Can I bring my own photographer to The Fives Beach Hotel & Residences?

Outside vendors are permitted rather than mandated, and an outside vendor fee applies on top of the wedding package. A published fee list puts The Fives at around USD 800 per vendor, so get the current figure in writing before you sign.

How many guests can The Fives Beach Hotel & Residences hold for a wedding?

Up to 200 guests. The beach takes a ceremony of about 140 to 150, the garden and rooftop deck about 100 each, and the pier just 16.

When is the best time to get married at The Fives Beach Hotel & Residences?

November and February through April are driest. December and January cost the most. May to October brings heat, sargassum and hurricane risk.

Skip to the short answer

Venue Guide

Your Wedding at
The Fives Beach
Hotel & Residences

Playa del Carmen

The Fives Beach Hotel & Residences is an all-inclusive resort of residence-style suites on the Xcalacoco beachfront, a few minutes north of downtown Playa del Carmen, with wedding spaces that run from open sand and a wooden pier to a rooftop deck.

Check your date

01The short answer

What couples ask first

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

1.1Outside photographers: Outside vendors are permitted rather than mandated, and an outside vendor fee applies on top of the wedding package.
1.2Capacity: Up to 200 guests.
1.3Wedding packages: Essential from USD 400 for up to 10 guests; Aura USD 1,000 to 1,500 for up to 200.Published rate. Confirm with the venue.
1.4Best months: November and February through April are driest.
1.5Airport transfer: Cancun International is roughly 35 to 45 minutes by road, about 30 miles north on Highway 307.

02Why couples choose it

What couples choose it for

2.1
Open beach, a semi-private gazebo beside the pool, a lawn ringed with tropical planting, a wooden pier over the water, and a rooftop deck.
2.2
The Aura collection holds the same price whether you bring ten guests or two hundred, which is the guest ceiling at this property.
2.3
Suites are residence-style with full kitchens, separate living rooms and one to three bedrooms, so multi-generational groups can share a unit rather than book five rooms.
2.4
A room block of ten rooms and three nights unlocks one free room and one upgrade for every ten paid, capped at three each, plus cashback that can be applied to the wedding balance.
2.5
The resort lets couples bring their own vendors rather than requiring its in-house team.
2.6
Downtown Playa del Carmen and Fifth Avenue are a short drive away, so guests are not locked to the property for the whole week.

03The spaces

Where you would actually get married

Ceremony

3.1Beach
Open sand with the Caribbean behind you, and the largest of the ceremony sites.
3.2Beachfront Gazebo
A semi-private modern gazebo set beside the pool with ocean views, for couples who want a beach ceremony with built structure.
3.3Grand Garden
A lawn ringed with tropical planting, sitting directly next to the ballroom so the ceremony and an indoor reception stay in one place.
3.4Sky Deck
An elevated private terrace with unobstructed ocean views, and the space the property points couples toward for a sunset ceremony.
3.5Sea Pier (Muelle 8)
A wooden pier running out over the water, for very small ceremonies only.

Reception

3.6The Fives Ballroom
The indoor option, and the only space where entertainment runs to midnight rather than 10 or 11pm.
3.7Beach
Doubles as a reception site, seating around 120 for dinner and up to 160 for cocktails, with music until 11pm.
3.8Grand Garden
Hosts dinner for about 100 and cocktails for up to 150 on the lawn beside the ballroom, with music until 11pm.
3.9Wine Bar70 seated
A small private bar space for a cocktail hour or an intimate seated dinner, at roughly 70 seated and 100 standing.

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.

Your heart is set on the gazebo, the garden or the pier.Venue fees sit on top of the package, and the gazebo, the garden and the pier each carry their own ceremony charge. The beach does not.
Your guests are booking their own rooms.Guests who book their rooms outside your room block contract are charged USD 25 per person for each wedding event.
You want quick answers while you plan.Couples posting about recent weddings here describe slow replies from the wedding office and friction booking restaurant tables for a group.
You want a room with the sea in front of it.The property was built as condominium residences, so the layout spreads out across low buildings and no room looks directly onto the sea.
You are covering rooms for guests travelling in threes and fours.Rooms take two adults before you have to move up to a two-bedroom residence, which matters if you are paying for guest accommodation.
You want the pool and the beach quiet.The pool and beach areas are popular and stay lively, which suits some couples and not others.

05Before you book

The honest considerations

Venue fees apply to the gazebo, garden and pier ceremony sites; the beach carries no separate charge.
Guests who book rooms outside your room block are charged USD 25 per person for each wedding event.
Couples posting about recent weddings report slow wedding office replies and friction booking group restaurant tables.
Built as condominium residences, the property spreads across low buildings; no room faces the sea directly.
Rooms sleep two adults before you must upgrade to a two-bedroom residence, relevant if covering guest accommodation.
The pool and beach areas are popular and stay lively, which suits some couples and not others.

06Getting here

Arrival, and where you get ready

6.1Fly into: Cancun International (CUN).
6.2Then drive: Roughly 35 to 45 minutes by road, about 30 miles along Highway 307. The resort sells its own shuttle service.
6.3Arriving at: The Xcalacoco beachfront, a few minutes north of downtown Playa del Carmen.
6.4Tell guests: Book through the room block. Guests who book outside it are charged USD 25 per person for each wedding event.
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.

Bridal suiteIn The Fives Spa, which overlooks a cenote. Jacuzzi.
Groom's roomGourmet bites on the wedding day, 12 pm to 5 pm.

What to ask the wedding office

6.7
What is your outside vendor fee for a photographer or videographer we bring, per vendor or per service? Nothing is published.
6.8
What is the ceremony venue fee for the gazebo, the garden and the pier on our date?
6.9
What is the room block minimum for our date, and will you waive the USD 25 per person per event charge for guests booking outside it?
6.10
Who is our named coordinator, what response time should we expect, and can you hold group restaurant tables for our welcome dinner?

07Light and timing

How the light works at The Fives Beach Hotel & Residences

This coast faces east, so the sun rises over the water and sets behind the resort and the jungle rather than over the sea. That works in your favour for a late-afternoon ceremony on the beach or at the Beachfront Gazebo: the sand falls into open shade while the sky over the Caribbean is still bright, so nobody is squinting and skin tones stay soft. The trade is that you will not get the sun dropping into the ocean behind you, and once it slips below the treeline twilight arrives quickly, which is why starting the ceremony roughly ninety minutes before official sunset leaves room for portraits afterwards. The Sky Deck sits above the treeline with unobstructed ocean views and is the space the property points couples toward for a sunset ceremony.

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. Playa del Carmen, 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