When we chose Arenas Del Mar as our wedding venue back in 2019 we knew right away we were in amazing hands with Elaine Solano as our event planner. From the very beginning she was incredibly knowledgeable, a wonderful communicator and always so patient and flexible with us. Planning a wedding from afar can be challenging, but she made it so easy. When the pandemic hit in 2020, a couple days before we were to fly out to Costa Rica, Elaine stepped up in a huge way to help us. She contacted the majority of our vendors and officiant to postpone. She understood how difficult the situation was but stayed positive throughout; she never once made us worry about the money aspect of it. For the next year and a half we stayed in touch with Elaine and as things started to open back up we picked a new date (December 2021) and kickstarted the planning again. It was seamless, as if we had never stopped. And from the moment we arrived in Costa Rica through to our wedding day, Elaine made it magical. Every step of the way she handled every detail and didn’t miss a beat. She was even flexible up to the wedding day itself, planning back up plans in case it rained. We loved Arenas Del Mar and all of the hospitality staff there; it’s a fantastic paradise that we can’t wait to visit again. But Elaine Solano made our wedding trip amazing and stress free. We are so grateful to her and any couple would be so lucky to have her help them plan their special day. Highly recommend!!

In retrospect, it is impossible to think of a better location to have celebrated our special occasion than in Arenas del Mar. A beautiful semi-private beach, delicious food, excellent service, great value for money. We really had the best day of our lives here and are immensely thankful to the entire staff at Arenas del Mar for all their support. As a Costa Rican born, I know several beaches and beautiful locations across the entire country and can't think of a better one to celebrate an unforgettable wedding than here.

We very much enjoyed working with Elaine at Arenas del Mar to plan our wedding. She was the most responsive of anyone we contacted in the area and was thorough to answer every question. She graciously hosted us for visits to the site before our wedding day and made us feel welcome and listened to. She did her best to personalize our plans to look like what we wanted. The florist she recommended was a joy to work with as well. The setup was gorgeous! The only hiccup we had in the day was the serving of dinner. Guests' orders got mixed up and the presentation of the food was not the best, but overall we are still VERY pleased with our wedding day and recommend it as a dream wedding destination. Thank you for everything, Elaine!

Arenas del Mar - is the most unique and special place to get married and to also spend your honeymoon all in one! Our Event Coordinator - Elaine Solano was brilliant, from start to finish. She and all the hotel staff, organised everything just exactly how we wanted, with the best service we have truly ever experienced. This is a great example of how smooth, easy and stress-free a wedding can be. Elaine recommended us also an excellent photographer and a great lawyer for the ceremony. She even managed to sow the wedding dress last minute with great skill! :-) If you are looking to get married in Costa Rica- just go for it - you will have an amazing time there!

Elaine did an excellent job, made the process easy and stress free!

Can a wedding be perfect? Can wedding planning be stress free?

My answer is yes to both, and the person I give credit to is Elaine Solano, an event planner at the Arenas Del Mar in heavenly Costa Rica.

The seemingly daunting task of destination wedding planning at a place none of my family had ever been before became pleasant and fun because of Elaine. From the very first contact Elaine demonstrated her confidence and competence, along with calm assurance. She made a wide range of vendors-florists, photographers, DJs available to us, and if we wanted someone/something different, she kept on looking until she found the perfect choice. Every single request, however small or difficult was met with prompt response.

The wedding was at the tail end of the rainy season and Elaine had backup plans in case of rain. We were lucky to have the best weather that day, but it was nice to have a peace of mind.

What a delight it was when the ceremony started right on schedule!

The flowers, arch, table decorations, and every single detail was impeccable and the wedding party along with all the guests was in awe! The food was delicious and drinks were fantastic. The servers were superb and very attentive.

Elaine supervised the whole event and made sure everyone was happy. Every single guest told us it was the best wedding they have ever attended.

I am very grateful to Elaine and the Arenas Del Mar team for creating such a memorable wedding. My daughter and I highly recommend having a wedding at the stunning Arenas Del Mar!

Bride’s mother

Svetlana Mezentsev, DDS

My husband and I can’t wait to go back to Arenas Del Mar. They have an exquisite property, so many options for your beautiful day. Truly exceptional food and stay. They made my day even better than I could ever have imagined.

First of all you can beat the location of this venue! It’s wonderful and has beautiful overlooks of the ocean. I would say that upon arrival the staff was ready and prepared with the golf carts to take us down to the wedding. I did not like that they did not have a room for us to change in and I had to use the pool restroom which was covered in sand and without air conditioning. There also wasn’t an area where the bride can wait while her wedding party gets settled in so I had to wait
in the hot non air conditioned restroom while my party settled in. It was terrible and a horrible way to start out my wedding. Overall, Elaine and the staff were very attentive and kind. You can definitely reach a max on the alcohol if you don’t tell them limits on what alcohol to serve. We had open bar but should have specified that we only wanted well drinks because we reached 1,000 within the first hour of drinking. The wedding is in a good location but I did not like that it was so close to the hotel. You definitely feel like they are kicking you out by around 8:00. I don’t blame them because of the noise concerns with the wedding. Would I have my wedding here again? Definitely. But I would have been more
Intentional about making sure I had a room to change into at this hotel. Also the road leading here is very steap and one of my guests wrecked their car on the road bc of how steap it was. Strongly recommend taking a taxi.