Getting Married in Saint Lucia: The Complete Wedding Guide

Why Saint Lucia works for a wedding

Saint Lucia gives you a view that photographs itself: two volcanic spires rising out of the sea, rainforest running down to dark-gold beaches and a sky that turns violet at sunset. It also gives you a legal process with no residency period, resorts with in-house coordinators and a wide range of budgets. You can marry free with a seven night stay, or spend five figures on a multi-day celebration.

Most couples choose between three regions. The north, around Gros Islet and Rodney Bay, has the biggest choice of resorts and the shortest transfer from the northern airport. The south-west, around Soufrière, has the Pitons. The south, around Vieux Fort, is closest to the main international airport. Our best time to visit guide explains the seasons, and December to April is the driest.

The best wedding hotels, by style

These are the specialists we cover, in the order most couples ask about them. Each links to a full page with the packages, the ceremony places, the independent guest score and a film.

• The Pitons and a private beach: Sugar Beach, Expedia guest score 9.6.
• Sanctuary terraces and total privacy: Jade Mountain, packages from £1,715^note rated 10 on Booking.com from 38 reviews.
• Beach, plantation and boat ceremonies for larger groups: Anse Chastanet, Expedia guest score 9.4.
• A wedding for two with the Pitons as witness: Ladera, Expedia guest score 9.8.
• A boutique resort with a gazebo for 100 and a full buy-out: Cap Maison, Expedia guest score 9.4.
• Published prices from free to £8,970^note: Coconut Bay, Expedia guest score 9.2.
• A beach villa resort with a package from £2,615^note: Windjammer Landing, Expedia guest score 9.2.
• An over-the-water chapel and a free wedding: Sandals Grande St. Lucian, Expedia guest score 8.6.
• A free wedding with photo and video credits: Sandals Regency La Toc.
• A large all-inclusive resort in the north: Royalton Saint Lucia, Expedia guest score 7.4.

What it costs: fixed prices and free weddings

Wedding prices are hard to find. We have collected every published figure, seen in October 2026, and compared them on one page, Saint Lucia wedding packages and fixed prices. In short, free weddings are offered by Sandals and Coconut Bay with a seven night stay, Jade Mountain starts at £1,715^note Windjammer Landing at £2,615^note and Coconut Bay's priced packages run from £595^note to £8,970^note. Sugar Beach, Cap Maison, Ladera and Royalton ask you to request a quote, although Ladera does publish the price of its photography and video add-ons.

Prices change with the season and the exchange rate, so ask the resort or your travel agent to confirm the current figure in writing before you pay a deposit.

Independent guest scores, not marketing

We quote scores from review sites that only accept reviews from people who have booked and stayed, and we name the source each time. The scores are for the stay as a whole, not the wedding service alone. Ladera leads on 9.8 from 715 reviews, followed by Sugar Beach on 9.6 from 673, Anse Chastanet and Cap Maison on 9.4, Coconut Bay and Windjammer Landing on 9.2, Sandals Grande St. Lucian on 8.6 and Royalton Saint Lucia on 7.4. Jade Mountain is rated 10 from 38 reviews on Booking.com, a small sample. Read recent written reviews as well as the scores.

The legal steps in plain English

There is no residency period. Same-day licence applications allow a licence within 24 hours of arrival, and regular applications need two days on the island. You bring a passport and birth certificate, plus divorce or widowhood papers if they apply, and your resort coordinator handles the registrar. A regular licence costs £93^note (EC$335). A same-day licence costs £150^note (EC$540). Read the full detail in our marriage requirements guide. Same-sex marriage is not currently legal in Saint Lucia, and the page explains the options.

Ceremony settings to choose from

• Over the water: the glass-floored chapel at Sandals Grande St. Lucian.
• On a private beach: Sugar Beach, Anse Chastanet and Anse Mamin, Coconut Bay's Eternity Beach.
• On a terrace above the Pitons: Jade Mountain's Celestial Terrace and the view from Ladera.
• In a plantation: the 18th century ruins at Anse Mamin.
• In a garden: the gazebo at the Diamond Botanical Gardens near Soufrière.
• On a boat: Anse Chastanet's 65 foot catamaran, Lucky T, with the Pitons as backdrop.
• On a clifftop gazebo or rooftop: Cap Maison's Smugglers Point, Rock Maison and villa roof terrace.

Elopements, small weddings and vow renewals

If you want a wedding for two or a handful of guests, read our guide to elopements and vow renewals. It compares the most private ceremonies and the vow renewal packages that need no licence.

Guests, groups and the date

Resorts expect most of your wedding guests to stay with them. Jade Mountain asks for at least half, and Coconut Bay for 75 per cent with a ten room minimum. Larger groups often use a buy-out. Cap Maison reserves all 50 rooms with a three day minimum. Give guests several months' notice, because flights can be expensive in the dry season. Free weddings at the Sandals resorts run Monday to Thursday mornings, and Fridays and Saturdays carry a surcharge. The hurricane season runs from June to November, so ask each resort what happens if the weather turns.

After the wedding: honeymoon ideas

Many resorts offer honeymoon extras, from couples' massages with cocoa and volcanic minerals to private candlelit beach dinners and champagne sunset cruises. Island experiences that suit newlyweds include a catamaran sunset cruise, the mud baths and waterfall at Soufrière, a helicopter flight and a hike up Gros Piton. Our where to stay guide has more romantic hotels, and food and rum covers where to eat.

