There are two different things couples mean by a small wedding, and on this coast they lead to two different answers. One is a small property, where your group is most of who’s there. The other is a small venue, where the ceremony itself is intimate even though the resort around it isn’t.
Along Riviera Nayarit, one resort falls into the first category, and it happens to be an unusually clever version of it: a small, self-contained enclave sitting inside the largest wedding property on the coast. You get a private base for your group with the venue list of a major resort available behind it.
For the second, there’s plenty of choice, with intimate venues at several resorts seating 50 to 80. Below is the small property, and then the small venues worth knowing about. Our Certified Destination Wedding Specialists can work out which approach suits your destination wedding.
Best Small Destination Wedding Venues at Top Riviera Nayarit Resorts
One small resort on the coast, followed by the most intimate venues at the larger wedding properties.
1. Family Selection at Grand Palladium Vallarta Resort & Spa
The only small wedding property in Riviera Nayarit. Family Selection at Grand Palladium Vallarta Resort & Spa is a 4.5-star, family-friendly enclave with its own facilities and a higher service level, handling symbolic and civil ceremonies.
The structure is what makes it work. A wedding party of thirty or forty takes up a meaningful share of the enclave, so the week feels close and private in a way a large resort never does, while the full Grand Palladium venue list stays available: an Ocean View Deck and two beach settings each for 150, a chapel for 80, indoor salons for 130, the Bougainvillea Terrace for 80, and restaurant venues for 80.
That combination is genuinely hard to find. Most small wedding properties give you intimacy and then limit you to one venue and no weather backup. Here the intimacy is in where you stay and eat, and the wedding itself can be as substantial as you want it.
Learn more about Family Selection at Grand Palladium Vallarta Resort & Spa and get a free quote today >>
2. Small Venues at the Coast’s Larger Resorts
If what you want is an intimate ceremony rather than a small hotel, several resorts here have venues built for exactly that. Dreams Bahia Mita Surf & Spa Resort and Secrets Bahia Mita Surf & Spa Resort both have a 50-guest beach terrace and an 80-guest Sand Terrace described as secluded and romantic.
Elsewhere, Divum at Armony Marival Punta de Mita seats 60, the PTC Sundeck at Grand Palladium Vallarta takes 60, and both the Terrace and the Insú Sky Bar at Marival Distinct hold 80. An intimate ceremony at a larger resort also keeps the covered backup space and the full kitchen that a genuinely small property can’t offer.
More Information for Planning Your Small Destination Wedding in Riviera Nayarit
Intimate weddings have their own economics. Here’s what our Certified Destination Wedding Specialists raise.
Small Destination Wedding Venues Appeal
Service ratio is the first thing you notice. Fewer people means more staff attention per guest, which shows up as faster bars, better-timed courses, and a coordinator who knows your name rather than your file number. Guests register it without being able to say what changed.
The second is that a small guest list changes what the budget can do. Thirty people instead of ninety means the catering and bar total, which is usually the largest single line, falls by roughly two-thirds. Couples often redirect that into the things everyone actually remembers: better food, a longer open bar, a proper band, a photographer they’d otherwise have ruled out.
The thing to know about this coast specifically is that a true standalone boutique buyout isn’t really on offer here the way it is in somewhere like Tulum. What Riviera Nayarit gives you instead is an enclave within a large resort, or an intimate venue at a property with full infrastructure behind it. For most couples, that’s the better trade, since you keep the kitchen, the backup space, and the staffing.
Riviera Nayarit Destination Wedding Cost
The average cost of a destination wedding in Riviera Nayarit is $10,215 all-in for the couple, covering the wedding package, accommodations, airfare, and add-ons. Hotel costs average roughly $299 per person per night over a typical five-night stay, with airfare from $200 to $800 per couple. Couples marrying here average 45 guests.
These averages reflect real spend data from couples who booked their destination wedding with our Certified Destination Wedding Specialists.
A small wedding costs less in total and more per guest. Catering and bar scale down with the headcount, but the photographer, the officiant, the florals, and the coordination don’t. If you’re comparing a 25-guest wedding with a 60-guest one, expect the per-person figure to rise even as the total falls.
Riviera Nayarit Destination Wedding Packages
Complimentary and deposit-only wedding packages are widely available with a qualifying room block, running roughly $1,350 to $5,000 at entry tier, $5,500 to $7,000 mid-tier, and $7,500 to $14,000 and beyond for full productions.
Entry tiers are written for exactly this guest count, so a small wedding here often needs nothing above the base package beyond flowers and photography. The thing to check is the room-night threshold, since a small group may fall below what unlocks the complimentary tier. Ask for that number in rooms and nights before you set the guest list.
Riviera Nayarit Destination Wedding Travel Information
Licenciado Gustavo Diaz Ordaz International Airport serves the coast with direct flights from most major US and Canadian cities, and the transfer to the Nuevo Vallarta resorts runs 25 to 40 minutes.
A small group is far easier to move, which is a real advantage. Thirty people can travel on one coach and be met as a single party, whereas a hundred need staging across several arrivals. Smaller weddings also book later with more success, since an intimate venue and a modest room block are easier to place than a large one even inside the November to April dry season.
Riviera Nayarit Small Destination Wedding Venue FAQs
Are there small wedding resorts in Riviera Nayarit?
One. Family Selection at Grand Palladium Vallarta Resort & Spa is a small 4.5-star enclave with its own facilities, sitting within the largest wedding property on the coast, so it combines a private base with a full venue list.
What is the smallest wedding venue in Riviera Nayarit?
The beach terrace venues at Dreams Bahia Mita and Secrets Bahia Mita, each seating 50 guests. Divum at Armony Marival Punta de Mita and the PTC Sundeck at Grand Palladium Vallarta both hold 60.
Can you buy out a resort in Riviera Nayarit?
A full buyout isn’t realistic at most properties here, since the coast is made up largely of medium and large resorts. The closest equivalent is booking the Family Selection enclave for your group, which gives a similar sense of privacy without the cost of taking over an entire hotel.
Get Ready to Plan a Small Destination Wedding in Riviera Nayarit
Intimate on this coast means choosing where the smallness sits: in the property you stay at, or in the venue you marry in. Both are available, and the second comes with a full kitchen and a weather plan behind it.
Fill out our online wedding planning form, and one of our Certified Destination Wedding Specialists will help you compare intimate venues and room block thresholds.
About the Author
Maggie Sabin
Maggie started as the SEO Manager at DestinationWeddings.com in 2024, where she works to drive organic traffic and conversions while creating meaningful, SEO-optimized content for the website. Previously, Maggie's career spanned from Human Resources & Recruitment to teaching at international schools for almost 10 years. Maggie spends her free time traveling, learning new languages, reading non-fiction books, working out, going to the beach and spending time cuddling her dog, Lola!
