Posts tagged Tortuguero National Park

Costa Rica might seem like an isle of paradise for any visitor who steps on this land that was truly blessed by nature. Even if the country is nowadays a touristic place par excellence, people continue to live here according to their own old traditions and the weddings are generally not exception to this. For a truly perfect wedding all that you need in Costa Rica are the graceful sundresses, bare feet and lots of tropical flowers.

Costa Rica is a tropical paradise and the people call themselves “ticos”. The majority of them are Roman Catholic and they are deeply connected to their families. This is the reason everybody is invited to a wedding, from both sides of the families. There is no such thing as a small Costa Rican wedding, for everybody comes to be happy together with the young couple. As you can easily imagine, the wedding savings are probably the last thing to be applied in the Costa Rican culture.

Perfect Locations for the Weddings in Costa Rica

For numerous couples, the ultimate location for their wedding is of course the beach. There are so many breathtaking beaches in Costa Rica that a couple can choose. Jaco Beach is a stunning wedding location on the Pacific side of Costa Rica. For the north side, couples choose Tamarindo beach, for its beauty and romantic atmosphere. The weddings take place mostly on sunset, because the general atmosphere is incredibly romantic and the photos are astounding.

Other couples choose to get married in the rainforest instead of having a traditional wedding. This is a truly unearthly experience, since the rainforest jungle will transform the wedding into an adventure that the couple will remember forever. Monteverde Cloud Forest or Tortuguero National Park are two of the most popular locations for the rainforest weddings. Such a non-traditional wedding is of course frequently followed by a nonconformist honeymoon in a nature lodge.

When going to Costa Rica, you immerse yourself in a wonderful landscape full of amazing waterfalls. They are truly incredible and easy accessible for vehicles. For that reason, they are wonderful locations for weddings. Many couples choose to get married at the edge of the Arenal Volcano, where they take benefit from the amazing view of the spewing lava in the evening that offers a special and unusual glow to the ceremony.

The Costa Rican Wedding Traditions

People belonging to different cultures consider weird one of the most important traditions of the Costa Rican weddings. This tradition says that the bride has to wear a black silk dress and a veil. This is a symbol of the Costa Rican weddings and it does certainly mean joy, as opposed to the significance black has in the European and American cultures. The vestment worn by the groom is white and in the traditional weddings it is embroidered by the hand of the bride. This is a sign of love and respect and the tradition of embroidering the wedding vestments passes down from mother to daughter in the conservative families.

During the wedding ceremony, there is a tradition of exchanging thirteen gold coins on a tray or in an embroidered bag. The coins are offered by the groom to the bride and they are a symbol of the desire of the groom to support his chosen bride and start a family together with her. The number of the coins is a religious symbol of Jesus Christ and his twelve apostles.

The traditional Costa Rican weddings are accompanied by joyful Spanish music, since the people here love to dance and sing along to express their happiness for the young couple. The music at the Costa Rican weddings is not just about Spanish beats. The sounds that can be heard at wedding range from Latin music to the contemporary tunes or today’s hits. There are also island theme tunes or reggae bands that are specialized in wedding parties.

There is also plenty of food at the wedding party and the guests are thrilled to taste the delicious casados. This is a specific wedding meal that consists of mixed gallo pinto (beans) and rice. Some other courses that are usually cooked by the women in the family for the great wedding feast are tortillas, fried plantains, eggs, salad and a mixture of different meat types, like chicken, pork and beef.

The traditional Costa Rica weddings are festive occasions and there is no place for saving money on food or musicians. These are the core elements of a perfect wedding if the bride and groom choose to get married in the old traditional way.

The Non Traditional Costa Rican Weddings

More and more engaged couples from Costa Rica choose to plan a nontraditional wedding and avoid the stress and the hassle that comes together with the traditional crowded and loud weddings. The wedding day is up to the couple and they sometimes choose to have a simple ceremony together with a couple of friends and just a few members of the family. They choose the unusual locations mentioned before or just avoid being dressed according to the traditional dress code that has been used for centuries in Costa Rica.

A nontraditional Costa Rican wedding might mean a themed wedding. It is not generally the custom in Costa Rica to have such a party after the ceremony, but many couples think that it is more suitable to their personalities to drop off the old customs and adopt new ones. There are weddings where there are miniature wedding cakes instead of a great one and weddings where there are no flowers at all. The menu is completely different to some weddings, from homemade treats to sushi.

Costa Rica is a country where contrasts can be met when it comes to weddings. The old traditions and the innovative modern ideas of the young people exist in the same place and they offer countless possibilities for planning and organizing a wedding that will remain in the memory of all the guests for the years to come.