THE VENUE Review | CABO SAN LUCAS

Let me first start by saying there are SO many amazing resorts that I absolutely LOVE in Cabo! While this is beyond a doubt a HUGE pro of looking at venues in Cabo, it also made our decision process of narrowing down our wedding venue all the more challenging, and a serious research undertaking for myself (aka hours upon hours on Pinterest, blogs, reddit, TikTok, Instagram, travel blogs). You name it- I’ve probably referenced it at one point of my planning process, or read the article!

**Why is cabo such a popular wedding destination?**

For starters, the Los Cabos region stretches more than 25+ miles of premium beachfront property with upwards of 800+ and counting resorts, as far as the eye can see.
It also boast some of the best weather year around, and you can also find everything from affordable all- inclusive resorts, to some of the most luxurious and highly ranked resorts in the entire world.

A bit of backstory - My fiancé and I always agreed we were all or nothing when it came to what we wanted for our wedding weekend. It was either a blow out luxury destination wedding, or we were going to just say “fuck it” and elope, and add all of the crazy expensive costs of hosting a lux destination wedding into our future home goals fund.

After at least a month plus of debating, and making some seriously difficult decisions, we finally established that we were doing the whole SHABOOM and throwing a big destination wedding. After establishing that we were ACTUALLY having a wedding, everything was pretty mutually aligned in terms of what we wanted, and how we envisioned our dream wedding weekend playing out.

Throughout all of our years of dating we'd always talked about throwing a luxury destination wedding, and the hard requirements were must be somewhere sunny, warm, with an ocean view and palm trees, regardless of if it ended up being just down the street from us in Laguna Beach and in our backyard (which was honestly my first inital wedding venue Love), and the location where I always envisioned myself getting married for as long as I can remember. Will save discussing that for another blog post though, since I have a lot I can share around all the venues we considered in Southern California.

We ultimately narrowed our Top 3 geographical locations down to Southern California, Maui and Cabo, after ruling out venues on the Caribbean side of Mexico (Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Tulum etc.)

This was strictly due to the fact that the large majority of our closest friends and family are located on the west coast, and that region of Mexico would be a long trek for the majority of our wedding guests.

After Narrowing down the geographical locations, we really stack ranked things based on the below TOP 3 priorities:

Weather/Time of year we wanted to get married for all 3 locations
Vibes - Will it feel like a 3 day party & vacation celebrating with all of the closest people in our lives?
Delta of Cost between venues in Southern California, Maui and Cabo

WHY we ruled out southern CAlifornia venues

Because we wanted to get married in the first half of 2024, and were ideally shooting for March-May at the latest, we sadly ruled out Southern California almost immediately.

**California Dreamin’**

Southern CA has zero shortage of luxury resort wedding venues, and it’s truly a Bride to Be’s paradise for a wedding!

Some people might be confused by this, since San Diego, Laguna Beach, Malibu and Santa Barbara all have pretty mild temperature year around, however for an outdoor wedding I would not qualify mid to high 60’s a comfortable temperature, which is typically the weather you can expect in March and April in southern California.

Moving on to May & June - The issue with May and June, and anyone who has lived there or spent much time at all in Southern California would be aware of this, but the months of May and June are the gloomiest months of the year in this region. It’s literally known to the locals as “May grey and June gloom”, so I was not trying to have a wedding in either of these months, as I was very aware of the weather risk we would be facing.

To put it as transparently as possible you could book a a stunning 5 star cliffside ocean view venue, that costs multiple $100k of dollars, to not even be able to see an ocean view in the background of your wedding photos. This is how bad the June gloom and May grey overcast can be during these months in southern California. Additionally, I also can’t stand being cold, so it was just a no go for me on risking not having perfect weather and backdrop, when spending that kind of money on a wedding venue.

