Can I bring my own photographer to Chechén Tulum?

Chechén publishes no outside vendor rules, fee or day pass requirement. It is a private event property rather than an all inclusive resort, and published weddings there credit independent photographers. Confirm the terms in writing.

How many guests can Chechén Tulum hold for a wedding?

The venue's own site states a maximum of 250 guests for weddings; its directory listings put the bookable spaces at 2 to 150.

When is the best time to get married at Chechén Tulum?

November and February through April are the driest and calmest. August to October is peak rain and hurricane season; December and January cost the most.

Skip to the short answer

Venue Guide

Your Wedding at
Chechén Tulum

Tulum

Chechén Tulum is a private jungle wedding venue at Francisco Uh May, on kilometre 23.7 of the Tulum to Cobá road. It is deliberately not a beach property: elevated wooden decks, a cenote style pool and dense Mayan jungle stand in for sand and ocean.

Check your date

01The short answer

What couples ask first

4 figures, each with the caveat that comes with it.

1.1Outside photographers: Chechén publishes no outside vendor rules, fee or day pass requirement.
1.2Capacity: The venue's own site states a maximum of 250 guests for weddings; its directory listings put the bookable spaces at 2 to 150.
1.3Wedding packages: Quoted, not publishedNo public price we could source. Expect a proposal.
1.4Best months: November and February through April are the driest and calmest.

02Why couples choose it

What couples choose it for

2.1
The venue positions itself squarely at couples who want an alternative to a beach wedding, describing itself as a wedding venue in the heart of the Mayan jungle offering green, leafy, wild scenery.
2.2
It is an exclusive private property built around events, with ceremonial altars, wooden decks overlooking the trees, cenote style pools and small intimate spaces set through the jungle rather than one open lawn.
2.3
Three elevated decks are inserted above the ground, ringed by vegetation and arranged around a cenote style pool, so ceremony, cocktails and dinner can sit on different levels without leaving the jungle.
2.4
Location rental including furniture, catering in international and Mayan styles, and open bar service are all offered by the venue, which also keeps its own roster of wedding planners it works with.
2.5
Four cabins and a glass house sit on the property, so the couple and their closest people can stay on site rather than driving back to town after the party.
2.6
Beyond the event spaces the grounds include a protected animal area with resident jaguars, Jade and Kizin, and spider monkeys, plus a restaurant serving traditional Mayan cooking.

03The spaces

Where you would actually get married

Ceremony

3.1Two ceremony areas in the jungle
The property lists two distinct ceremony areas.
3.2Ceremonial altars set in the jungle
Altars are built into the jungle landscape from regional materials, with intimate pockets of space through the grounds.

Reception

3.3Three elevated decks
Open air decks inserted above the ground, surrounded by vegetation and circling a cenote style pool.
3.4Enclosed jungle space
The venue's own site describes a closed space that keeps the essence of the Mayan jungle.
3.5Cenote style pools
Two cenote style pools sit inside the event footprint.
3.6Four event areas in total
Listings for the property count two ceremony areas and four separate event areas, plus kitchen and bar areas, furniture, installed lighting and parking on site.

04The honest case against

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 sand and an ocean view.There is no beach, no ocean view and no sunset over water here. The venue frames that as the point, aimed at couples wanting something other than the beach, but couples set on sand should look elsewhere.
You are building a guest list off the published maximum.The numbers conflict. The venue's own site says weddings up to 250 guests, while its directory listing caps the bookable spaces at 2 to 150, so pin the real figure down before you set the list.
You want a price before you make contact.No pricing is published anywhere. The venue asks couples to contact it by WhatsApp for packages and amenities, so any budget has to start with a direct quote.
You would rather not run shuttles.Every guest has to be driven in. The property sits at kilometre 23.7 of the Tulum to Cobá road, well inland of the hotel zone, so transport is a real line item and not an optional nicety.
You are bringing your own photographer.The venue publishes no outside vendor policy at all, so get written confirmation that your photographer and any other vendor you bring is permitted, and at what cost, before you sign.
Your date falls between May and October.Arch's regional guide flags May through October as noticeably hotter and more humid, which matters at a property where every space is open air apart from one enclosed room.

05Before you book

The honest considerations

No beach, ocean view or sunset over water; the venue frames this as the point, but couples set on sand should look elsewhere.
The venue's own site says up to 250 guests, directory listings cap bookable spaces at 150.
No pricing is published anywhere; the venue asks couples to contact it by WhatsApp for packages and amenities.
Every guest has to be driven in; the property sits at km 23.7 of the Tulum to Cobá road, well inland of the hotel zone.
No outside vendor policy is published at all, so get written confirmation your own photographer and other vendors are permitted, and at what cost.
May through October is noticeably hotter and more humid, which matters here since every space is open air apart from one enclosed room.

06Getting here

Arrival, and where you get ready

6.1Fly into: Cancun International (CUN).
6.2Then drive: About 90 minutes by road to Tulum on a good day, then roughly 24 km further inland on the Tulum to Cobá road.
6.3Arriving at: Francisco Uh May, kilometre 23.7 of the Tulum to Cobá road.
6.4Tell guests: Nobody arrives here on foot or by chance. Every guest needs a shuttle or a car booked both ways, and the return leg matters as much as the arrival.
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.

Where you get ready

Details below come from planners and photographers who have worked the property, not from the venue's own material; confirm with the wedding office.

Bridal suiteNamed in the venue's wedding material; no details are published, so ask for size and layout when you enquire.

What to ask the wedding office

6.7
What's the venue rental for our date and guest count, in which currency, what's included, and do you arrange guest transport from Tulum?
6.8
Is your real maximum 250 guests or 150? Your site and your directory listing disagree.
6.9
What's your policy and fee for outside vendors including our own photographer, and do you require a day pass?
6.10
Which enclosed space is the rain plan, how many guests does it hold, and does using it cost extra?

07Light and timing

How the light works at Chechén Tulum

Elevation of Chechén Tulum against the sun's track, showing which spaces fall into shade first.

This is a canopy venue, not a beach one. On this coast the sun rises over the ocean and sets over the jungle, so there is no sunset over water anywhere in Tulum, and inland at Chechén the tree line takes the sun earlier still. The three elevated decks are open to the sky but ringed by vegetation, which means dappled, high contrast light through the middle of the day and a soft, fast fall off in the last hour. A ceremony starting roughly ninety minutes before official sunset is the safe margin for the Riviera Maya, and that margin matters more here because twilight arrives quickly once the sun drops behind the canopy. After dark there is no city glow to lean on, so evening coverage rests on the venue's installed lighting plus whatever the couple and their planner bring in; one published reception here hung disco balls in the trees.

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