Wedding Venues in Marbella

Back in 2007 there were very few venues hosting weddings. Weddings were limited to a few hotels, many others hadn't consider weddings as a market. One of my first styling projects was to dress a few tables at the Los Monteros hotel. The hotel had booked a photographer to take professional images of my work and had images to promote weddings at La Cabane in Dublin, Irish want the sunshine! It was their first wedding fayre abroad.

HOW THE WEDDING INDUSTRY TOOK OFF IN MARBELLA

I have witnessed, and been an instrumental part of this extraordinary boom. It was before social media, remember those days, probably not! but I had a blog. I blogged inspirations, what Marbella offered and of course our work. More and more couples wanted to come to Spain to get married in the warmth of the Mediterranean climate. In the early years we started looking for other ideas, private villas, haciendas as well to offer something other than a hotel style wedding.

One of the first catering companies, Fiestasol Weddings, started to target the couples looking at the private style venues and offering a villa catering service. I often decorated their weddings with gorgeous alternatives to the rather tacky wedding decorations, we had one florist, a couple of photographers and one wedding planner here!

From then until now has been amazing, a whole host of extremely talented suppliers and venues have entered this destination wedding industry bringing an extraordinary array of services to any couples wishing to get married here in the Marbella micro climate.

A FEW OF MY CURRENT FAVOURITE WEDDING VENUES IN MARBELLA PART ONE!

For the purpose of this blog post, it isn't ruling out any venues and is based literally on locations within Marbella. There will be more blog posts soon as I cover this area. I will cover other areas too such as Malaga, Estepona, Ronda, Seville, etc soon too.

THE MARBELLA CLUB HOTEL

The Marbella Club is the most iconic venue in Marbella oozing glamour and luxury. I have many fond childhood memories of this venue.

Reviva Weddings have many fond memories of creating weddings in this venue. A Secret Garden wedding, a wonderful wedding for a Belgium couple, a gorgeous wedding we had featured in You and Your Wedding magazine, many of our images are in Marbella Club's wedding brochure.

Since they revamped the Villa Del Mar, it was a bit stuck in a time warp for a while, the location is everything and they now offer a boutique hotel experience. It is one of the most expensive venues for weddings in Marbella and can host comfortably around 120 guests. There have been more but it becomes a bit of a squeeze unless you cover the pool which was done for the owner's wedding as he had 230 guests.

Ceremonies are held in the shaded, cobbled front entrance of the Villa del Mar. Guests are then invited down to the Andalusian style patio for a cocktail hour. The patio is beautifully decorated with Spanish tile art, fountains, running rivlets through tropical gardens, just gorgeous.

The beauty of this venue is the dinner and dancing is held in the gardens overlooking the sea so it creates that element of surprise for your guests, unless they have wandered off for a sneak peek first! Most of our couples have their golden light photos taken out on the Marbella Club's pier.

The service and food is phenomenal, a dedicated butler service during your stay, every whim catered for. The event staff couldn't be more helpful, it is just a dream come true. Music is allowed until 2am.

VILLA TIBERIO RESTAURANT

Villa Tiberio is another iconic Marbella masterpiece which has been run for years by the famous Sandro. It is a popular location for many charity evenings, celebrity events and you could not be pampered more as soon as you enter this restaurant, they are utterly charming and extremely entertaining!

Whilst it leans towards Italian style catering, there are many Spanish options if you wish to design your own menus. The reason I love this venue, apart from the staff, are the gardens. They have been lovingly tended to for years and the array of trees and plants is amazing, there is a waterfall and the lighting and ambience is beautiful, apart from a rather dodgy blue stip light in one of the trees! When I was there recently we were still sitting outside on their main terrace and it was November, how amazing and I chuckled to myself when I saw Sandro, the owner, casually wandering around the garden watering a few plants.

A venue full of character and charm, definitely to be considered for a wedding. Music has to finish by 1am.

CASA DE LA ERA

Casa de la Era is a new kid on the block and we have a wedding here as well next year. It is located just near the La Canada shopping centre so really close to Marbella town centre. Very handy if your guests are staying in Marbella.

The venue is beautifully maintained with a terraced area overlooking the main patio. There is plenty of room for dining and an inside area with a bar and perfect for the music and dancing later. The ceremony can be held in a lower circular area with views of the mountains and sea. Guests then move up to the next patioed area for cocktail and onto the main terrace for dinner and dancing, it is well thought out.

There is accommodation on site at an extra cost, perfect for your getting preparations or if you wish to stay but there is no pool or other areas for a post wedding gathering.

Parking isn't an option so guests have to be bought in on mini buses, which is easily organised.

There is no in-house catering but they offer brilliant kitchen facilities so you can bring in any caterer. There is no music limit due to the location and the fact they have a perfect inside space for the partying.

FINCA DE LA CONCEPCION

Finca de la Concepcion has been a popular wedding and event venue for years and is located slightly inland from the Puente Romano resort, just past the Manolo Santana Tennis Club.

Over the years we have done many weddings here as it is the one venue where you can play music outside until 4am!

The grounds are beautiful and the buildings stunning backdrops make for some amazing ceremony settings, including the main house and the ruins.

It is a large event space so perfect for larger events and weddings. Ceremonies are held either in the 'ruin's area of in front of the main building. Cocktail hour is usually around the pool with the dinner and dancing focused around the main fountain. This venue is popular as it is a completely blank canvas for you to create a magical wedding in their gardens.

There are no interior spaces, just access to bathrooms. Access is easy for both suppliers and guests and you can choose which caterers you use as long as they are approved by the venue.

DON CARLOS HOTEL

Located to the east of Marbella and situated in the popular Elviria area, the Don Carlos is another old Marbella Iconic hotel. Whilst it is quite a dated looking hotel from the outside the inside has been beautifully refurbished and now includes a spa.

What makes the Don Carlos hotel a beautiful setting for weddings are its established garden and rather fabulous beach club.

We have done some really fun weddings here over the years, one of my couples now has 9 year old twins! For some reason I haven't worked here for a while until 2022 when we were booked to do the styling for a wedding and fell back in love with it.

It was the ambience of the venue, the gorgeous pool with a running water feature I again remember as a child. A very romantic setting for the dinner and dancing in the caves behind the pool.

Ceremonies and cocktail are usually held in the gardens until the beach club is closed and ready for the guests to descend into a little bit of pool heaven.

Stay tuned for more blog posts all about the venues available here in Andalucia and if you wish to sign up to our newsletter you can do so here and receive our Services brochure.

Happy venue hunting! If you would love us to help you find your perfect venue, plan and style your wedding then get in touch.

Laura x