Getting married in Ibiza: the complete guide

Start with the shape of the wedding, not the venue

Almost every couple begins by scrolling venues. It is the most enjoyable part of planning and the least useful thing to do first. Ibiza is a small island with a short season, and the venue that suits a hundred guests in June is rarely the one that suits thirty in October.

Before you look at a single photograph, agree on three things: roughly how many people, roughly which month, and roughly what you want the weekend to feel like. Everything else follows from those.

The couples who enjoy planning most are the ones who decided early what kind of wedding they were not having.

When to marry

The season runs from late April to mid-October. May, June and September are the reliable months: warm evenings, manageable heat, and suppliers who are not yet stretched. July and August are hotter, busier and more expensive, and the island's traffic and accommodation prices change character entirely.

Late April and October are the island's best-kept secret. The light is extraordinary, the countryside is green, and prices soften noticeably. The trade-off is a small chance of rain and a shorter evening.

What it costs

Ibiza is not a budget destination, and pretending otherwise creates problems later. As a working range, a well-produced wedding for 80 guests generally sits between 80,000 and 180,000 euros, with venue, catering and production accounting for most of it. Weddings below that exist, and so do weddings far above it.

• Venue hire: 8,000 to 40,000 euros
• Catering and drinks: 180 to 350 euros per guest
• Production, furniture and styling: 15,000 to 60,000 euros
• Photography and film: 6,000 to 20,000 euros
• Music and entertainment: 5,000 to 25,000 euros

The order of decisions

Guest number, then date, then venue, then planner or planning support, then caterer, then everything else. Reversing that order is the single most common cause of stress in a destination wedding.

Legal or symbolic?

Most international couples marry legally at home and hold a symbolic ceremony in Ibiza. It is not a compromise: it removes months of paperwork and lets you hold the ceremony where and when you want it, rather than where and when the register office allows.