Everything you need to know about getting married at Secrets Moxché

Secrets Moxché Playa del Carmen has six wedding venues, four wedding packages ranging from complimentary to $12,049 USD, and a $1,000 outside vendor fee if you bring your own photographer. Ceremonies work best 60–90 minutes before sunset, which means between 4:30 pm and 6:00 pm depending on the month. All guests must be over eighteen, and day passes are not permitted.

That's the short version. Below is what six weddings at this resort have taught me about each of those points.

I'm Luke Fotoliv. I've photographed six weddings at Secrets Moxché, across the rooftop, the pool deck, the cenote, and the indoor salón. Most of what's published about this resort comes from travel agencies who've never stood in these spaces. This is what the property is actually like to get married in.

The six wedding venues at Secrets Moxché

Sky Rooftop Gazebo

Ceremony 150 · Cocktail hour 150 · Entertainment until 10:00 pm · Venue fee applies

The highest viewpoint in Playa del Carmen, on the tenth floor. Your guests see you and the ocean, and almost nothing else. The resort is built in a U shape, so from the right wing facing the water you catch a small portion of the opposite side on the left. The rest is open sea from above.

You feel the wind up here. Even on a hot day, the sea breeze makes it comfortable — which matters more in the Riviera Maya than couples expect. Access is restricted to wedding guests only. No resort guests walking through your ceremony, nobody in the background of your photographs.

The light, and why timing is critical here. The rooftop faces east toward the ocean, which puts the setting sun behind your guests. If you face each other, you're in direct sunlight. If you turn toward your guests, you're looking into the sun. Start the ceremony 60–90 minutes before sunset and the light works with you. Start at 3:00 or 4:00 pm and you fight it for the entire ceremony.

This is the venue where a wrong start time is most visible in the photographs.

edding ceremony at the Sky Rooftop Gazebo at Secrets Moxché Playa del Carmen, couple standing beneath the wooden gazebo with the ocean behind them

Pool Deck

Ceremony 150 · Cocktail hour 150 · Reception 150 · Entertainment until 10:00 pm

The Pool Deck works as both ceremony and reception space, and it's the most-used combination at this resort.

As a ceremony space: it sits between the two buildings, with the tower rising behind you and curated tropical planting on every side. Private in practice — you don't see other resort guests, only vegetation and architecture. It faces north, with the ocean to your right and the sun to your left, behind your guests. It gets genuinely hot. Of all the outdoor ceremony options, this is the one where an early start time is physically uncomfortable rather than just unflattering.

As a reception space: this is the classic Secrets Moxché reception and the one I most enjoy photographing. It sits directly beside the ceremony area, separated by the pool, so guests move a few steps instead of relocating. Dense, well-maintained planting screens it on all sides, and a private-event sign keeps passing resort guests out.

Sunset during cocktail hour here is genuinely beautiful. After that, everything is artificial — warm string lights overhead and whatever your DJ brings. Both photograph well, but they're different looks. Your cocktail-hour images and your reception images won't resemble each other, and that's worth knowing in advance.

Mystique Area (the cenote)

Ceremony 50 · Entertainment until 10:00 pm · Available until 10:30 pm

The most distinctive ceremony location on the property. It sits on the south-facing side of the resort. Behind the gazebo you have the cenote itself, a stone wall, and tall palms — layered and scenic in a way none of the other venues are. Part of the building appears on the right side of the frame.

Very private, and small by design. Fifty guests is the maximum. Facing south-west means the sun sits to your right throughout the ceremony.

Sky Wedding Salón

Cocktail hour 80 · Reception 80 · Entertainment until 11:00 pm · Venue fee applies

Indoor, air-conditioned, with large windows. A genuinely good reception space on its own merits, and the strongest rain plan on the property.

Because it's artificially lit, sun position is irrelevant here. That's precisely the value: nothing about the weather changes what your photographs look like. I've shot a ceremony in this room on a rainy day and it held up completely.

The 11:00 pm entertainment cutoff is the latest of any venue except the Ballroom.

Beach

Ceremony 200 · Cocktail hour 200 · Reception 200 · Entertainment until 10:00 pm · Curfew 10:30 pm · Venue fee applies

The largest-capacity venue at the resort. I've photographed portrait sessions on this beach but never a full wedding event here, so I'll leave the description at the specifications rather than tell you things I haven't observed.

Ballroom

Ceremony 300 · Cocktail hour 300 · Reception 300 · Entertainment until 2:00 am

The only venue on property with a 2:00 am entertainment cutoff, and the largest capacity. If a late party matters more to you than an outdoor setting, this is the only space that allows it. I haven't photographed a wedding here.

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Secrets Moxché wedding packages and prices

Secrets Moxché offers four wedding packages through Hyatt Inclusive Collection. All can be customized with your on-site coordinator.

