Venue Guide
Your Wedding at
Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya
Playa del Secreto, Riviera Maya
Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya is an adults-only, all-inclusive hacienda-style resort on Playa del Secreto, midway between Puerto Morelos and Playa del Carmen. It hosts one wedding a day across seven named ceremony settings, including a Catholic chapel on the grounds.
Check your dateWhat couples ask first
5 figures, each with the caveat that comes with it.
- 1.1Outside photographers
- $1,000 USD for a photographer.Outside suppliers are permitted, but the resort charges an external vendor fee that buys access to the property and nothing else.
- 1.2Capacity
- Ceremonies run from 2 to 150 guests depending on the setting.
- 1.3Wedding packages
- About $1,299 to $8,199 USD depending on package and guest count.Published rate. Confirm with the venue.
- 1.4Best months
- November, February, March and April are the regional sweet spot.
- 1.5Airport transfer
- Cancun International sits roughly 30 minutes north by road.
What couples choose it for
- 2.1
The resort books a maximum of one wedding per day, so the ceremony setting, the coordinator and the beach are not being turned over for a second couple that afternoon.
- 2.2
There are seven distinct ceremony settings ranging from a bridge that seats twelve to a beach that seats a hundred and fifty, so the same property works for an elopement and for a full guest list.
- 2.3
A Catholic chapel, San Valentin, sits on the property, which is unusual on this coast and removes the off-site drive that a church ceremony normally requires.
- 2.4
A dedicated Wedding Suite of roughly 2,152 square feet gives the couple a large getting-ready room with a living area, a private terrace jacuzzi and a corner set aside to hang the dress.
- 2.5
Seven a la carte restaurants, a buffet, eleven bars and every ceremony and reception space, so guests never need transport between events.
- 2.6
The wedding coordinator is included in every package rather than billed separately, and a documented rain backup plan applies to all outdoor events.
Where you would actually get married
Ceremony
3.1Beach150 seated
Beachfront ceremony seating from 2 to 150 guests.
3.2Gazebo80 seated
A gazebo set in the gardens for 2 to 80 guests, included with any wedding package.
3.3Catholic Chapel San Valentin80 seated
An on-property chapel for up to 80 guests, 40 of them on the fixed benches.
3.4Fuentes Arch50 seated
A ceremony arch in the fountain courtyard for up to 50 guests, included with any wedding package.
3.5Palms Beach30 seated
A smaller, more contained beach setting for 20 to 30 guests, included in all wedding packages; also used for dinner receptions.
3.6Garden Gazebo40 seated
A second gazebo in the gardens for up to 40 guests, included in all wedding packages.
3.7Bridge12 seated
The smallest of the ceremony settings, capped at 12 guests and included with any package.
Reception
3.8Las Fuentes200 seated
The largest dinner space, seating 52 to 200 guests.
3.9Beach200 seated
Beach dinners for 20 to 200 guests with a $15 per person setup fee.
3.10La Hacienda Terrace50 seated
A terrace dinner for 30 to 50 guests.
3.11Gazebo60 seated
The garden gazebo doubles as a reception space for 20 to 60 guests, with a location fee below 20.
3.12Sunset Beach Bar30 seated
A semi-private beach bar for a cocktail hour of 10 to 30 guests, available from 5:00 p.m.
3.13Sunrise Beach Bar60 seated
A semi-private beach bar for a cocktail hour of 30 to 60 guests, available from 5:00 p.m.
3.14Foyer80 seated
An indoor cocktail space for 10 to 80 guests, with a location fee below 10.
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 children in the wedding party.The resort is adults only and no guest under 18 is allowed on the property at all, so nieces, nephews and flower girls cannot attend.
- You want a beach reception outside the winter months.Beach receptions are available December through April only, because of turtle nesting season. From May to November a beach dinner has to finish before 8:00 p.m., and a $15 per person setup fee applies year round.
- You want Las Fuentes at a smaller count.Las Fuentes carries a 52-guest minimum and a $1,000 location fee below that, and the fee still applies if you booked above the minimum and guests cancelled before arrival.
- You want a church ceremony without a separate workstream.The San Valentin chapel is for Catholic ceremonies only. The resort's own site puts the chapel location fee at $950 plus a $400 cash donation to the priest, and the nihil obstat and sacrament records are required at least two months ahead.
- You want the marriage to be legal in Mexico.A legally binding Mexican ceremony requires a blood test taken in Mexico, four witnesses with photo ID and tourist cards, apostilled birth certificates, and the couple on site three full business days beforehand.
- You have friends staying elsewhere on the coast.Friends who are not staying at the resort attend on a purchased day or wedding pass. One travel specialist puts the wedding pass at $99 USD per person, with entry 30 minutes before the event and departure once it ends.
The honest considerations
- Beach receptions run December to April only (turtle nesting); May to November a beach dinner must end by 8:00 p.m., plus a $15 per person setup fee year round.
- The resort is adults only; no guest under 18 is allowed on the property, so nieces, nephews and flower girls cannot attend.
- Non-staying friends need a purchased day or wedding pass; one travel specialist quotes $99 USD per person, entry 30 minutes before, departure after.
- Las Fuentes has a 52-guest minimum and a $1,000 fee below it, which still applies if guests cancel after booking above minimum.
- San Valentin chapel is Catholic only, $950 fee plus $400 cash priest donation; needs nihil obstat and sacrament records two months ahead.
- A legal Mexican ceremony needs a Mexico blood test, four witnesses with photo ID and tourist cards, apostilled birth certificates, and three days on site first.
Arrival, and where you get ready
- 6.1Fly into
- Cancun International (CUN).
- 6.2Then drive
- Roughly 30 minutes south by road. The resort operates a private transfer service, and some booking channels bundle airport transportation.
- 6.3Arriving at
- Playa del Secreto, midway between Puerto Morelos and Playa del Carmen.
- 6.4Tell guests
- The resort is adults only and no guest under 18 is allowed on the property at all, so families need to know before they book.
- 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.
- Wedding Suite2,152 sq. ft. Spacious living room; bedroom with a sofa and desk; bathroom with a bathtub; private terrace with an exclusive Jacuzzi; a dedicated corner to display the wedding dress.
What to ask the wedding office
- 6.7
The current chapel figures in writing; two third-party pages quote the fee and donation differently, while the resort site says $950 plus $400.
- 6.8
Whether the $1,000 Las Fuentes fee is charged when guests cancel after we've booked above the 52-guest minimum.
- 6.9
The current wedding pass price for non-staying friends, and how many passes are available for our date; the $99 figure is from a travel specialist.
- 6.10
The outside vendor fee for a photographer, and whether it's waived if they stay at the hotel; both figures are from a travel specialist.
How the light works at Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya
This coast faces east, so the sun rises over the Caribbean and sets inland behind the jungle. In practice a late-afternoon beach ceremony sits in open shade while the sky overhead is still bright, which keeps guests out of direct glare and is flattering on skin tones, but it also means you will not get the sun dropping into the water behind you. What you get instead is a soft pastel gradient over the sea once the sun clears the tree line. A photographer who has worked the property singles out the light near the beachfront gazebo around sunset. Twilight closes fast here once the sun is behind the jungle, so the portrait window after the ceremony is shorter than most couples expect and worth protecting in the timeline. After dark the property leans on its gardens, terraces and hacienda architecture, which reward off-camera flash rather than ambient 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. 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
Planning a wedding at Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya?
We are based in Playa del Carmen, so there is no travel fee anywhere in Cancun or the Riviera Maya.