweddings.com/
If you analyze and ask for quotes from all these three venues, then most likely the output will be as follows:
“The most expensive is Jellyfish restaurant, then Kukua Beach Club and last one is Huracan café.
They all come out to be the same with only a 2 to 3k difference between the three. Jellyfish Restaurant I think has higher fees because they charge a decor fee per person when you reach a certain number. Kukua comes close behind because of tax. I've seen people have a wedding for 10k at Huracan so they're definitely the cheapest. It depends on what you want your wedding to look like and what bar/menu options you choose. If you have expensive taste, expect to spend 18K to 24k” - as one of the past brides said.
I think there is nothing to add here.
Pearl Beach Club
https://www.pearlbeachclub.com/
This place is probably the youngest in comparison with the other three. It was born in 2015. It is much newer, and more massive in scale, I would say. It would be great for big parties.
Capacity:
Banquet Set Up: up to 400 pax
Cocktail Style: up to 800 pax
Party Style: up to 3,000 pax
Restaurant: Up to 150 pax (banquet style)
Well, you know what I’m taking about ;-)
All these 4 wedding venues are vendor fee FREE! Which is great too!
So basically find which venue you like best and do it there because at the end of the day the price difference will not be significant.
Each wedding is unique, and every couple has the average in their mind how much they can and want to spend, of course.
In this article I gathered information about data that you could rely on when preparing your destination wedding in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
The cost for the off site can have a huge range, but you'll find most places will work within a reasonable budget for you. The biggest difference is how much more personalized off site weddings are and how much more you get for the same amount of money you'd typically pay on site.
Some brides unanimously agreed that off resort was way cheaper than on the resort. It was also way more personal and private.
It'll also vary from resort to resort and venue to venue. Best way to figure it out is to ask quotes from the different places you're considering, compile a comparison table and weigh them. I think the conclusion will come by itself.
Good luck and happy planning!
Punta Cana Destination Wedding Photographer Antonina Yurieva
Wedding venue in photos Royalton Punta Cana Resort & Casino
