What an All-Inclusive Wedding Package Doesn’t Include

Every figure on this page is taken from a named resort’s own published package or policy material and was verified in August 2026. Where we could not source a number, this page says so rather than quoting a range.

You saw “free wedding package” or “$1,649” on a resort website. Then the quote came back at three times that, and now you are trying to work out whether you are being upsold or whether you misread something. Usually neither. The package is one line on a quote that has six, and almost nobody lists the other five in advance. Here they are, with real numbers from real resorts.

Tax and service charge: about 31% on everything

Start here, because it is the biggest one and it applies to every other number on this page.

Published wedding prices in Mexico are almost always pre-tax. Expect roughly 16% tax plus a 15% service charge — about a 31% uplift — added to the package, the per-person reception, the upgrades, the lot.

Worked through: a Gemstone ceremony package with a Gold reception for 50 guests at Garza Blanca Los Cabos comes to $10,295 on the published rates. All-in, it is nearer $13,500. That is $3,200 that appears at the end of the process rather than the start.

The practical consequence is that you cannot compare two quotes unless you know whether each includes tax and service. One resort quoting gross and another quoting net will look like a $3,000 difference that does not exist. Make it the first question you ask, every time.

The day of the week, and the month

Published prices are almost always the midweek, low-season cell of a much bigger grid. The clearest published example we have is the Dulha & Dulhan South Asian package used across the Dreams properties, priced for up to 79 guests:

The identical wedding swings $1,700 — about 16% between a Tuesday in September and a Saturday in February. Prices also rise 5–6% a year, which matters if you are booking two years out.

The same pattern holds outside South Asian packages. At Hyatt Ziva Vallarta, the Lavish & Opulent package is $6,089 Monday to Thursday and $6,669 from Thursday noon through Sunday; the Luxury package moves from $13,553 to $14,222. Our own listings, like most published sources, show the midweek rate.

If your date has any flexibility at all, moving off Saturday is the single largest saving available to you, and it costs you nothing.

The per-guest charge above the package limit

Every package covers a band of guests. Go over it and you pay per head — and the rate varies by a factor of more than thirteen depending on where you book:

On a 50-guest wedding, the gap between a $20 and a $137 overage rate is thousands of dollars — and it is completely invisible in the headline package price. Ask for the per-guest rate and the guest count it starts at before you compare anything. Children are often cheaper: Grand Fiesta Americana charges 50% for ages 5–12.

When the reception is priced separately

In Los Cabos especially, the “wedding package” frequently covers only the ceremony. Dinner and the open bar are charged per person on top. Garza Blanca Los Cabos publishes both halves, so you can see the whole shape:

• Ceremony packages: Gemstone $2,145 (up to 50), Zafiro $3,288 (up to 50), Opalo $4,705 (up to 100)
• Reception packages, per person: Gold $163, Platinum $205, Diamond $269

The $2,145 headline is roughly a fifth of a 50-guest wedding there. We work the full arithmetic in our Los Cabos wedding cost guide.

The outside vendor fee

Want your own photographer, videographer, DJ, or hair and makeup artist? Nearly every resort charges for the privilege of letting them on property. Competitor pages quote “$200 to $1,000+” with no source. Here are two real, published figures:

• Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana publishes an outside vendor fee of $1,500 USD.
• Royalton Punta Cana charges $850 USD per service, per day — and the detail matters: that fee covers a maximum of two people from that vendor, any additional crew pay a day pass each, and if your vendor needs to be on property across two days you buy a second pass. The fee applies even if the wedding itself is off-property and you only want them on site while you get ready.

So “an outside photographer costs $850” can quite easily become $1,700 for a two-person team across two days. The question to ask is not “what is the vendor fee” but “per what?”

Resorts also commonly restrict what outside vendors may do at all. Royalton Punta Cana, for example, publishes that local vendors beyond its exclusive list may not be used for décor or floral, and that string lights and hanging lanterns cannot be brought from home.

Day passes for guests who are not staying at the resort

This is the one almost nobody writes about, and it catches couples out constantly. If a guest is not staying at the resort — they booked cheaper down the road, or they live locally — they usually cannot simply walk in to your wedding.

• Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana: $165 USD wedding pass.
• Grand Fiesta Americana Los Cabos: $210 USD for an additional guest not staying at the hotel — against $140 for one who is.

Ten guests staying off-property at $210 each is $2,100 you had not planned for, and it is entirely avoidable if you know early: it usually pays for itself to fold those guests into the room block at a negotiated rate instead. “They will just come for the day” is one of the most expensive sentences in destination wedding planning.

Legal ceremony versus symbolic

Most resort packages quote a symbolic ceremony by default — beautiful, meaningful, and not legally binding anywhere. A legal civil ceremony is a separate fee with separate paperwork.

• Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana publishes a legal ceremony fee of $800 USD.
• Excellence Punta Cana publishes its wedding ceremony at $950 USD per couple, quoted separately from wedding accommodation.

The logistics matter as much as the fee. Royalton Punta Cana publishes that there are only three judges in all of Punta Cana serving every resort, that Sundays are symbolic-only, that you must arrive three days before the ceremony, and that your legal documents need to be with your consultant three months ahead. Every wedding there is initially booked as symbolic, with the legal signing slotted in around the judge’s availability. None of that is a problem if you know it a year out. It is a very large problem if you find out in month eleven.

For what is actually required, jurisdiction by jurisdiction, see our guide to symbolic versus legal ceremonies in Mexico.

The smaller fees that add up

From Royalton Punta Cana’s published policies — these are typical of the category, and worth knowing exist:

• Corkage: $15 per bottle if you bring your own wine or spirits.
• Setup fee for your own décor: up to $250. Fans, programmes, bubbles, favours, seating cards, cake décor, table runners and chair bows are set up free; anything beyond that is chargeable.
• Changing the setup on the day: $5 per person. Turn up with 60 guests for a 20-guest plan and the resort may move your function entirely.
• Declining the weather backup: $3,000, non-negotiable. If rain forces a move indoors and you refuse the alternative offered on the morning, this applies. Nothing is refunded for weather relocations, because the rentals were brought and set up either way.
• Guaranteed guest count locks 60 days out. If your final number is not submitted, your estimate becomes the minimum you are charged — and if more people turn up, you pay for the actual number. Meals are per person, and, as the policy dryly notes, you need to feed your vendors too.
• Private outdoor events end at 11pm. Later means moving inside, if the space is available.

What is genuinely not included, anywhere

Some things are simply outside every package, and no resort pretends otherwise:

• Guest flights and rooms. Your guests pay their own. Your job is to negotiate the group rate.
• The priest or officiant for a religious ceremony. The Dulha & Dulhan package, for instance, provides the mandap, staging, sound and coordination, but explicitly excludes the priest’s services.
• Specialty cuisine, sometimes. At Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos, Indian cuisine is available with a surcharge rather than being built into the package — whereas at the Dreams properties the Indian menu is included. Two quotes can look identical and differ by thousands on this line alone.
• Photography and video beyond the ceremony coverage, entertainment beyond a ceremony sound system, lighting, and premium florals. We are not going to quote you a range for these because it depends entirely on what you want. Get them itemised in writing.

What costs less than you expect

This page is not an argument that resorts are gouging you. Plenty of things are genuinely good value, and it is worth knowing which:

• The rehearsal dinner. Grand Fiesta Americana Los Cabos publishes a rehearsal dinner at one of its restaurants at roughly $20–$25 per person for up to 20–25 people, depending on which year’s package sheet you are quoted from. That is $500 for the whole thing.
• The site visit. Usually charged, usually credited straight back: Hyatt Vivid Playa del Carmen and Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall each publish $500 credited toward the wedding; Hyatt Ziva and Zilara Cap Cana publishes $600 credited back on booking. Hyatt Ziva Vallarta‘s Big Day Preview includes a two-night stay for two, a resort tour with the on-site planner and an optional menu tasting, with a $500 credit toward the wedding. Effectively a free planning trip if you book.
• The entry-level package, if your group is big enough. See below.

The room block is where the real leverage is

Here is the part that reframes everything above: most of these fees are negotiable, and the currency you negotiate with is room nights.

