A Catholic ceremony abroad is the one couples worry about, because it depends on two parishes agreeing with each other across a few thousand miles. In Punta Cana it is far closer to routine than that worry suggests. The Dominican Republic is a Catholic country, several resorts have a church or chapel standing on the property, and the local clergy are used to visiting couples rather than puzzled by them.
The part that catches people out isn’t the destination. It’s the calendar. A sacramental destination wedding starts at your home parish, often nine to twelve months before the date, and no resort can shorten that for you. Couples who begin with the priest and work outward toward the venue have a much easier time than the other way around.
What follows are the resorts set up for it, and what the day looks like built around the Mass rather than squeezed in beside it. Our Certified Destination Wedding Specialists coordinate with the resort while your parish handles the rest of your destination wedding.
Best Catholic Destination Wedding Venues at Top Punta Cana Resorts
Six wedding resorts here support sacramental ceremonies, and what each one can seat decides how the day is structured.
1. Barcelo Bavaro Palace
Barcelo Bavaro Palace has a church on site seating 150, with ballrooms for 300 and beach and garden venues for everything after.
A church at that capacity is the thing to understand about this property. Most resort chapels on the coast seat around 30, which means the Mass is for immediate family and the rest of the guest list waits outside. At 150, everyone is in the room for the sacrament, which for a lot of Catholic families is the entire point of traveling. The resort is five-star and family-friendly, with South Asian ceremonies supported too.
Learn more about Barcelo Bavaro Palace and get a free quote today >>
2. Majestic Elegance Punta Cana
Majestic Elegance Punta Cana is a large family-friendly resort running Catholic ceremonies alongside civil and symbolic ones.
The Majestic properties have handled Catholic weddings here for years, which shows in the small things: the coordinators know which documents the local diocese wants, how far in advance the priest needs confirming, and that a Mass runs longer than the hour most timelines allow. If your parish is sending paperwork abroad for the first time, a team that has received it a hundred times is worth a great deal.
Learn more about Majestic Elegance Punta Cana and get a free quote today >>
3. Riu Palace Bavaro
Riu Palace Bavaro is a large family-friendly resort and one of four Riu properties on this coast that support Catholic ceremonies.
Having several Riu options in one place is more useful than it sounds. Guests can book across sister properties at different price points while the wedding party stays where the ceremony is, which keeps a large Catholic family from being priced into one bracket. The group handles ceremony logistics the same way across all of them, so the planning doesn’t change.
Learn more about Riu Palace Bavaro and get a free quote today >>
4. Grand Bavaro Princess
Grand Bavaro Princess is a large family-friendly resort supporting Catholic, Jewish, and South Asian ceremonies as well as civil and symbolic.
That full range matters for interfaith families, of which plenty of Catholic weddings are. A team that genuinely runs several traditions understands why one side of the family expects certain things and the other expects different ones, and won’t treat the religious elements as decoration. The property is large enough to seat an extended guest list for the reception afterward.
Learn more about Grand Bavaro Princess and get a free quote today >>
5. Punta Cana Princess
Punta Cana Princess is a medium five-star adults-only resort that supports Catholic ceremonies.
This is the quieter option, and it suits couples whose guest list is adult and whose priority is the ceremony rather than the week around it. Five-star at medium size means the service is attentive without the property feeling like a small town, and an adults-only setting keeps the Mass calm in a way a resort full of children does not always allow.
Learn more about Punta Cana Princess and get a free quote today >>
6. Occidental Punta Cana
Occidental Punta Cana is a large family-friendly resort supporting Catholic and South Asian ceremonies, and one of the most affordable on this list.
Catholic weddings tend to bring larger guest lists, and larger guest lists are sensitive to room rates. Starting from a lower nightly figure is often what makes it possible for grandparents, godparents and cousins to actually come, which for a sacramental wedding carries more weight than thread count. The property sits on the same stretch of beach as resorts charging considerably more.
Learn more about Occidental Punta Cana and get a free quote today >>
More Information for Planning Your Catholic Destination Wedding in Punta Cana
Here’s what our Certified Destination Wedding Specialists raise with couples planning a sacramental ceremony abroad.