Weddings in Paradise — from $1,499 USD, or complimentary

Complimentary when you book at least seven nights in a Preferred Club Junior Suite Ocean View or higher, or when five rooms in any category are booked for at least three nights.

Includes: on-site wedding coordinator, preparation and ironing of wedding attire, symbolic ceremony, bouquet and boutonnière for the couple, wedding cake and sparkling wine toast for up to ten guests, complimentary room for one member of the couple the night before (subject to availability), turndown service, late checkout, 15% spa discount, the Newlywed Package, and free anniversary nights.

Elope in Luxury — from $1,649 USD

Built for two people.

Includes: wedding coordinator, choice of two services on the day (hairstyling, makeup, or shave), symbolic ceremony, bouquet and boutonnière, cake and sparkling wine toast for two, romantic dining for two the night of the ceremony, complimentary room upgrade subject to availability, sparkling wine and fruit on arrival, breakfast in bed with mimosas, late checkout, 15% spa discount, hydrotherapy circuit treatment for the couple, twenty digital ceremony photographs, and free anniversary nights.

Eternal Love — from $5,049 USD

Includes everything in the entry package plus: service of a judge or minister, ceremony décor with twenty white-covered chairs, ceremonial table and aisle runner, an edited ceremony video, boutonnières and corsages for up to four wedding party members, floral centerpieces for the sweetheart and ceremonial tables, a semi-private rehearsal dinner for up to ten, cake and sparkling wine for up to twenty, a private cocktail hour with Gold menu hors d'oeuvres for up to twenty, a private dinner reception for up to twenty, sound system, hair and makeup services, live music during cocktail hour, fifty digital photographs with a wedding album, and a couples spa treatment.

Beyond Memorable — from $12,049 USD, up to 79 guests

The full-scale package.

Includes: private wedding ceremony, beach pergola or gazebo drapery, sound system, white-linen chairs, shoe check station for beach ceremonies, a one-hour welcome cocktail party with private bar and four hors d'oeuvres stations, a two-hour rehearsal dinner with signature cocktail and buffet, a three-hour reception with sweetheart table, buffet, private bar with top-shelf spirits, and dessert station. Plus sparkling wine and fruit for the couple and their parents in up to three rooms, romantic turndown, breakfast in bed the day after, 20% spa discount for the couple and their parents, complimentary hydrotherapy access for up to six people, free anniversary nights, and $100 in resort coupons per guest.

A note on pricing: these are the resort's published starting rates. Actual pricing varies by season, day of the week, and year, and changes without notice. Confirm current figures with your wedding coordinator before budgeting.

You can also checkout this guide I wrote on how much does a destination wedding in Riviera Maya really cost.

The $1,000 outside vendor fee

If you hire a photographer who isn't part of the resort's in-house team, Secrets Moxché charges an outside vendor fee of $1,000 USD. It's paid by you, and there is no way around it.

I want to be direct about this because couples often discover it late, after they've already chosen a photographer, and it becomes an unpleasant surprise rather than a line in the budget.

Two things worth knowing:

The fee covers your photography team, not each photographer individually. When I shoot at Moxché I work with a second shooter, and one fee covers both of us.
The amount can change at any time and I have no control over it. Confirm the current figure with your coordinator when you book.

Whether it's worth paying depends entirely on whether the in-house photography matches what you want. That's your call to make, not mine to make for you, but you should be making it with the number in front of you. If you're weighing that fee against your total photography budget, here's what a Cancún wedding photographer costs.

I wrote this guide on Outside vendor fees for destination weddings to help you better understand what they are and how they work.

What time should your ceremony start?

The general principle is 60–90 minutes before sunset, adjusted for the season. But sunset in Playa del Carmen shifts by roughly two hours across the year, and heat, first-look decisions, and cocktail hour length all pull on the schedule.

Here's what I actually recommend, month by month:

Month Recommended ceremony start January 4:30–5:00 pm (depending on first look) February 5:00 pm March 5:00 or 5:30 pm April 5:00 or 5:30 pm May 5:30 pm June 5:30 or 6:00 pm July 6:00 pm August 6:00 pm September 5:30 pm October 5:00 pm November 4:30 pm December 4:30 pm

Confirm your specific date's sunset time with your coordinator. These are recommendations built around typical conditions, not fixed rules.

I wrote this guide on what is the best time to get married in Cancun complete with all the information you may need.

The timeline mistake most couples make

Skipping the first look.

Here's the chain reaction. If you don't see each other before the ceremony, every portrait — the two of you, the wedding party, the family groupings — has to happen afterwards. That takes time. So the ceremony gets pushed earlier to make room for it, which puts you in harsher, higher light for the most emotional part of the day. And while all those photographs are being taken, you're not at your own cocktail hour.

Do the first look instead. Get your couple portraits done before the ceremony, and ideally some family and wedding party groupings too. The ceremony then sits where the light is best, and when it ends you walk into your cocktail hour with your guests instead of disappearing for an hour.

