My fiance and I are thinking of planning a wedding in Costa Rica. We have never been there. We've been getting all kinds of ideas from friends who have been, and I'm feeling overwhelmed. We'd like to stay at a nice, smaller beach hotel (preferable one we could 'take over' and have only our guests stay there....).. Anyone who has been or has had a wedding in Costa Rica, I'd LOVE to hear from you! We've like to go somewhere that is NOT touristy, but is accessible... Thank you!

My friens were married last year at El Sabano in Montezuma:

http://costa-rica.typepad.com/montez...ome/index.html

OR Playa Carrillo, south of Samara, stay at the El Sueno Tropical:

http://costa-rica.typepad.com/photos...icalhotel.html

OR Villa Casa Blanca in Playa Ocotal:

http://costa-rica.typepad.com/playa_...ome/index.html

Its a short walk to the small quiet beach and 30 mins drive to Liberia Airport.
Modesta the American owner can help you with arrangements.

Accesible is not a word that comes to mind when I think about Costa Rica.

It's a great country but keep in mind it can be very rugged. Some places can be difficult to get to.

The two Int'l airports are San Jose and Liberia. There are some great beaches with in a few hours (1-3 hours) of those airports. From San Jose Manuel Antonio is about 3 hours. There are several choices from Liberia airport that are all with in about a 2 hour drive.

Look into beach areas and hotels in Guanacaste. - Playa Grande, Ocatal, Flamingo, Langosta, and Tamarindo come to mind.

You can also rent a house and hire a cook for the week. www.vrbo.com

We saw a large, formal looking (6 bridesmaids in satin dresses!), wedding on the beach in Nosara last trip.
Most of the family, bridal party stayed at Casa Romantica, which is smallish so I'm sure they took it over. Some guests were at our hotel, the Gilded Iguana which is just down the road.
The accomodations around this part looked like they worked well, and had a variety of prices to some extent.

Lagarta Lodge was beautiful too and seemed larger. But the views from the terraced gardens overlooking the Pacific and the two river mouths would make stunning pictures.
Best wishes!

We just got back from CR.

We spent part of our time at Tulemar Bungalows www.tulemar.com in Manuel Antonio. While we were there, we met a couple that had their wedding on Tulemar's private beach (a nice beach!) The bride told us that the hotel has a wedding planner that took care of all the details.

Not knowing the size of your party, I don't know if you would 'take over' Tulemar but it is a fairly small property. They had a total party of 24 and took up half of the outdoor restaurant. While we were there (5 nights) there were never more than 20 or 30 people on the beach in case that gives you an idea of scale.

Manuel Antonio is touristy and accessible by CR standards but it is a far far cry from somewhere like Cancun.

Our other main beach stop was Mal Pais - great place but much less touristy and accessible than Quepos / Manuel Antonio.