Choosing your destination wedding venue

Congratulations! You’ve chosen Mallorca for your destination wedding! But what happens now? One of the most important and exciting steps in planning your destination wedding is to find your perfect venue. And there are so many gorgeous options! There are beautiful sun-drenched fincas surrounded by orchards and sea-view venues with a beach-club vibe. Then there are chic boutique hotels with a contemporary ambiance, villas where you can make yourselves at home and even a few castles. All have their own personality and individual touches. All you need to do is choose what fits your personal style and works with your budget. But where to start looking?

VENUES

When choosing your destination wedding venue, it’s useful to bear in mind that there are a few main categories. The way they work is slightly different. Once you have an idea of the key points to bear in mind, your next step might be to head over to our friends at Mallorca Wedding Planners to check out the venue galleries on the website. This is a quick way to view 60 great places for your wedding for all tastes and budgets.

As well as setting the scene and style for your wedding, the location you choose is going to be a major part of your cost So it’s worth knowing what to look for when choosing your destination wedding venue and how that will affect your bottom line.

Fincas

These are usually beautiful old stone houses, set in the Mallorcan countryside. Often, they’re surrounded by orchards of almond trees, oranges, olive groves or vines.  They have bags of character – some are rustic; others are more like mini-stately homes. They don’t usually have accommodation but there are a few which do (see below). Some have a few bedrooms where you and a few friends or family members can stay for the night of the wedding. Fincas are usually ´blank canvases´ so your ceremony seating, catering and party equipment need to be brought in specially.

Finca or villa-style venues with accommodation

Whether classic fincas or contemporary villas, these generally have 5-12 double rooms (sometimes more) and areas for your wedding ceremony, dinner and party. You hire the whole finca or villa for a number of days- somethings 3 or 4 but usually a week in high season (May – September). The costs will therefore look a lot higher at first sight but the friends and family who are staying with you may contribute too. As with fincas, they don’t include ceremony chairs, catering and party equipment so bear in mind that these need to be brought in.

Hotels

Mallorca has an abundance of hotels, from luxury to rural agroturismos. Some are by the coast, some nestle in the mountains, others are in the peaceful Mallorcan countryside. For some small boutique hotels, you take all the rooms for a number of days. For larger hotels, you’ll have use of several attractive outdoor spaces for your wedding and book rooms if you wish, but it is not obligatory. You use their in-house catering and some other elements like seating may also be provided.

Restaurants

With these venues (often in an attractive sea-view setting), you have use of the space for your wedding, dinner and party and there’s no venue hire fee. There is no accommodation to worry about. For a small group, you won’t have exclusivity but there might be an area which is semi-private. For a larger group, you may have de facto exclusivity if you fill the space. 

Venue rental fees

Venues charge different prices but as a rule of thumb, a finca will typically be around €3,800- €4,500 + 21% VAT. The hire fee can vary depending on the day of the week, (weekdays can be cheaper than Fridays or Saturdays for example. Sundays can be especially good value). Hire fees often vary by time of year as well. The season runs from May to the end of September (when the weather is still very warm). So low season is usually April and from mid-October. April is bright and full of spring blossom and colour but can be showery. So if you go for this option it’s best to arrange for your dinner and party to be indoors. The first half of October is a great time for weddings and still delightfully warm. 

What´s next?

The next stage is to see if you can narrow down your choice of venue to three or four. When choosing your destination wedding venue you might decide to go ahead and book straight away, especially if its a popular one. Or you might plan to come to Mallorca and look at venues. All the wedding planners on the island can arrange viewings for you (prices for this vary, but Mallorca Wedding Planners doesn’t charge for this service). Once you’ve seen two or three, you will probably know immediately which one is right for you.

So get inspired, check out those venue galleries and start dreaming right away!