Can I bring my own photographer to The Fives Oceanfront Riviera Maya?

No outside-photographer fee or vendor day-pass requirement is published for this property. The resort works from a preferred vendor list, so ask the weddings team to put the external vendor policy, and any fee, in writing before you sign.

How many guests can The Fives Oceanfront Riviera Maya hold for a wedding?

A 94-suite boutique property. Beach and rooftop ceremonies are quoted at 110 to 120 guests, seated dinners at 80, and the indoor Salon Epic at up to 200.

When is the best time to get married at The Fives Oceanfront Riviera Maya?

November and February through April are the driest and clearest. May to October is hotter, wetter and carries both hurricane risk and the heaviest sargassum.

Skip to the short answer

Venue Guide

Your Wedding at
The Fives Oceanfront Riviera Maya

Puerto Morelos

A 94-suite boutique beachfront hotel in the fishing village of Puerto Morelos, roughly 20 to 25 minutes from Cancun airport, with ceremonies on the sand, on a rooftop above the infinity pool, or indoors in Salon Epic.

Check your date

01The short answer

What couples ask first

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

1.1Outside photographers: No outside-photographer fee or vendor day-pass requirement is published for this property.
1.2Capacity: A 94-suite boutique property.
1.3Wedding packages: Essential from $400 and Aura from $1,200; Harmony free with a qualifying room block.Published rate. Confirm with the venue.
1.4Best months: November and February through April are the driest and clearest.
1.5Airport transfer: About 20 to 25 minutes from Cancun International Airport, closer than Playa del Carmen and far closer than Tulum, which runs roughly ninety minutes.

02Why couples choose it

What couples choose it for

2.1
The airport run is short.
2.2
Open beach, a rooftop platform over the infinity pool, two restaurant terraces, a lobby terrace and an indoor ballroom.
2.3
The Love Tiers promotion makes the ceremony complimentary from a 10-room block, adds a complimentary cocktail hour at 21 rooms and a complimentary reception at 31.
2.4
It sits in the centre of Puerto Morelos rather than on an isolated resort strip, so the village, its square and its restaurants are on the doorstep and the hotel restaurants are open to the public.
2.5
The wedding team handles legal, symbolic, same-sex, Mayan and multicultural ceremonies, with Hindu, Sikh and Catholic ceremonies also listed.

03The spaces

Where you would actually get married

Ceremony

3.1Main Beach120 seated
The resort's own stretch of sand, quoted for ceremonies of 110 to 120 guests.
3.2The Roof
A private platform set over the rooftop infinity pool, above the K'iin Rooftop restaurant, with open Caribbean views.
3.3Al Mare Side Terrace40 seated
The open terrace beside the Al Mare restaurant, listed for ceremonies of about 40 guests.
3.4Lobby Terrace
A breezy open-air terrace listed for ceremonies up to 50.
3.5Salon Epic200 seated
The indoor ballroom for ceremonies or receptions up to 200 guests; the only air-conditioned option, removing weather and curfew from the plan.
3.6Penthouse Oceanfront20 seated
The private oceanfront terrace of the penthouse residence, listed for up to 20 guests for a ceremony, cocktail and dinner.

Reception

3.7Main Beach80 seated
Seated beach dinners are listed for up to 80 guests, with cocktails for 50.
3.8The Roof
The rooftop takes cocktails for up to 120 and a seated dinner for 80, but amplified music has to stop at 10pm, so a party here needs to move or end early.
3.9RoMarley Beach House
The oceanfront beach club, with Caribbean and Jamaican-influenced food, listed for cocktails up to 120 and a seated reception of 80.
3.10Al Mare Restaurant
The Italian and Mediterranean restaurant, used for intimate dinner receptions with music permitted until midnight.
3.11Al Mare Side Terrace70 seated
The adjoining terrace is also sold as a reception space, listed at about 70 guests for both cocktails and a seated dinner.

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 need every vendor cost on the table before you sign.The property publishes no outside-photographer fee anywhere, so the external vendor policy, and any fee, is an open question until the resort puts it in writing.
You want a terrace or the rooftop and a price that holds.Only the beach comes without a venue fee. The Roof, both Al Mare spaces, the Lobby Terrace and the Penthouse terrace are all flagged as carrying one on top of the wedding package.
You want the rooftop to carry the whole night.Music curfews differ by space: midnight on the beach and at Al Mare, 11pm at RoMarley and the Lobby Terrace, but only 10pm on the rooftop, which shapes the whole evening timeline.
The complimentary wedding is what drew you here.The Love Tiers events come with the venue assigned by the resort rather than chosen by you, are limited to all-inclusive room blocks, and carry blackout dates around Easter and Christmas.
Your guests are booking their own rooms.Under the hotel group's published room-contract terms, guests who book outside the couple's room block are charged $25 USD per person per wedding event.
Your date falls between May and October.Sargassum on this coast is heaviest then, so a summer date needs a rooftop, terrace or ballroom fallback agreed in advance rather than assumed.

05Before you book

The honest considerations

No outside-photographer fee is published; confirm the external vendor policy and fee in writing before signing.
Only the beach has no venue fee; The Roof, both Al Mare spaces, the Lobby Terrace and Penthouse terrace all carry one.
Midnight on the beach and Al Mare, 11pm at RoMarley and Lobby Terrace, 10pm on the rooftop.
Complimentary Love Tiers ceremonies get a resort-assigned venue, apply only to all-inclusive room blocks, and blackout Easter and Christmas.
Guests who book outside your room block are charged USD 25 per person per wedding event, per the hotel group's room-contract terms.
Sargassum is heaviest May to October; agree a rooftop, terrace or ballroom fallback in advance for a summer date.

06Getting here

Arrival, and where you get ready

6.1Fly into: Cancun International (CUN).
6.2Then drive: About 20 to 25 minutes, closer than Playa del Carmen and far closer than Tulum, which runs roughly ninety minutes.
6.3Arriving at: The fishing village of Puerto Morelos.
6.4Tell guests: The hotel has 94 suites, so the block is small, and guests who book outside it are charged $25 USD per person per 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 come from planners and photographers who have worked the property, not from the venue's own material; confirm with the wedding office.

Spa Bridal SuiteIn the spa. Complimentary when the party books at least five hair and makeup services.
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 photography and video, and does it apply per vendor, per service or per day?
6.8
What is the venue fee for The Roof, Al Mare, the Lobby Terrace and the Penthouse terrace on our date?
6.9
If we take a Love Tiers wedding, which venue is assigned, can we pay to choose, and is our date inside the Easter or Christmas blackout?
6.10
Which fallback space is held for us if sargassum makes the beach unusable, and when is the call made?

07Light and timing

How the light works at The Fives Oceanfront Riviera Maya

This is the Caribbean coast, so the property faces east: the sun rises out of the water and sets behind the building, over the jungle, not over the sea. In practice that means a late-afternoon ceremony on the sand falls into open shade while the sky above the water stays bright, which is flattering and stops guests squinting, but it also means there is no shot of the sun dipping into the ocean behind you. The classic result here is a soft pastel sky over the water rather than a burning gold horizon. The Roof sits above the infinity pool with the same open eastern outlook, and because amplified music there stops at 10pm the rooftop is a daylight and dusk space rather than a late-night one. Twilight on this coast is short, so once the sun drops behind the building the usable light goes quickly and portraits need to be scheduled before it does, not after.

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. Puerto Morelos, 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