Catholic Destination Wedding Venues Appeal
A Catholic destination wedding gives you the sacrament and the week together, which at home usually means a ceremony in one place and a reception in another with everyone driving between them. Here the church, the dinner, and the next three days all happen on one property.
The Dominican Republic is also genuinely Catholic rather than accommodating of Catholics, and that difference is felt. Priests here are not performing an unfamiliar favor, and the resorts that offer it have established relationships with local parishes rather than scrambling to find someone willing.
Start with your home parish, not the resort. Expect pre-Cana or marriage preparation, baptismal and confirmation certificates issued recently rather than decades ago, and a letter from your pastor to the Dominican diocese.
Requirements vary by diocese and do change, so confirm the current ones with your priest and your Certified Destination Wedding Specialist before you commit to a date. Build in nine to twelve months, and if the ceremony must be a full Mass rather than a shorter rite, say so at the very first conversation, because it affects the chapel, the priest, and the schedule.
Punta Cana Destination Wedding Cost
The average couple marrying in Punta Cana spends around $10,768 in total, covering the wedding package, accommodations, airfare, and extras. Rooms average roughly $390 per person per night across a typical four-night stay, with airfare of $200 to $1,000 per couple. The average guest count here is 38.
These averages reflect real spend data from couples who booked their destination wedding with our Certified Destination Wedding Specialists.
Catholic ceremonies carry costs the base package rarely includes: the priest’s offering, church or chapel use, document handling, and often a translator. None of these are large on their own, but together they’re a line worth asking about directly rather than discovering late.
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 at the top.
Base packages are written around a beach ceremony with a short script, so a church Mass almost always means moving up a tier or adding a religious supplement. Ask for the quote on the Catholic version specifically, since comparing entry-tier prices across resorts tells you nothing about what your wedding will cost.
Punta Cana Destination Wedding Travel Information
Punta Cana International is the busiest airport in the Caribbean, with direct flights from most major North American cities. Transfers to the Bavaro resorts take 20 to 30 minutes.
Catholic ceremonies draw a wider age range than most destination weddings, which is worth planning around. Direct flights matter more when grandparents are traveling, and arriving a full day before any rehearsal gives older guests time to recover. December through April is the most comfortable window for anyone sensitive to heat.
Punta Cana Catholic Destination Wedding FAQs
Can you have a Catholic wedding on the beach?
Generally no. The Catholic Church expects a sacramental marriage to take place in a church or chapel, which is why resort churches matter so much for destination weddings. A common solution is the Mass in the chapel followed by photographs and the reception outdoors, which gives you both the sacrament and the setting.
How far in advance should you plan a Catholic destination wedding?
Nine to twelve months is realistic. The resort can usually be booked much faster, but marriage preparation at your home parish, obtaining recently issued baptismal and confirmation certificates, and getting a letter sent to the Dominican diocese all take time that cannot be compressed.
Which Punta Cana resort has the largest church?
Barceló Bávaro Palace, whose on-site church seats 150. That’s unusual on this coast, where most resort chapels hold around 30 guests and the rest of the guest list joins after the ceremony rather than during it.
Get Ready to Plan a Catholic Destination Wedding in Punta Cana
A sacrament in a country that takes it seriously, with your whole family in one place for a week rather than one afternoon. Begin with your parish, and the rest follows.
Fill out our online wedding planning form, and one of our Certified Destination Wedding Specialists will match you with a resort whose chapel fits your guest list and whose team has done this before.
About the Author
Maggie Sabin
Maggie has always loved traveling and discovering new places and cultures. Before joining DestinationWeddings.com as SEO Manager in 2024, she spent nearly a decade teaching at international schools across Europe and Asia, from the UK and Spain to Taiwan. Today, she creates and manages all of the blog's content, making sure couples can easily find the answers and inspiration they need to plan their destination wedding with confidence. When she's not working, you'll find Maggie learning a new language, curled up with a good book, working out, or soaking up the sun at the beach. She's happiest at home snuggling with her dogs, Lola and Minnie.
