The venue is the part couples plan first and the part that goes wrong least. The failures in destination weddings here are almost entirely movement problems: people arriving at different times, on different flights, into an airport that is not near the venue.
The arrival problem
A wedding party of forty arrives across two days, on a dozen flights, into San José or Liberia. Liberia to Tamarindo is 23.2 nautical miles; San José to Tamarindo is 97.1. Half your guests will book the wrong airport unless someone tells them not to.
Tell them which airport, in writing, early. That single instruction prevents more problems than anything else on this list.
The movement problem
Groups do not move like individuals. Twenty people need a coach, which needs a road that takes a coach, and several of the best venues do not have one.
Sixty people moving by air is several rotations, not one flight — the aircraft in this region carry what they carry, and group capacity is built from multiple movements rather than found in a single aircraft. The specific aircraft is assigned on confirmation, based on passenger count, baggage and the destination field.
That is not a problem, but it is a schedule, and it needs to be built rather than assumed.
What to settle very early
The airport, as above.
Whether your venue's road takes a coach, and what happens if it rains.
The reserved capacity question. You will want to hold more seats than you will use, because the final number arrives late. That is a commercial conversation with a release date attached, and it is better had in writing in month two than by telephone in the final week. AeroRide invoices and charges directly from the site; you receive your receipt in the name of the person or company you give us on confirmation.
And the return. Everyone leaves within forty-eight hours, often to the same international connections. The departure is harder than the arrival and gets a fraction of the planning.
The season
We fly year-round. In the rainy season the pilot in command decides; if weather stops a flight, it is rescheduled at no cost. The dry months are the reliable ones and the expensive ones. The green season is cheaper, greener and emptier, and afternoon rain is near-certain — which matters for an outdoor ceremony at four o'clock and matters much less at eleven.
Morning and midday ceremonies in the green season work. Late afternoon ones are a gamble people make without realising they are making it.
Where it works well
Guanacaste, from Liberia at 86.9 nautical miles, is the standard choice for a reason: the driest weather, the most venues, the shortest transfers and the infrastructure for groups.
The central Pacific for something greener with the same accessibility.
And the Osa at 83.5 nautical miles for small groups who want somewhere extraordinary and accept that extraordinary means harder — that is a twenty-person wedding, not a sixty-person one.
The thing worth paying for
Someone whose job is the movement. Not the venue coordinator, who handles the venue.
A wedding is the one trip where the transport is genuinely complex, and it is the element most often left to the couple at the exact moment they have the least attention to give it. We show a "from" price per route; the final fare depends on the date, the group and the baggage, and is confirmed in writing before booking.
Frequently asked
What actually goes wrong at destination weddings here?
Movement, not venues. Guests arriving at different times into the wrong airport is the usual failure.
Which airport should guests use?
Whichever is near your venue, stated in writing and early. Liberia to Tamarindo is 23.2 nautical miles; San José is 97.1.
Can sixty people fly together?
Not in one aircraft in this region. Group capacity is built from several rotations, which is a schedule to plan rather than assume.
How do I handle an uncertain final number?
Reserve more capacity than you need, with a stated release date, agreed in writing early rather than by phone in the final week.
Can I marry in the green season?
Yes, at morning or midday. A four o'clock outdoor ceremony in September is a gamble.
What is worth paying for?
Someone whose job is the movement, separate from the venue coordinator.
Plan it with us
The specific aircraft is assigned on confirmation, based on passenger count, baggage and the destination field.