Lastly, my fiance also felt like doing our wedding in CA didn’t really feel like a “destination wedding”, since I lived in LA for over 8+ years, and him 5. He really wanted to feel like we were on vacation for 3 days with all of our closests friends and family, which I couldn’t disagree with him there!

Maui

We VERY seriously considered Maui as we both absolutely love it there, and have spent a lot of time on both sides of the island. Since we had already stayed at a lot of the top contenders we were considering, we were 100% comfortable booking a wedding venue in Maui without making an extra trip back to do official “venue tours”, not that I would ever complain about an excuse to go to Hawaii - Twist my arm a little more lol.

Okay I don’t want to get sidetracked, since discussing venues in Maui is not the point of this blog post, but can we get a moment for this wedding venue at the Four Seaons?!

It’s so spectacular! If we ended up doing Maui this would have been the venue, and we absolutely love this resort! I would also highly recommend checking out the Andaz, which is also in Wailea, and right next door to the Four Seasons. We ruled that venue out immediately since we had good friends that had a wedding there two years ago, but had it not been for that, we would have also considered doing a wedding at the Andaz. It’s such a nice resort!

Why we choose Cabo | Pros vs cons

Since I did COUNTLESS hours of research and planning (down to even researching the historical weather for the past 10 years for all of the months we were considering doing a wedding in Cabo, I thought it would be beneficial to share an overview of the process of how we landed on our location, venue, time of year/wedding date etc, with other future brides to be considering doing a destination wedding in Cabo!

Before I dive into the Pros & Cons of Cabo, I also wanted to do a quick recap of the pros & cons we weighed out for both Southern California & Maui in our decision making process.

Southern CA (Laguna Beach, San Diego, Malibu and Santa Barbara):

Pros:

The California coast is STUNNING, and there are endless amazing venues (will do another blog post on this specifically)
Travel was convenient given a lot of our friends live in LA, and the rest of our loved ones were for the most part in Seattle
Doesn’t require international travel, which I know made a few of our relatives uneasy
We’d likely get a higher turn out, given I’d hardly call it a destination wedding, since we lived there so long
Weather is amazing and is almost guaranteed zero risk of rain or gloomy weather the months of July-September in SoCal
Not having to worry about trekking stuff on a flight if you’re doing any level of DIY decor etc. It’s a whole other animal when you have to factor in international flights & going through international customs, as to what you can and should not bring into the country( I will write an entire other blog post on this, as I’m a DIY queen & successful did a lot of it for our Cabo wedding).

Cons:

Weather was a factor for the time of year we were aiming to get married(March-May), and we’d already push it out to the next year, so we weren’t willing to wait until later in the year (July-September), when I felt like we could guarantee clear blue skies and zero chance of rain!
It didn’t really feel like a destination since we nearly felt like locals by this point. I was okay with it, but my fiance strongly wanted a full destination wedding affair vs. doing Southern California.

MAUI

Pros:

Everything! Literally Maui is incredible and honestly you couldn’t ask for a more upscale and romantic wedding location than Maui
Nearly perfect weather year around on the Wailea side , however they do have a rainy season in Kaanapali and the north end of the island, so definitely do your homework if you’re considering areas outside of Wailea during the “off season”.
Amazing resorts to choose from
Zero language barrier
Flights from the west coast were surprisingly cheaper than I would have expected, which is abnormal for Maui
Everyone loves Hawaii, so I feel like you can’t go wrong

Cons:

PARTY VIBES: Honestly we were a bit worried our friends would get kicked out of the venue - We all REALLY like to party LOL

The curfew and noise ordinance was VRRY early at all of the resorts we looked at (10pm I believe).
Due to this, we’d have to rent a separate room inside the Four Season’s to continue the wedding reception for another 2 hours until midnight, which was not ideal.
I won’t say this was the end of be all deal breaker, but there was no way we were calling it a night and migrating inside at 10pm, after paying an absurd amount of money to rent the most pristine piece of beach real estate on the island, so that was a HUGE con for us when it came to our decision making process

COST:

Initially this was my #1 concern, for both cost of room block rates our guest would have to pay, as well as how much it would cost us as a couple, as Maui is typically thought to be much more costly than doing a wedding in Cabo.

