The ceremony was at sunset on Playa Junquillal. Twenty-two guests. The tide rising slowly as the officiant spoke. A string quartet that had flown in from San José that morning. And Patrick, the architect who designed the estate, taking photos from Villa Hermes's terrace on his phone.
That was the first wedding at Odisea. Intimate, precise, without excess — exactly as the couple had requested when they contacted the team four months before the date.
Why Odisea Works for Weddings
Costa Rica's major wedding venues share one trait: they are designed for weddings. They have the pergola, the flower arch, the banquet hall. They also have, inevitably, other weddings the same weekend, the standardized catering, and logistics repeated 50 times per year.
Odisea is not designed for weddings. It is designed to be lived in. And that, paradoxically, is its greatest advantage as a wedding venue.
The domain has the ocean backdrop no decorator can fabricate. It has Valérie's gardens, designed over years without weddings in mind, which photograph more beautifully than any commissioned floral arch. It has a 200-square-meter terrace facing the Pacific which, with twelve tables and candles, becomes the most elegant open-air venue in Guanacaste.
What Odisea's Team Coordinates
Gabi — the online concierge — begins working with the couple or their wedding planner four to six months before the date. Coordination covers:
- Group accommodations (villa assignment by preference and family dynamics)
- Private chef: tasting menu, rehearsal dinner, weekend breakfasts
- Airport transfers from Liberia (LIR) for all guests
- Coordination with local suppliers: florists, photographers, musicians, ceremony officiants
- Pre- and post-wedding activities: surf, snorkeling, horseback riding, spa
Luca manages on-site operations from the first guest's arrival to the last airport transfer.
The Standard Format
Most weddings at Odisea follow a three-night structure:
Night 1: Guest arrivals, informal welcome dinner on Villa Hermes's terrace.
Night 2: The wedding. Beach ceremony at sunset, cocktails on Diosa del Mar's pool terrace, formal dinner with a chef-designed menu.
Night 3: Farewell brunch in the gardens, free afternoon, staggered airport transfers.
Capacity and Exclusivity
The full domain comfortably accommodates 20 to 24 overnight guests in the ten bedrooms. For ceremonies with external guests, the terrace seats up to 50. Odisea does not host consecutive-weekend events. Between events, the estate rests. That is house policy.
