Can I bring my own photographer to Nest Tulum?

NEST does not hold couples to a supplier list. There are no required vendors other than an event planner, and the published brochure names no outside photographer fee and no vendor day pass. Outside catering is the one thing not permitted.

How many guests can Nest Tulum hold for a wedding?

Up to 45 for a seated dinner and reception on property, up to 100 for a beachfront ceremony or cocktail party, and 46+ dining at NÜ Tulum, which seats 150.

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

Late November through April gives the best odds of a clear shoreline. Heaviest sargassum typically lands May through October, which overlaps hurricane season.

Skip to the short answer

Venue Guide

Your Wedding at
Nest Tulum

Tulum

NEST Tulum is a small beachfront hotel on the Tulum hotel zone road that couples take over in full for a wedding. Twelve rooms plus a private villa, a ceremony on the sand, and dinner either on the property or at its sister restaurant NÜ Tulum in the jungle.

Check your date

01The short answer

What couples ask first

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

1.1Outside photographers: NEST does not hold couples to a supplier list.
1.2Capacity: Up to 45 for a seated dinner and reception on property, up to 100 for a beachfront ceremony or cocktail party, and 46+ dining at NÜ Tulum, which seats 150.
1.3Wedding packages: Full buyout from a $1,500 event fee plus an $8,000 food and beverage minimum.Published rate. Confirm with the venue.
1.4Best months: Late November through April gives the best odds of a clear shoreline.
1.5Airport transfer: Cancun International is the usual arrival airport, roughly 125 km away and about a 90 minute drive to the Tulum hotel zone in good traffic.

02Why couples choose it

What couples choose it for

2.1
A wedding here is a whole-property takeover rather than a booking inside a bigger resort: the twelve guest rooms and the Villa by NEST are reserved together for a minimum of three nights.
2.2
Vows happen on Tulum Beach itself, with the hotel publishing a maximum of 100 guests for a beachfront ceremony or cocktail party.
2.3
The property does not tie couples to a supplier list.
2.4
Dinner for 46 or more moves to NÜ Tulum, the group's jungle restaurant, which seats up to 150.
2.5
NEST is one of the original properties on Tulum Beach, and the hotel points to its original architecture and minimalist design as what sets it apart from the newer builds.
2.6
Rooms, the beachfront NEST Restaurant, private beach access and spa treatments at sister property La Valise all sit within the same small footprint.

03The spaces

Where you would actually get married

Ceremony

3.1Beachfront ceremony location
The sand directly in front of the hotel, facing the Mexican Caribbean.
3.2Villa by NEST gardens
For weddings built around the villa rather than the full hotel, the brochure permits ceremonies and events inside the property grounds and in the gardens.
3.3Back-beach terrace at the Villa by NEST
The brochure names the back-beach terrace as one of the permitted ceremony and event locations for a villa booking, a more enclosed alternative to the open sand.

Reception

3.4NEST Restaurant
The hotel's own beachfront restaurant, serving modern Mexican fusion.
3.5Villa by NEST terrace30 seated
A seated dinner on the villa's terrace is the intimate option, described by Wedinspire as the format for weddings of up to 30 guests following a beachfront ceremony.
3.6NÜ Tulum

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 to hire a venue rather than take over a hotel.A wedding means booking the whole hotel: the twelve rooms and the Villa by NEST for a minimum of three nights, with the property sleeping around 35 people, so the rest of the guest list stays elsewhere.
You were planning to run the day yourselves.Every wedding at NEST is required to work with an event planner, and the hotel prefers local planners and will refer one on request, so planning is a separate line in the budget.
You have a caterer you want to bring in.Outside catering is not permitted and the property sets a minimum spend on food and beverage, so the kitchen and bar run through the hotel.
You want everything signed off a year out.Beach weddings, events and amplified music need permits from the Tulum municipality, at fees set per event, and those permits cannot be applied for more than four weeks before the date.
You want a DJ and a late night.Events are expected to end at 11pm with vendors out by midnight, extendable by an hour for an additional fee, and at the Villa only live music or playlists are allowed with no DJ and low volume after 10pm.
You had sparklers, a fire show or confetti in the plan.Fireworks, fire shows, wishing lanterns and confetti are not allowed, and the hotel notes its spaces have limited protection from wind and rain, so a weather plan sits with your planner.

05Before you book

The honest considerations

A wedding requires booking the whole hotel, twelve rooms plus the Villa by NEST, for three nights minimum; it sleeps about 35 people.
NEST requires a wedding planner for every event; it prefers local planners and can refer one, a separate budget line.
Outside catering isn't permitted; a food and beverage minimum applies, and the kitchen and bar run through the hotel.
Beach weddings, events and amplified music need Tulum municipal permits, a fee per event, applied for no more than four weeks ahead.
Events end at 11pm, vendors out by midnight; a paid hour extension is available.
Fireworks, fire shows, wishing lanterns and confetti aren't allowed; spaces have limited wind and rain protection, so plan weather backup with your planner.

06Getting here

Arrival, and where you get ready

6.1Fly into: Cancun International (CUN).
6.2Then drive: Roughly 125 km, about a 90 minute drive to the Tulum hotel zone in good traffic.
6.3Arriving at: The Carretera Tulum-Boca Paila beach road in the Tulum hotel zone.
6.4Tell guests: Only around 35 people sleep on the property. Everyone else needs a room elsewhere on the beach road or in town, plus a way to get between the two.
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 Changing RoomNamed 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
Please confirm the outside photographer fee and any day pass charge for our date in writing, and whether it's waived if they book a room.
6.8
What's our total for our dates: event fee, food and beverage minimum, three-night whole-hotel rate, and per-person catering and bar tiers?
6.9
What will municipal permits cost for our beach ceremony and amplified music, and who applies within the four-week window?
6.10
What does the one-hour extension past 11pm cost, and is it available at the Villa too?
6.11
Where do guests who don't fit the roughly 35 beds stay, and how do they get to and from the property?

07Light and timing

How the light works at Nest Tulum

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

Tulum Beach faces east, so the sun rises over the water here and sets behind the jungle rather than over the sea. That geometry works in a ceremony's favor: by late afternoon the sand falls into open shade while the sky over the Caribbean stays bright, so nobody is squinting into direct sun through the vows. The trade is that you will not get the sun dropping into the water behind you, and once it clears the treeline twilight arrives fast, so couple portraits need to be efficient rather than leisurely. The beachfront ceremony site is the open, unobstructed setting on the property, while the villa gardens and the back-beach terrace are tighter and more enclosed. After dark the lighting is deliberately minimal: string lights are among the house items included with an event, and the brochure is explicit that anything beyond that is arranged by the planner rather than supplied by the hotel.

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