Best Garden Destination Wedding Venues in Riviera Nayarit

There comes a point in planning when a couple realizes they’ve been assuming the beach without ever actually choosing it. Sand is hot by three in the afternoon, heels sink into it, chairs tilt, and the wind that makes the beach pleasant also makes the vows hard to hear. A garden solves every one of those things while keeping you outdoors.

The gardens along Riviera Nayarit benefit from where the coast sits. The Sierra Madre brings real rainfall down to this stretch of the Pacific, so resort planting here is lush rather than landscaped-dry, and the largest garden venue takes 400 guests under open sky.

Below are five resorts with genuine garden settings, from that 400-guest space down to intimate terraces framed by flowering vines. Our Certified Destination Wedding Specialists can confirm which are held privately for your destination wedding.

Best Garden Destination Wedding Venues at Top Riviera Nayarit Resorts

Five wedding resorts with garden venues, spanning 80 guests to 400 and the full range of the coast’s price range.

1. Dreams Bahia Mita Surf & Spa Resort

Dreams Bahia Mita Surf & Spa Resort has the largest garden venue on the coast. Garden Bahia Mita is open air, planted in the richest greens on this stretch of shoreline, and licensed for 400 guests across a ceremony, reception, or cocktail hour.

Four hundred in a garden is genuinely rare, and it means a large wedding doesn’t have to choose between greenery and capacity. The resort also runs the Beach Garden & Wooden Deck for 240, which sets a polished timber platform against garden landscaping just off the sand, giving you a second planted setting that solves the chairs-in-sand problem outright. It’s 4.5-star and family-friendly, up the coast toward Sayulita.

Learn more about Dreams Bahia Mita Surf & Spa Resort and get a free quote today >>

2. Marival Emotions Resort & Suites Riviera Nayarit by Mercure

Marival Emotions Resort & Suites Riviera Nayarit by Mercure runs The Garden for 250 guests, surrounded by greenery and flowering plants, and set up for a celebration that carries on after dark.

An evening garden reception is a different thing from a daytime one, and this venue is built for it: customizable decor, lighting through the planting, and dinner under the stars rather than under the sun. At four stars, it’s also the most affordable large garden on the coast, and the adjoining Patio takes another 220 if you want the ceremony and the reception in separate outdoor settings.

Learn more about Marival Emotions Resort & Suites Riviera Nayarit by Mercure and get a free quote today >>

3. Secrets Bahia Mita Surf & Spa Resort

Secrets Bahia Mita Surf & Spa Resort is the adults-only property sharing the Bahia Mita grounds, which means it shares the garden venues too: Garden Bahia Mita for 400 and the Beach Garden & Wooden Deck for 240.

So the choice between these two isn’t about the gardens; it’s about who’s coming. If your guest list is entirely adults and you’d rather the week stayed quiet, this is the same setting with a different atmosphere around it. If children are travelling with you, they stay next door. Both are 4.5-star, and it’s worth asking how the two properties share the venues when both have weddings booked.

Learn more about Secrets Bahia Mita Surf & Spa Resort and get a free quote today >>

4. Grand Palladium Vallarta Resort & Spa

Grand Palladium Vallarta Resort & Spa has the Bougainvillea Terrace, an outdoor space for 80 surrounded by greenery and the vivid flowering vines it takes its name from.

This is the one to look at if the setting is doing the decorating. Bougainvillea in full colour means you need very little florally beyond the bouquets, which is a real saving on a line that usually runs high. The resort is 4.5-star and family-friendly, and the terrace sits within a property that also has an on-site chapel, indoor salons, and two separate beach venues.

Learn more about Grand Palladium Vallarta Resort & Spa and get a free quote today >>

5. Armony Marival Resort & Spa Punta de Mita – MGallery Collection

Armony Marival Resort & Spa Punta de Mita – MGallery Collection has The Vent Garden, an outdoor venue for 80 designed around ceremonies and cocktail hours.

What sets it apart is the elevation. The garden sits alongside The Vent at the top of the cliff, so you get planting in the foreground and the Pacific spread out behind it, which is a combination no beachfront garden on this coast can offer. It’s 4.5-star and family-friendly on the Punta de Mita peninsula, roughly an hour from the airport.

Learn more about Armony Marival Resort & Spa Punta de Mita – MGallery Collection and get a free quote today >>

 

 

More Information for Planning Your Garden Destination Wedding in Riviera Nayarit

Gardens sit between the beach and a ballroom, and they inherit advantages from both. Here’s what our Certified Destination Wedding Specialists raise.

Garden Destination Wedding Venues Appeal

Practicality is the honest first reason. A garden gives you level ground, so chairs stand straight, tables don’t rock, and guests in heels can actually walk to their seats. Mature planting also cuts the wind, which means the vows carry, and nobody’s hair is a problem by the time the photographs happen.

Shade is the second. A ceremony on open sand at three in the afternoon is uncomfortable in a way nobody admits until they’re sitting in it. Planting brings the temperature down and lets you hold the ceremony earlier in the day without punishing anyone.

And the setting does work your budget would otherwise do. Established tropical planting is a backdrop you don’t have to build, so florals can be modest and still read as abundant. Ask whether the garden is overlooked by guest rooms or walkways, and whether evening lighting is installed or something you’ll be quoted for.

Riviera Nayarit Destination Wedding Cost

The average cost of a Riviera Nayarit destination wedding 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.

Garden weddings usually land close to that average, and the florals are where couples find the savings. A venue that’s already green needs arrangements at the aisle and on the tables rather than structures built to create an environment, and that difference can be substantial on a large wedding.

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.

Most base packages assume a beach ceremony, so check whether a garden venue is included on the same terms or carries a setup charge. On the larger gardens, ask about evening lighting as a separate line, since a 250-guest reception after dark needs considerably more than a beach ceremony at sunset.

Riviera Nayarit Destination Wedding Travel Information

Licenciado Gustavo Diaz Ordaz International Airport serves the whole coast with direct flights from most major US and Canadian cities. Transfers run 25 to 40 minutes to Nuevo Vallarta and about an hour to Punta de Mita, with the Bahia Mita properties further north again.

The rain that makes these gardens lush arrives between June and October, which is the trade-off. Those months give you the greenest planting and the highest chance of an afternoon storm, so a garden wedding in the wet season needs a covered backup confirmed in writing. The November to April dry season is drier, but the planting is less vivid late in it.

 

Riviera Nayarit Garden Destination Wedding Venue FAQs

What is the largest garden wedding venue in Riviera Nayarit?

Garden Bahia Mita, licensed for 400 guests and shared by Dreams Bahia Mita and Secrets Bahia Mita, which sit on the same grounds. The Garden at Marival Emotions Resort & Suites Riviera Nayarit is next at 250.

Is a garden better than a beach for a wedding ceremony?

It’s more practical. Level ground means chairs and tables stand properly, and guests can walk in heels; mature planting cuts the wind so the vows carry, and shade keeps an afternoon ceremony comfortable. The beach gives you the ocean behind you, which a garden can’t.

Do garden venues cost extra?

Sometimes, since most base packages are written around a beach ceremony. Ask whether the garden is included on the same terms and whether evening lighting is installed or quoted separately, which is the item that most often surprises couples.

Get Ready to Plan a Garden Destination Wedding in Riviera Nayarit

Rain off the Sierra Madre makes the planting on this coast genuinely lush, and the resorts here have built real venues into it, at sizes running from eighty guests to four hundred. You stay outdoors and lose none of the practicality of a room.

Fill out our online wedding planning form, and one of our Certified Destination Wedding Specialists will compare garden venues, capacities, and what’s included at each.