What It's Really Like to Plan a Wedding in a Natural Reserve

Most couples planning a destination wedding think about the venue, the catering, the flowers and the photographer. Very few think about the ecosystem.

In Careyes, the ecosystem is part of the wedding.

Careyes is located within one of Mexico's most protected stretches of Pacific coastline — a natural reserve that is home to humpback whales, sea turtles, manta rays, jaguars, iguanas and more than 270 species of birds. It is one of the most biodiverse coastlines in the country. It is also, somehow, one of the most beautiful places to get married.

Here is what planning a wedding in a natural reserve actually looks like — and why every couple who has done it with us has told us it was the best decision they ever made.

The wildlife shows up uninvited. We consider this a feature.

We have had humpback whales breach offshore during wedding ceremonies. We have had sea turtles arrive on the beach during reception dinners. We have had jaguars spotted on the hills behind the venue the morning of the wedding.

None of this is staged. None of it can be planned. All of it is unforgettable.

When you get married in Careyes, the natural world is a guest at your wedding. It does not ask for a plus one. It does not follow the itinerary. It simply arrives, does something extraordinary and leaves your guests with a story they will tell for the rest of their lives.
Working with the environment, not against it

Planning a wedding in a natural reserve requires a different kind of discipline than planning in a hotel ballroom.

Every decision we make — flowers, lighting, waste management, transportation, timing — is made with the land in mind. We work with local suppliers who understand this coast. We use flowers that belong to this climate. We design lighting that does not disrupt the sea turtles nesting on the beach below.

This is not a constraint. It is a creative challenge that makes every event we produce better than it would be otherwise.

The sounds of Careyes

One of the things couples notice immediately when they arrive in Careyes is the sound — or rather, the absence of the sounds they are used to. No traffic. No construction. No city noise.

What they hear instead is the Pacific. The jungle. The birds. The wind moving through the palms.

We have learned to build our events around these sounds. We choose music that complements them rather than drowning them out. We time the ceremony to coincide with the moments when the ocean is at its most eloquent. We design the dinner so that when the music stops between courses, what fills the silence is the sound of Careyes itself.

No sound system in the world can replicate that.
The responsibility

When you choose to get married in Careyes, you are choosing to celebrate in a place that has been protected — sometimes against significant economic pressure — because the people who love it believe it deserves to exist exactly as it is.

We take that seriously. Our team comes from the surrounding communities. We train them, we pay them fairly and we invest in the local economy in ways that go beyond the event itself. Every wedding we produce is also, in a small way, an argument for why this place is worth protecting.

When you leave Careyes after your wedding, you leave as one of its guardians. That is not something we say to make you feel good. It is simply what happens to everyone who spends real time here.

Is a natural reserve wedding right for you?

If you want a predictable, fully controlled environment where every variable has been accounted for — Careyes may not be your place.

If you want a wedding that feels alive — where the Pacific is a participant, where the jungle has an opinion and where something unexpected and extraordinary is not just possible but likely — then Careyes is exactly your place.

We have never had a couple regret it.

Mr & Mrs Soul is the only full-service wedding and event agency based in Careyes, Costalegre, México. We take on 4 to 6 events per year.