Here’s something worth knowing before you set a ceremony time in Punta Cana: this coast faces east. The sun comes up over the water and goes down behind the resorts, which is the opposite of what couples who’ve looked at Pacific destinations expect.
It works in your favor more often than not. A late-afternoon ceremony has the sun behind the guests rather than in their eyes, giving soft light with nobody squinting, and sunrise over the Atlantic is a genuine option for photographs that almost nobody takes. It just needs planning rather than assuming.
What this coast has in abundance is space. An 800-guest beach, a 600-guest plaza, a 500-guest plaza and a canal-side venue for 400, all within a short drive of each other. Below are six resorts, and our Certified Destination Wedding Specialists can confirm which venues are held privately for your destination wedding.
Best Outdoor Destination Wedding Venues at Top Punta Cana Resorts
Six resorts along the Bavaro and Macao coasts lead on open-air space, seating from 300 guests up to 800.
1. Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Punta Cana
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Punta Cana has the deepest outdoor collection anywhere on this coast, and the variety matters as much as the scale.
The Isle of Wight Plaza takes 600 on hard level ground, the Eclipse Canal 400, Piano Beach 350 for a ceremony, Harmonica Beach 300, the Element Terrace 300, and the Ipanema Garden 200. Six outdoor venues at 200 or more on one property is remarkable, and it means a full wedding weekend never repeats a setting. It’s 4.5-star and family-friendly.
Learn more about Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Punta Cana and get a free quote today >>
2. Live Aqua Beach Resort Punta Cana
Live Aqua Beach Resort Punta Cana has Aqua Beach, which can accommodate up to 800 guests, the largest outdoor venue in the country alongside the Cap Cana beaches.
It’s a five-star adults-only property, which makes an 800-guest adults-only beach genuinely unusual anywhere in the Caribbean. The Seishin Terrace adds up to 300 for a reception on level ground once the ceremony is done, so a very large wedding doesn’t have to stay on sand all evening.
Learn more about Live Aqua Beach Resort Punta Cana and get a free quote today >>
3. Dreams Macao Beach Punta Cana
Dreams Macao Beach Punta Cana pairs the Macao Plaza for up to 500 with Macao Preferred Beach for 350 and two garden terraces at 250 each.
Macao is the reason to come up here. It’s north of the main Bavaro strip, less built up, with real surf and a wilder-looking shoreline. A 500-guest plaza in that setting gives you scale and character together, which the developed stretch further south struggles to do. A Seaside Sky Terrace for 100 adds height.
Learn more about Dreams Macao Beach Punta Cana and get a free quote today >>
4. JOIA Bavaro by Iberostar
JOIA Bavaro by Iberostar is a five-star adults-only resort with a beach venue taking 500 guests.
Five hundred on sand at a five-star adults-only property is a rare combination and a useful one, because large weddings at this level usually mean a family resort or a ballroom. Bavaro beach itself is the long pale stretch that made this coast famous, and the resort is among the newer arrivals on it.
Learn more about JOIA Bavaro by Iberostar and get a free quote today >>
5. Caribe Deluxe Princess
Caribe Deluxe Princess is a four-star, medium-sized, family-friendly resort with a 500-guest beach and a 30-guest chapel.
That pairing is unusual and genuinely useful: an intimate chapel ceremony with close family, then 500 people on the beach for the celebration. At four stars, it’s also the most affordable 500-guest outdoor venue on this coast, which, for a large guest list paying their own way, is what decides the booking.
Learn more about Caribe Deluxe Princess and get a free quote today >>
6. Riu Palace Bavaro
Riu Palace Bavaro is a 4.5-star, large, family-friendly resort with a beach venue for 350 guests.
One substantial beach rather than six scattered venues suits a straightforward destination wedding where the ceremony and the reception happen in the same place and the budget goes on the room block instead. Large scale means a sizable group fits without the property filling up, and Bavaro keeps the transfer short.