That said, I think there’s a common misconception and generalization that you’ll get a hell of a deal booking a destination wedding in Cabo, while Maui will cost you an arm and a leg.

YES! The general average cost of hosting a destination wedding is typically lower in Cabo, but that’s also the AVERAGE of the cost of over 800+ Cabo hotel/resort options to choose from, including everything from the all inclusive resorts you used to spring break at in college, that are a hell of a deal, to some of the nicest luxury resorts in the world celebrities frequent. You just have to keep that in mind when setting your expectations for the venue quotes you’re going to receive.

There are very large variables of what goes into a geographical locations “generalized cost average of a wedding” vs the actual cost of the specific wedding venue location or resort you select.

What I mean by that is this price point will be quickly and astronomically driven up, if you book a wedding venue that is ranked by Forbes and travel + Leisure as one of the Top 100 best resorts in the entire world, regardless of if it’s a venue in Maui, Southern California, Cabo, Lake Como, Positano Italy or but fuck Egypt.

I hate to break it to you that two of the wedding venues we were quoted in Cabo came in equal or higher than all of the Top 5 Star Luxury resorts in Maui we received quotes from. This is just food for thought, so you can avoid massive sticker shock when touring any of the below top luxury wedding venues in Cabo I’m about to talk about, thinking you’re going to get one hell of a deal and basically the equivalent of a Cabo spring break discount rate.

Our vacation to cabo to tour luxury Destination wedding venues

First things first, i think it’s important to note that a lot goes into planning a destination wedding! There are a lot of similarities between planning a local wedding, or even somewhere else in the states, however there are 10x more factors on top of a local wedding, that you need to consider and ask yourself throughout the process of considering planning a destination wedding!

For example, when you’re planning a destination wedding all of the same questions apply, except you have to consider the fact that you’re potentially thousands of miles away and the destination is more than likely in another country.

For us, we’re absolutely obsessed with Cabo, and we frequently travel there so much that it feels like a second home. knew this was asking a lot for some of our guests and relatives, who had never traveled to Mexico previously, and didn’t feel as comfortable as us doing so.

To be honest I literally scoured all of los cabos and i looked at almost every single luxury resort, restaurant and villa in Cabo San Lucas and San Jose Del Cabo, that had an ocean view and the makings of what we envisioned for our wedding weekend. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the location, Cabo San Lucas (shortened to Cabo) is a city at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula in the Mexican state of Baja California sur.

Los Cabos is made up of two separate towns, San Jose del Cabo and Cabo san Lucas. these two towns are linked by what is referred to as the “cabo corridor” and are essentially 25 miles of incredible beach-front resorts and hotel properties.

In general, Cabo San Lucas is known as more of a party scene and destination where college kids spring break (I can personally attest to that one lol), while San José Del Cabo tends to be more of a tranquil vacationers hot spot area. Personally I love them both equally, and in general, I just love the entire Baja region of Mexico for vacation or for a destination wedding!

ALL OF THE WEDDING VENUES WE Toured in Cabo

THE CAPE

We loved this modern swanky boutique hotel! The vibes were high, young & sophisticated, and the architecture and clean modern lines are a designer's dream- I was obsessed!

As far as the actual ceremony and reception vibe, it wasn't exactly what we were looking for, however I already knew this venue was strictly for the purpose of our room block, and an easy access vessel to get us close to the holy grail next door - AKA Sunset Monalisa!

The Cape Hotel

The perfect mix of a modern, swanky and vibey boutique, while still getting a 5 star elevated resort experience.

The Cape is so perfectly and conveniently a rocks throw away from Sunset Monalisa, which is just a stand alone restaurant, so the convenience factor of this wedding venue duo is chefs kiss!