This isn't about the photographer's convenience. It's the difference between attending your cocktail and arriving at the end of it.

Bride approaching her groom during their first look at Secrets Moxché Playa del Carmen, in a sand courtyard outside the spa

Getting to Secrets Moxché from Cancún airport

Cancún International Airport (CUN) to Secrets Moxché is exactly 50 kilometres / 31 miles.

Book a private transfer. It takes you directly to the lobby and it's the smoothest option by a wide margin, both for arrival and for the return.

Do not plan on Uber from the airport. Uber works in downtown Cancún and in Playa del Carmen, but it does not work for airport pickups. The taxi union situation means the app doesn't function properly there. Guests who assume they'll sort out a ride on arrival end up stranded at the curb after a long flight.

Put this in your guest information. It's the most common arrival problem and it's entirely preventable.

Resort policies that affect your guest list

Adults only. Every guest must be over eighteen. This is a resort-wide policy, and it's the detail most likely to reshape a guest list.

No day passes. Day passes are not permitted. There's a limited allowance of wedding passes at $150 USD each — as few as four in some package terms — available only thirty minutes before the ceremony. If you're picturing guests staying off-property and coming in for the day, that plan needs rethinking early.

Extra guests beyond your package allowance are $55 USD each.

Thirty-day booking minimum. All weddings, regardless of size, must be booked at least thirty days in advance. Weddings booked within six months of the date carry a $100 cancellation fee if cancelled.

Not included in most packages: additional décor, photography and video, hair and makeup beyond package inclusions, and lighting, DJ, band, or dancefloor.

A real wedding at Secrets Moxché: Emily & Michael

The most recent wedding I photographed here, and a good illustration of how a day flows across this property.

Getting ready — Emily: the bridal suite at the spa
Getting ready — Michael: his room
First look: under the bridge in front of the spa, an open shaded area surrounded by lush planting
Ceremony: Mystique Area, at the cenote
Cocktail hour: Pool Deck
Reception and party: Pool Deck

Note the structure. First look before the ceremony, ceremony at the cenote, then everything else in one place. Minimal movement for guests, maximum time at their own party.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a wedding at Secrets Moxché cost? Wedding packages start at $1,499 USD for Weddings in Paradise, which is complimentary if you book seven nights in a Preferred Club Junior Suite Ocean View or higher, or five rooms for three nights. Elope in Luxury starts at $1,649, Eternal Love at $5,049, and Beyond Memorable at $12,049 for up to 79 guests. Add a $1,000 outside vendor fee if you bring your own photographer, $150 per wedding pass, and $55 per extra guest.

How many wedding venues does Secrets Moxché have? Six: the Sky Rooftop Gazebo, the Pool Deck, the Mystique Area (cenote), the Sky Wedding Salón, the Beach, and the Ballroom. Capacities range from 50 guests at the cenote to 300 in the Ballroom.

Can you have a legal wedding at Secrets Moxché? The standard packages include a symbolic ceremony. Legal ceremonies carry additional fees that your wedding coordinator will confirm. Most couples marrying at this resort handle the legal paperwork at home and hold a symbolic ceremony in Mexico.

Can children attend a wedding at Secrets Moxché? No. Secrets Moxché is an adults-only resort and all guests must be over eighteen.

Can I bring my own photographer to Secrets Moxché? Yes. The resort charges a $1,000 USD outside vendor fee, paid by the couple. The fee covers the photography team rather than each photographer individually.

What time should a Secrets Moxché ceremony start? Between 4:30 pm and 6:00 pm depending on the month — roughly 60 to 90 minutes before sunset. December and January ceremonies work best around 4:30 pm; July and August around 6:00 pm.

How far is Secrets Moxché from Cancún airport? Exactly 50 kilometres. A private transfer is the best option. Uber does not operate for pickups at Cancún airport.

Which Secrets Moxché venue is best for photographs? The Sky Rooftop Gazebo has the most dramatic setting — tenth floor, open ocean behind you — but requires careful timing because it faces east into the setting sun. The Mystique Area cenote is the most visually distinctive. The Pool Deck is the most practical, since ceremony and reception sit side by side.

Can guests stay off the resort? Most guests are required to stay at the resort. Fees apply for those staying off-property, and day passes are not permitted. Only a limited number of wedding passes are available, thirty minutes before the ceremony.

Planning a wedding at Secrets Moxché?

I've put everything above, plus more detail on each venue and a full planning timeline, into a free downloadable guide.

[DOWNLOAD: How to Get Married at Secrets Moxché Playa del Carmen]

It's free — I'll send it to your inbox.

Luke Fotoliv is a documentary wedding photographer based in Cancún, serving the Riviera Maya and Italy. He has photographed six weddings at Secrets Moxché Playa del Carmen.

Getting Married at Secrets Moxché Playa del Carmen: A Photographer's Complete Guide