Learn more about Riu Palace Bavaro and get a free quote today >>
More Information for Planning Your Outdoor Destination Wedding in Punta Cana
Outdoor destination weddings are the default here, with a couple of things worth planning around. Here’s what our Certified Destination Wedding Specialists raise.
Outdoor Destination Wedding Venues Appeal
Scale is what this coast offers that almost nowhere else does. An 800-guest beach, two plazas at 600 and 500, and several more venues between 300 and 500 mean a very large wedding never has to move indoors to fit. Most Caribbean wedding destinations top out well below that outdoors.
The plazas deserve particular attention. Hard, level ground means chairs stand straight, tables don’t rock, guests can walk in heels, and a dance floor actually works, none of which sand does. For a large outdoor reception specifically, a plaza solves problems a beach creates.
Three things to settle. Beaches here are public, so ask how the resort screens and stages the ceremony area and whether another wedding runs that day. Ask about seaweed, which varies by season and which the better resorts manage actively. And agree on a weather plan in writing for the June to November months, including which covered space you move to and by what hour the call gets made.
Punta Cana Destination Wedding Cost
The average couple marrying in Punta Cana spends around $10,768 all in, covering the wedding package, accommodations, airfare, and add-ons. Rooms average roughly $390 per person per night across a typical four-night stay, with airfare of $200 to $1,000 per couple. Couples marrying here average 38 guests.
These averages reflect real spend data from couples who booked their destination wedding with our Certified Destination Wedding Specialists.
Outdoor wedding venues are usually the more economical choice, since they rarely carry the rental fee a ballroom does. What does add up is what open air requires: lighting once the sun goes down, a sound system that works without walls, shade for a daytime ceremony, and a tent on standby in the wet season.
Punta Cana Destination Wedding Packages
Resorts here offer complimentary and deposit-only wedding packages with a qualifying room block, running roughly $800 to $3,500 at entry tier, $4,000 to $8,000 mid-tier, and $9,000 to $17,000 and beyond for full productions.
Beach ceremonies are what most base packages are written around, so an outdoor wedding often needs the least customization of any format. Check whether setup, chairs, and sound for the open air are included or itemized separately, since that gap is where quotes most often diverge.
Punta Cana Destination Wedding Travel Information
Punta Cana International is the busiest airport in the Caribbean, with direct flights from across North America and good European service. Bavaro transfers run 20 to 30 minutes and Macao a little longer.
For an outdoor destination wedding, the season matters more than the transfer. December through April is driest and busiest. June through November is hurricane season with noticeably better rates, workable with a covered backup confirmed in writing. If you want a sunrise ceremony, check the time for your date, since it shifts by around an hour across the year.
Punta Cana Outdoor Destination Wedding Venue FAQs
What is the largest outdoor wedding venue in Punta Cana?
Aqua Beach at Live Aqua Beach Resort Punta Cana, taking up to 800 guests. The Isle of Wight Plaza at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Punta Cana holds 600, and both the Macao Plaza at Dreams Macao and the beaches at JOIA Bavaro and Caribe Deluxe Princess take 500.
Which way do the beaches face in Punta Cana?
East, onto the Atlantic, so the sun rises over the water and sets behind the resorts. A late-afternoon ceremony puts the sun behind your guests rather than in their eyes, and sunrise over the ocean is an option few couples take.
When is the best time for an outdoor wedding in Punta Cana?
December through April, the dry season, when rain is least likely. Hurricane season runs June through November, which is workable with a covered backup confirmed in writing and comes with noticeably better rates.
Get Ready to Plan an Outdoor Destination Wedding in Punta Cana
Beaches that hold eight hundred, plazas that hold six, and a coastline where the light arrives from a direction most couples never plan for. For a large wedding that belongs outdoors, few places anywhere give you this much room.
Fill out our online wedding planning form, and one of our Certified Destination Wedding Specialists will match venues and capacities to your guest list and your date.
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!