A simple planning timeline

Twelve months out: choose a region and venue, and request quotes. Nine months: confirm the date, pay the deposit and send guests a save-the-date. Six months: book flights, finalise the package and choose a photographer. Three months: complete the legal questionnaire and send documents. One month: confirm every vendor, transfers and the weather plan. On arrival: meet the coordinator, check the documents and apply for the licence.

A planning timeline

Start with the resort, since it will set the options for venues, dates and packages. Twelve months ahead is sensible for peak season, and six months can work for off-peak dates. Once you have chosen, confirm the paperwork, book flights and arrange guest accommodation.

In the weeks before the wedding, finalise the order of the day, the menu and the music, and confirm your arrival date in time to meet the residency requirement. After the ceremony, allow a few days for photography, a celebration meal and relaxation before the honeymoon begins.

Making it personal

Many couples include local touches such as a steel pan player, Creole food or a ceremony in a garden with the Pitons behind. Ask your resort what it can arrange, and consider an excursion that has meaning for you both, such as a sunset cruise, described in our boat trips guide, or a chocolate-making session at a cocoa estate.

For guests, think about transport, accessibility and the time of year. Remind them that the island is warm all year, and that showers are possible in the wetter months, as the best time to visit guide explains. Put an outline in place with the trip planning page.

• Check how many guests the resort can host.
• Ask about photographers and musicians.
• Arrange travel insurance that covers wedding costs.

What do you need to get married in Saint Lucia as a UK couple?

UK couples marrying in Saint Lucia need valid passports, birth certificates and, where relevant, proof of divorce or a spouse's death, plus a marriage licence, which the Saint Lucia tourism authority says can be obtained within a day of arrival. It also states that the island has no residency period, but rules can change, so confirm everything before you travel. Our dedicated guide to the legal requirements sets out the steps in order.

Documents that are not in English need an authenticated translation, and divorce or death certificates should be originals or certified copies. Most resorts have a wedding coordinator who will guide you through the paperwork, book the registrar and arrange the licence, which takes much of the stress out of a wedding abroad. Ask the coordinator to confirm the timetable for your own dates in writing, and arrive a few days before the ceremony so that a delay does not disrupt the plan.

It is also sensible to ask your adviser whether a legal ceremony in Saint Lucia will be recognised in the United Kingdom, and to find out whether you wish to hold a separate blessing at home. Many couples marry legally in the Caribbean and then celebrate with extended family back in Britain, a pattern that keeps costs and guest lists under control and gives everyone a party.

Which resort is best for a wedding in Saint Lucia?

The best resort for a wedding in Saint Lucia depends on the setting you want: Ladera, Sugar Beach and Jade Mountain suit small ceremonies framed by the Pitons, Cap Maison suits a clifftop or cove ceremony in the north, and all inclusive resorts suit larger groups. Each of these resorts has its own page with ideas for ceremonies, and it is worth reading them side by side.

In the southwest, the dedicated pages on weddings at Ladera and weddings at Sugar Beach describe ceremonies with the peaks as a backdrop. In the north, the page on Cap Maison weddings covers its cliff and cove settings. Larger resorts, such as the one described on the page for Windjammer Landing, tend to suit bigger guest lists and may offer set packages.

Think honestly about who is coming. Boutique hillside resorts shine for ten people or fewer, because the spaces are small and the mood intimate, while larger resorts handle groups of family and friends more easily and often provide a range of rooms for different budgets. Ask each resort about a minimum stay, what its package includes and how it handles bad weather.

Is it cheaper to elope or choose a fixed price wedding package in Saint Lucia?

An elopement is usually the simplest way to marry in Saint Lucia, while a fixed price package gives certainty about what is included, and the better choice depends on guest numbers, budget and how much you want arranged for you. Our pages on elopements and vow renewals and fixed price packages explain each route, so you can compare them before you contact a resort.

Whichever you choose, ask for a written list of inclusions. Typical items to check are the registrar, the ceremony location, flowers, photography, music, a celebration meal and a room decoration, and any item you want that is not listed should be priced separately. Seasonal differences matter too, since the drier months are busy and popular dates book early, as our best time to visit guide makes clear.

Finally, plan the honeymoon as carefully as the wedding. Many couples marry at one resort and then move to another for the honeymoon, perhaps pairing a ceremony in the south with a few days in the north, and the ideas on honeymoon inspiration suggest ways to spend the days after the wedding. Compare all the hotels in Saint Lucia on our where to stay page before you decide.

The island that will frame your day

A wedding takes its character from its setting. Geography and geology and volcanoes explain the scenery you will see in your photographs.

Local customs make a celebration feel rooted, so read culture and traditions and religion in Saint Lucia. Music and dance offers ideas for the evening.

Choosing the resort for your wedding or honeymoon

The venue shapes everything, so start with the hotels in St Lucia that host ceremonies: Jade Mountain, Sugar Beach, Anse Chastanet, Ladera and Cap Maison each have a page of their own, as do Sandals Grande and Royalton Saint Lucia.

For the paperwork read legal requirements, and for budgets see fixed price packages. Plan the honeymoon with honeymoon in St Lucia ideas, then book around the best time to visit and your flights.

Questions travellers ask