Venue Guide
Your Wedding at
Ambre & Épices
Tulum
Ambre & Épices is a Moroccan-inspired eight-suite private villa in Tulum's La Veleta neighbourhood, hired on an exclusive-use basis. The property positions itself for boutique and micro weddings and caps events at 80 guests.
Check your dateWhat couples ask first
5 figures, each with the caveat that comes with it.
- 1.1Outside photographers
- Hired exclusive-use rather than run as an all-inclusive resort, Ambre & Épices has no day pass gate.
- 1.2Capacity
- The property caps an event at 80 guests, with ceremony and reception both listed from a minimum of 16.
- 1.3Wedding packages
- Wedding packages $180 to $367 USD per person, scaled by guest count.Published rate. Confirm with the venue.
- 1.4Best months
- November, February, March and April are driest and least humid.
- 1.5Airport transfer
- Cancun International is about 121 km away, a drive of roughly ninety minutes or more.
What couples choose it for
- 2.1
The whole property is yours for the celebration.
- 2.2
The architecture does most of the decorating.
- 2.3
The celebration is built around the pool.
- 2.4
Your closest people can sleep on site.
- 2.5
Dinner is cooked on the property.
- 2.6
Established planners bring real weddings here.
Where you would actually get married
Ceremony
3.1The pool area
The main pool terrace is the property's primary ceremony setting.
3.2Under the jungle canopy
The venue is also presented for a candlelit ceremony set under the jungle canopy within the grounds, an option worth asking about if you want something more enclosed than the poolside.
Reception
3.3The pool terrace
Dinner and dancing centre on the pool terrace.
3.4The built-in bar
3.5Rooftop
The villa plan published in the property's own wedding kit sets out three levels: ground floor, first floor and rooftop.
When another venue fits better
Every point is drawn from the venue's own published terms and documented weddings. None of it makes this a bad venue.
- You want the music to carry on into the small hours.The property asks that all music ends at 11:00 pm out of consideration for its neighbours, so the reception timeline has to be built backwards from that hour.
- You have a chef or a caterer you want to bring.All food comes from the villa's own kitchen and an outside caterer or chef is not permitted. An outside DJ needs management approval first.
- You pictured a ceremony on the sand.This is a jungle venue rather than a beachfront one. The villa sits inland in La Veleta, roughly 4.6 km from the sea, so toes in the sand would mean booking a separate location.
- You want to be certain which house you have hired.Several adjacent properties trade under Ambre et Épices names, including a much larger Riad, so the contract needs to name the villa and the number of bedrooms it covers.
- You want the whole party sleeping on site.The eight suites hold 16 to 20 people against an 80-guest event limit, so most of the party stays in the sister villas or elsewhere in Tulum.
- You want the package number to be the final number.Wedding packages run $180 to $367 USD per person scaled by guest count, but delivery, setup and breakdown are excluded and priced by the vendor you choose, and food and drink carry local taxes plus an 18 percent service charge.
The honest considerations
- Music must stop at 11:00pm out of consideration for neighbours, so the reception timeline needs to be built backwards from that hour.
- No outside caterer or chef is allowed; all food comes from the villa's own kitchen, and an outside DJ needs management approval first.
- This is a jungle venue, not a beachfront one; the villa sits inland in La Veleta, roughly 4.6 km from the sea.
- Several adjacent properties trade under Ambre et Épices names, including a larger Riad; confirm in writing which villa and bedroom count the contract covers.
- 8 suites hold 16 to 20 people against an 80-guest event limit, so most guests stay in sister villas or elsewhere in Tulum.
- Delivery, setup and breakdown are excluded and priced by the chosen vendor, and food and drink carry local taxes plus an 18% service charge.
Arrival, and where you get ready
- 6.1Fly into
- Cancun International (CUN), about 121 km away, or Tulum International (TQO), which is far closer at about 40 km.
- 6.2Then drive
- Roughly ninety minutes or more from Cancun.
- 6.3Arriving at
- La Veleta, an inland neighbourhood of Tulum, roughly 4.6 km from the sea.
- 6.4Tell guests
- Send the villa's own map pin and its full address on C. 3 Pte. between Calle 12 Sur. Neighbouring properties trade under similar names.
- 6.5At the airport
- Ignore anyone offering a ride between the arrivals door and the curb, however official they look. Only pre-arranged and federally authorized transport may pick up at the terminal, and the walk-up offers are where the overcharge stories come from. Ride-hailing apps work for the trip back to the airport but are unreliable for arrivals, so do not plan a pickup around one.
- 6.6Book the drive before you fly
- Reserve a private transfer in advance: the driver meets you with a name sign, at a fixed price agreed up front, and tracks your flight if it runs late. We use Private Driver Cancun, WhatsApp +52 984 132 3989, mixofcultures.com. USA Transfers and eTransfers are two long-established operators for larger guest lists.
What to ask the wedding office
- 6.7
The outside photographer fee and any day pass charge for our date, in writing, and whether it's waived if our photographer books a room.
- 6.8
Which villa and how many bedrooms our contract covers.
- 6.9
What delivery, setup and breakdown will add, with the vendors we intend to use.
- 6.10
The exchange rate the venue will apply, since it's set by the venue on the payment date.
- 6.11
What the sister villas cost on our dates, and how many of our guests they can take.
How the light works at Ambre & Épices
On this coast the sun rises over the Caribbean and sets behind the jungle, so late-afternoon light arrives as soft open shade rather than direct glare. Ambre & Épices sits inland in La Veleta, roughly 4.6 km from the water, which means there is no ocean sunset to shoot into; the interest comes instead from the villa's Moorish arches, tilework and courtyards catching low, directional light. The property's own wedding packages are built around the pool, and a ceremony placed there about ninety minutes before sunset leaves room for portraits before twilight closes in. Once the sun drops behind the tree line the light goes quickly here, so couple portraits are better taken early than saved for later. After dark the villa reads as candles and string lights over the pool area, which the property includes in its largest package, and music stops at 11:00 pm.
The best time to start your ceremony
Arch's own rule for this coast is to begin the ceremony about 90 minutes before sunset, which leaves the vows in soft light and still keeps time for portraits afterwards. Start times are rounded down to the half hour. Tulum, Quintana Roo. UTC-5 all year: the state left daylight saving in 2015. Times are town level, so they run within a couple of minutes of the property.
- 4:30 pm
- January, October, November, December
Sunset around 6:00 pm - 5:00 pm
- February, March, September
Sunset around 6:30 pm - 5:30 pm
- April, May, August
Sunset around 7:00 pm - 6:00 pm
- June, July
Sunset around 7:30 pm
Planning a wedding at Ambre & Épices?
We are based in Playa del Carmen, so there is no travel fee anywhere in Cancun or the Riviera Maya.