Cancun Ceremonies

Close your eyes, and picture this: marvelous beach side surroundings, unique food, outstanding weather and the most romantic honeymoon imaginable. These are just a couple of the many reasons that people choose to arrange their wedding in Cancun. 

If you have always imagined a beach side wedding in a tropical setting, but thought it would not be possible, read on. A bit of basic research and heaps of meticulous planning might prove that your dream wedding is easier to create than you think.

Pros and Cons

Arranging a wedding can be overwhelming, especially one in which you have to hand control over to an event manager in an overseas country, and yet for so many couples, the negative aspects outnumber the benefits. Still, a destination wedding is not the best choice for everyone. The following collection of pros and cons should help you to decide if having a wedding in Cancun is appropriate for you.

Pros

• Cost. Although many people do not realize this, a Caribbean wedding could actually save you money - with air travel included. This is because destination weddings are likely to be smaller events with fewer guests, thus costing you less money in table settings and food. Many resorts also give wedding and honeymoon package discount rates, thus maximizing your savings even more.
• Weather. The average temperature in Cancun is about 80 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the year. Rainfall does happen, but the storms generally end before you know it.
• Planning. Couples planning a destination wedding usually choose to hire an event planner. This ensures that a specialist thoughtfully evaluates every single detail of your wedding day.
• Friends and Family. Arranging a Caribbean wedding means that you can scale down your guest list - you don't need to feel obligated to invite an old classmate you aren't very close to, or your fiancé's co-workers.

Cons

• Cost. While planning a destination wedding, many couples may feel that they are responsible for handling all travel expenses for their entire wedding party. If you decide to include all these expenses within your budget, a Caribbean wedding will undoubtedly cost more.
• Weather. Due to Cancun's position within the hurricane belt, it is important to bear in mind that organizing a wedding during hurricane season (from the beginning of June until the end of November) presents a slight risk.
• Planning. Because you are not on site to physically observe and decide on wedding particulars for the majority of the time leading up to your nuptials, this may make you anxious because you feel everything is out of your control.
• Legal issues. Regulations relating to marriage licenses might be different than those you are familiar with at home. Receiving a marriage license in Cancun takes time, so a hastily planned wedding is probably not doable.
• Family and friends. Given the travel and expenses involved with attending a destination wedding, everyone you want to share your big day with may not be able to attend a Caribbean wedding.

Why Choose Cancun?

Cancun is a great wedding destination because of its beauty, the multitude of hotels and resorts with destination wedding packages, and the undeniable fact that people in Cancun know how to throw a party.  If you want not only your ceremony, but your reception, to enthuse your guests, choosing Cancun might be the right decision for you.

Another important factor in choosing Cancun as your destination is the types of attractions and activities available to you and your guests when you aren't attending the wedding.  Cancun's attractions can only be described as magnificent:  the nearby Mayan Ruins, the Underwater National Park, and Interactive Aquarium are just a few worth checking out.

Local Wedding Customs

In Mexico, the traditional wedding dress is a little different than what many consider to be the norm.  Although the bride wears a white dress, it is embroidered with a lot of color, or she may also wear a ruffly flamenco-inspired dress.  Meanwhile, the groom will normally wear tight pants and a bolero jacket. Sewn into the brides undergarments will be three ribbons, in the colors of yellow, red, and blue, to symbolize the wish of food, money, and passion for her marriage.

If not by wearing traditional clothing, you might consider incorporating Mexican wedding customs into your own big day by serving similar food at your reception.  Tortillas, rice, beans, and meat are all easy foods to offer to your guests; and the wedding cake should be a fruitcake of coconut and pineapple, soaked in rum.

Types of Ceremonies

While you can choose to host any type of wedding you desire in Mexico, there are a few options to consider that will truly spotlight the setting you have chosen.

First, the beach side ceremony.   Having a wedding on the beach is one of the common reasons most couples choose to get married in the Caribbean.  Beaches offer a great backdrop for the ceremony and wedding photos with little effort made to create a beautiful setting, plus the sound of the waves crashing against the shore can have a calming effect on the bride and groom, who are typically bundles of nerves. 

Another option is to have a traditional Mayan ceremony at one of the Mayan ruins.  At this type of wedding, the couple and their guests would be asked to wear white or cream colored clothing to emphasize oneness with nature, and the bride would don a floral head dress.  During the ceremony, guests would circle the couple and the officiant, who would then wed the couple at an alter decorated to honor the four cardinal points.  This is a great option for those who feel as though they should honor nature in their wedding ceremony, or just find the Mayan ruins to be beyond beautiful. 

Budgeting

Despite the fact that a Caribbean wedding often carries a smaller price tag than an extravagant wedding in your home town, it is still vital that you take some time to sit down and create a budget. Create a list of everything you anticipate spending funds on, in order of significance to you. Some typical ideas include the catering, location, photographer, and attire, among many others. After doing some quick investigation, designate an amount to each item on your list, then total it up. This will provide you with a ball park figure of how much money you can anticipate spending. Understand that this total will probably change as you shop for your big day, and the ordered list of important items will help you to know immediately what things you can trim back on and which items you simply can't be without.

Requirements

People looking into a Cancun wedding will quickly discover that obtaining a marriage license is a complicated process.  This should not deter you from creating your dream wedding.  Just ensure that you take the time to gather all of the proper paperwork (including certified prints of birth certificates, death certificates, divorce certificates, adoption certificates, photo identification, FMT tourist cards, official oath of truthfulness, original health certificates, and blood test paperwork), arrive in Cancun three days before you plan to submit the paperwork, and bring two witnesses with you.

Despite all of the planning it takes to host a wedding in Cancun, when the day comes you will surely feel it was worth every moment you spent making sure your big day was the best day of your life.  Let researching and planning be fun and exciting, rather than a hassle you'd rather get over with, and the time spent waiting for your wedding day will go by quicker than you can say "Destination wedding!"