• Dreams Macao Beach Punta Cana publishes that its base package is complimentary when you book at least 7 nights in the required room category, or 5 rooms for a minimum of 3 nights.
• Grand Palladium Jamaica makes its Crazy in Love package complimentary for up to 25 guests.
• Grand Fiesta Americana publishes that its packages become complimentary once your group contracts a set number of room nights directly — for example ten Ocean View rooms for three nights.

Which means the instinct to shrink the guest list to save money is usually backwards. A larger group books more rooms, and more rooms convert into waived fees, upgrades and concessions. Before you cut anyone, find out what your current list already unlocks.

The questions to get answered in writing before you sign

1. Is this quote inclusive of tax and service charge? If not, what is the all-in figure?
2. Is this the midweek rate or the weekend rate, and what is the difference for our date?
3. What is the per-additional-guest charge, and at what guest count does it start?
4. Is the reception included, or priced separately per person?
5. What is the outside vendor fee — per vendor, per service, or per day? How many people does it cover?
6. What do guests who are not staying at the resort pay?
7. Is the ceremony symbolic or legal, what is the legal fee, and what is the paperwork deadline?
8. Is the officiant or priest included?
9. Is our specialty menu included or surcharged?
10. What does the site visit fee credit toward?
11. What does our room block waive, and at what number of rooms does the next threshold kick in?
12. What is the weather backup plan, and what does it cost us to accept or decline it?

If that list feels long, that is the honest answer to why destination wedding planners exist. Getting all twelve answered in writing before a deposit is most of the job.

Frequently asked questions

Is tax included in a resort wedding package price?

Usually not. Resorts in Mexico commonly add around 16% tax plus a 15% service charge on top of the published price — roughly a 31% uplift. A $10,295 package for 50 guests is nearer $13,500 all-in. Always ask whether a quote is inclusive before comparing it with another.

Are weekend weddings more expensive?

Yes, and most published prices are the midweek rate. The Dulha & Dulhan package is $10,599 on a Monday in low season and $12,299 on a Saturday in high season for 2026. Hyatt Ziva Vallarta’s Lavish & Opulent is $6,089 Monday to Thursday against $6,669 Thursday to Sunday.

How much is the outside vendor fee?

It varies and most resorts do not publish it. Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana publishes $1,500. Royalton Punta Cana publishes $850 per service per day, covering a maximum of two people from that vendor — so a two-person team across two days is $1,700. Ask what the fee is charged per.

Do wedding guests have to stay at the resort?

Not always, but there is usually a charge if they do not. Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana publishes a $165 wedding pass, and Grand Fiesta Americana Los Cabos charges $210 for a non-staying guest against $140 for one who is staying. It is often cheaper to bring those guests into the room block.

How much does each extra guest cost above the package limit?

Published rates on our resort listings run from $16 and $20 per additional guest at the low end up to $137, $219 and $270–$280 at the top. On a 50-guest wedding that difference is worth thousands, so it is one of the first numbers to ask for.

Is there a fee for a legal ceremony?

Usually, and it is separate from the package. Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana publishes $800; Excellence Punta Cana publishes a wedding ceremony at $950 per couple. Timing matters too — in Punta Cana only three judges serve all the resorts, documents are needed three months ahead, and Sundays are symbolic only.

Do we have to pay for a site visit?

Often, but it is generally credited back. Hyatt Vivid Playa del Carmen and Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall each publish $500 credited toward the wedding, and Hyatt Ziva and Zilara Cap Cana publishes $600 credited on booking. Hyatt Ziva Vallarta’s Big Day Preview includes a two-night stay, a planner tour and a menu tasting with a $500 credit.

Does a smaller guest list make the wedding cheaper?

It lowers the total but usually raises the cost per guest, and it can cost you overall. Base packages cover a fixed band of guests, so a shorter list spreads that cost over fewer people, and larger room blocks earn concessions. Dreams Macao publishes that its base package is complimentary with 7 nights in the required category or 5 rooms for 3 nights.

Can WeddingPlan360 get these fees reduced?

Frequently, yes — and we guarantee the lowest price either way. Many of the fees on this page are negotiable against room-night volume, and we book these resorts continuously, which gives us access to group rates, contracted concessions and special discounts that are never published publicly. If you find a lower price elsewhere, bring it to us and we will match or beat it.