Can I bring my own photographer to Kima Tulum?

Kima publishes no outside photographer fee and no day pass. It is a private estate with no rooms, so the resort day pass model does not apply, and its own pages assume you bring your own photographer. The one firm requirement is a professional planner.

How many guests can Kima Tulum hold for a wedding?

Up to 160 guests at full scale, and elopements of up to eight, which Kima plans in house rather than requiring an outside planner.

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

Kima is open October through May and closed for the hot, humid summer. The venue says most of its couples choose dates between January and April for the weather.

Skip to the short answer

Venue Guide

Your Wedding at
Kima Tulum

Tulum

Kima is a private 2.5 acre jungle estate in Tulum that works purely as a wedding venue, hosting one celebration at a time for up to 160 guests. There are no hotel rooms attached, and every wedding has to be run by a professional planner.

Check your date

01The short answer

What couples ask first

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

1.1Outside photographers: Kima publishes no outside photographer fee and no day pass.
1.2Capacity: Up to 160 guests at full scale, and elopements of up to eight, which Kima plans in house rather than requiring an outside planner.
1.3Wedding packages: Quoted, not publishedNo public price we could source. Expect a proposal.
1.4Best months: Kima is open October through May and closed for the hot, humid summer.
1.5Airport transfer: Cancun International is about an hour and a half by road per Arch's own guide.

02Why couples choose it

What couples choose it for

2.1
The whole 2.5 acre estate is yours for the day, and Kima hosts only one celebration at a time, with no overnight guests wandering through the background.
2.2
Multiple event spaces sit on the one property, so the ceremony, cocktails, dinner and dancing each get their own setting with no flips, resets or repeated backdrop.
2.3
The Glasshouse, a covered structure of more than 2,000 square feet set in the jungle, gives the day a rainproof home that the venue describes as a first for the Riviera Maya.
2.4
Ceremony benches, tables, chairs, bar and dance floor, an open bar programme with mixologists, and dimmable string lighting across the property.
2.5
The same estate stretches from a 160 guest celebration down to an elopement of eight, and Kima handles the planning itself for elopements at that size.
2.6
It is family run by Dorothee and Enzo, and Junebug Weddings reports the estate hosts roughly 30 to 40 weddings a year rather than operating at resort volume.

03The spaces

Where you would actually get married

Ceremony

3.1Ceremony area
The jungle clearing guests reach first, framed by palms and approached along a shaded path.
3.2Poolside
A Mediterranean feeling pool terrace the venue offers for vows as well as cocktails or dinner, with candlelight reflecting off the water once the sun is down.
3.3Jungle Courtyard
The open air heart of the estate, framed by greenery and a covered natural stone bar.
3.4Glasshouse
A covered black metal structure of more than 2,000 square feet surrounded by jungle, built so a ceremony can go ahead whatever the weather does.

Reception

3.5Jungle Courtyard
The central open air space, laid out for a grand reception dinner and then turned over to the dance floor as the celebration runs into the night.
3.6Poolside
A cocktail hour or dinner setting beside the water.
3.7Interior dressing suites
Private spaces for the couple and wedding party to get ready from 2pm, including a poolside suite and a cabana, which Kima describes as minimalist backdrops.

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 were planning to run the day yourselves.Kima only accepts weddings that are organised by a professional planner, and will recommend planners from its own network if you do not already have one. Elopements of up to eight are the exception and Kima plans those in house.
You want guests to sleep where they celebrate.There is no lodging on site. Kima states plainly that it is a wedding venue only, so guest rooms and transport to and from the estate have to be arranged separately.
Your date falls in the summer.The venue is open between October and May and closes for the hottest, most humid summer months, which rules out a summer date entirely. Most of its couples choose dates between January and April.
You are working to a short timeline.Sought after dates often book two years ahead, the venue caps itself at around eight weddings a month, and its own Instagram bio says it is now booking 2027 and 2028.
You picture a manicured garden.This is a living jungle, and Kima says so itself: the buildings are minimal and designed, but the grounds are not English country manor style.
You want the ceremony outdoors whatever the weather does.Rain is a real planning variable here. Junebug documented a 2025 Kima wedding where a rainstorm moved the ceremony into a greenhouse and the team dried the dinner setup once it passed.

05Before you book

The honest considerations

Kima only accepts weddings organised by a professional planner, and will recommend one from its network if you don't have one.
There is no lodging on site; Kima is a wedding venue only, so guest rooms and transport must be arranged separately.
The venue is open between October and May and closes for the hottest, most humid summer months, which rules out a summer date entirely.
Sought-after dates book about two years out; the venue caps at around eight weddings a month and is now booking 2027 and 2028.
This is a living jungle, not a manicured garden; Kima says the buildings are minimal and designed but the grounds are not manor-style.
Junebug documented a 2025 wedding where a storm moved the ceremony into a greenhouse and dinner was reset after.

06Getting here

Arrival, and where you get ready

6.1Fly into: Tulum International (TQO) if the routing works. It has been open since 2024 and sits roughly 30 to 45 minutes away.
6.2Or fly into: Cancun International, about an hour and a half by road per Arch's own guide.
6.3Arriving at: A private 2.5 acre jungle estate in Tulum with no rooms on site, hosting one celebration at a time for up to 160 guests.
6.4Tell guests: Accommodation is booked in Tulum separately and every guest is driven in and out, so agree transport with your planner before the invitations go out.
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 are venue-published.

Poolside suiteOne of the poolside suites. Private and quiet, with room for the wedding party to dress together.
CabanaThe cabana, the second changing option. Couples typically arrive around 2 pm and change here or in a poolside suite.

What to ask the wedding office

6.7
What is your outside photographer fee and any day pass charge for our date, and is it reduced if our photographer books a room as a guest?
6.8
What is the venue fee and event minimum for our date? Does either change weekday to weekend, and is there a separate ceremony fee?
6.9
Which dates are still open in our window? Your Instagram says you're booking 2027 and 2028 and cap at around eight weddings a month.
6.10
Which planners do you recommend, and does anything change in your pricing if we bring our own?
6.11
What exactly does the Glasshouse cover if it rains, and how late in the day can we make that call?

07Light and timing

How the light works at Kima Tulum

Kima is a jungle property rather than a beach one, and the light behaves accordingly. The venue describes its ceremony site as a luminous opening in the forest reached along a shaded jungle path, which means bright pools of light set against deep canopy shade rather than an open horizon. Kima does not publish the orientation of any of its ceremony sites, so a site visit or a direct conversation with the team is the only reliable way to know where the sun will sit at your ceremony hour. The wedding day starts at 2pm with getting ready in the poolside suite or the cabana, spaces the venue describes as minimalist backdrops. After dark the estate runs on dimmable string lighting throughout, with the pool as a reflective centrepiece, which rewards warm ambient frames and off camera flash rather than available light.

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. Riviera Maya, 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, June, August
Sunset around 7:00 pm
6:00 pm: July
Sunset around 7:30 pm