SUNSET MONALISA

Quite literally the most stunning view I think i've ever seen in my entire life, and I am not joking!!! It truly looks like something out of Santorini, Greece, and I studied abroad in Greece, so you know this venues view are through the roof and so content and instagram worthy.

As if that's not enough, the restaurant is ranked as one of the best restaurants in the world, and ranked among Michelin star restaurants. It's a 10/10 across all categories as a venue in my opinion, aside from the room block consideration

ESPERANZA

Oh we fancy now! This resort is ultra luxury and I was so here for it! It's def a highly acclaimed destination resort in Cabo, that you've probably seen multiple celebrities and high profile influencers post about, but may not have known their exact resort location.

I was in love with this resort for a wedding venue, and it was giving me all of the "on campus resort experience vibes" as I like to call it lol, AKA the resort is so next level you don't even want to leave resort property, which is what we were aiming for!

Esperanza Resort

This resort is MAGICAL and has no shortage of stunning ceremony & reception venue options!
I think we toured about 7 different venue locations, and I was in LOVE with every single option!

WALDORF ASTORIA LOS CABOS PEDREGAL

PSA: Strength train that jaw of yours far in advance before touring this venue, because it's going to be nearly impossible to pick it back up off the floor, upon entering the gates of this stunning and iconic luxury resort property in Pedregal.

Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal

Consistently ranked **#1 Luxury Resort in all of** **Mexico** and among **top 50 BEST in** **world**, this resort oasis in Cabo needs zero introduction.

Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal needs zero intro. IYKYK.

It is by a landslide one of the most high-end resorts in not only Cabo, but all of Mexico, and it's consistently ranked by Forbes, Travel + Leisure and Elite Traveler, as the #1 luxury resort in all of Mexico. Not to mention, it's also consistently ranked by Travel + Leisure in their Top 100 Best In World Resorts, coming in at spot #41 this year, and named one of the most instagramable resorts in the world, so it's safe to say my expectations were through the roof when we toured this luxury wedding venue.

I’m happy to report that not only were my expectations met, but far exceeded. This resort is next level you guys! Upon arrival through a private 1000 foot tunnel carved out of a mountain, you pop out on the pacific side of the baja, to what feels like true paradise and an oasis.

You are immediately greeted by your personal butler(yes you read that correctly)and handed a margarita made from scratch, as they whisk your luggage away and give you a tour of this stunning resort property.

If that part didn’t excite you, the fact that every standard room, which is the least “standard” room I’ve ever stayed in my entire life, comes with a private infinity plunge pool at this resort.

Talk about a luxury experience…

Every room comes standard with a private infinity plunge pool, where your personal butler can serve you floating breakfast & room service throughout the day.

When I say it will quite literally be your favorite stay in your entire lifetime, I am not exaggerating. The service is through the roof, which comes as no surprise given the Waldorf is known for their outstanding resort experience and phenomenal service, but this resort is on another level than I've ever experienced, even in comparison to our other stays at Waldorf Astoria resorts, or similar luxury category resort brands( Ritz, Four Seasons, Montage etc).

Given it's accolades, this should come as zero shock to anyone that this is an extremely pricey resort, and definitely something to keep in mind before touring this venue.

Yes! Sure it might be in your budget as a couple to afford this venue, but don't forget to also think in terms of whether or not the room block rates will fit within your guests budget, because that's where we ran into the biggest struggle, and truly the only con of this impeccable resort property.

If it's within your wedding budget as a couple, your MVP guests budget to book and you’re okay with some people staying elsewhere, then by all means you should book this luxury wedding venue- You will not regret!!

El Farallon

Luxury Cliffside Dining within the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal Resort

VICEROY LOS CABOS

Immediate 10/10 for me! From the minute you set foot on this immaculate 5 star resort property, you will feel like you're stepping into what feels like could literally be featured on the cover of the architectural digest. This resort oasis is extremely modern minimalist, with it's clean lines and architecture, however it packs some serious WOW factors and architectural drama that POPS!

Entrance to lobby of Viceroy San Jose Del Cabo

While the resort has multiple levels that lead down to the stunning ocean view level, each level and every resort building is surrounded by infinity pools that almost blend into the ocean view in the background. If you've ever stayed here you also know about the iconic what looks like " upside down birds nest" restaurants, that they have scattered throughout the resort property, and damn this architectural design truly blew my mind!

I absolutely LOVE this resort property! It has modern lines for all the interior designers who dream of clean architecture for a destination wedding venue, the service is great, some of the rooms have private plunge pools, but that is not even the kicker!

The BEST part about this resort is the price point, and that the room block is SO affordable for a luxury 5 star resort! I'm talking a couple $100 cheaper than some of the other luxury resorts we've stayed at. If I’m being honest, I’d say it was closer to $200-$300 cheaper than some of the other 5 star resorts we've stayed at in Cabo, when it comes to the room block rates.

The Viceroy is a 10/10 for a wedding venue in my opinion, especially given it's also fairly affordable for a room block for your guests, while also still serving 5 star luxury resort vibe energy!

Cielomar

A stunning rooftop bar & restaurant with incredible ocean views at Viceroy, San Jose Del Cabo

Honestly this would have been a top contender if our good friends hadn't already gotten married here, however I personally would never get married at the same venue as one of my friends, so this wasn't actually a contender in our venue search. I just wanted to share how incredible this venue is, since we personally stayed here for another friend's wedding and absolutely LOVED this resort.

Other resorts we didn’t stay at, or have a chance to tour, that I would highly recommend checking out:

I should also note that all of the below resorts are in San Jose Del Cabo vs Cabo San Lucas, which is where the majority of the resorts we toured were at (Esperanza, Sunset Monalisa, The Cape Hotel, Waldorf Astoria), and are about a 35-40 minute drive to the below resorts(minus The Four Seasons).

If you’re looking to check out the below venues, in additon to the above Cabo San Lucas venues we toured, I’d definitely recommend splitting them into two separate days, and doing the below on the same day together since they are in close proximity to each other(5-10 mins apart).

Chileno Bay
- This resort is one of the newer resorts in Cabo, and has a very modern vibe that I love! It’s also a sister resort property to the Esperanza Resort we toured, and part of the Luxury Auberge Resort Collection, which never disappoints from my experience!
- It also has one of the few swimmable beaches of all of the resorts in Los Cabos, so if you’re big on actually being able to get in the ocean, this resort might be for you! It also has a golf course at the resort for the golf lovers!
The Montage Los Cabos
- Another staple luxury resort in Los Cabos that unfortunately we didn’t have a chance to check out, however based on my experience staying at the Montage in Laguna Beach,I’d say it’s definitely high end and worth touring if you’re looking in the luxury wedding venue Category
Ritz Zadun
- Again, another luxury resort in Los Cabos that I’m sure is impeccable, that I wish we had time to tour.
Four Seasons Resort Los Cabos at Costa Palmas
- What’s not to love about a Four Seasons Resort property? I definitely really wanted to check this resort out, but it’s DEEP and a bit out of the way from the rest of the main tourist corridor area(25 mile stretch of resorts on the beach in Los Cabos).
- Due to this, we opted to skip it since we were so in love with all of the above resorts we’d already toured. Honestly I didn’t need to make our decision anymore challenging than it already was!
- I believe it also has one of the only swimmable beaches as well

Wedding Venue | Verdict

I’m happy to report we FINALLY landed on a wedding venue, after hours and hours of debate, and quite literally one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make in my life!

For now we’re keeping our decision private, however part 2 of selecting our Cabo Destination wedding venue coming soon, where I’ll share our entire decision making process, and how we finally narrowed it down to THE ONE!

STAY TUNED FOR MORE TO COME! :)

The Venue review| Cabo