Gran Canaria is one of the top choices for Canary Island weddings. Featuring white, sandy beaches, wide open skies, bright blue ocean views, and a resort around every corner, plus a varied climate to suit every sensibility. Gran Canaria is therefore certainly on our list of locations to recommend for a destination wedding.
Getting ready to plan a destination wedding, even to a paradisiacal island like Gran Canaria, is an imposing prospect. To make it easier for you, we created a Gran Canaria Destination Wedding Guide. As you read on, you’ll discover different locations on the island to inspire the theme and venue for your future wedding. Whether nitty gritty details like cost, weather, and legal requirements; and some of our favorite wedding planners or venues that you can easily book with just a few clicks.
Table of contents
Inspiration: Top 5 Locations in Gran Canaria For Your Destination Wedding
Maspalomas
This area in the south of Gran Canaria is a tourist hub, but it’s more than just a string of resorts. Maspalomas has its own infrastructure, just like a regular town, as well as a long history (it was originally just a little hamlet). Its present state as a tourist region is due to an International Ideas Contest held back in the 1960s, which resulted in the creation of a town-like development with tourism as its goal and backbone.
In addition to fun beachside resorts, apartments, and hotels, you’ll find El Faro de Maspalomas, a lighthouse built in the 1800s on the southernmost tip of Maspalomas, and the Maspalomas Dunes. There’s a unique charm to this region that, along with the beach and ocean vibes, make it a beautiful location to inspire or hold your destination wedding.
Las Palmas
Las Palmas is the capital city of Gran Canaria. It features some of the most beautiful beaches and architecture in the Canary Islands. Here, you’ll find buildings built in the Spanish style of centuries dating back to the 1400s when the city was first founded. Las Palmas is the island’s center for culture and history, with cathedrals, theatres, museums, libraries, and exhibition halls in all its corners. The beaches border the Atlantic Ocean and are hot spots (literally: this area in the northeastern part of the island is home to a hot climate) for swimmers, surfers, and sailors. Las Palmas is one of the best spots in Gran Canaria to inspire a destination wedding because in this city, you’ll find everything you could ever desire – culture, entertainment, perfect beach weather, and incomparable ocean views – to make your big day special.
Puerto Rico de Gran Canaria
Puerto Rico de Gran Canaria, a resort on the southwest coast of Gran Canaria, receives some of the best, mildest weather on the island. It features two small harbors, fine, sandy beaches, and a resort town with shopping centers, apartments, and hotels. One of Gran Canaria’s biggest features are its rocky cliffs and ravines, which you can see in play here in Puerto Rico. The buildings in this resort are situated on the cliffs, leaving wide swaths of beach free and clear for swimmers, surfers, boaters, and, of course, destination wedding parties.
Playa de Amadores
Playa de Amadores is one of the most beautiful beaches in Gran Canaria. Loud activities like concerts aren’t allowed here, making it a somewhat tranquil spot amid the delightful chaos of resort life. The sands are golden, the water is clear, and the overall vibe is relaxed. This is a grand place to hold a destination wedding in Gran Canaria, especially for a couple looking for a laidback beach experience.
Anfi Del Mar
Anfi del Mar is your ticket to a luxury resort experience in Gran Canaria. This resort features four different clubs with access to high end suites, swimming pools, tropical gardens, and services like spas, a shopping center, bars, restaurants, outdoor activities (including scuba diving and sailing) – literally anything you can think of, Anfi del Mar has it. And of course, you can also hold your wedding here. You and your guests will never be bored as you enjoy the sun, sand, and calm waters of this beach resort.
Planning Your Destination Wedding in Gran Canaria
Cost
The cost of a destination wedding in Gran Canaria is dependent on a couple of different factors.
One thing to keep in mind is that the primary form of commerce in Gran Canaria is Euros. Depending on what the current conversion rate is, your US dollar may not always be worth a full Euro. So in that respect it won’t go as far. On the other hand, according to Perfectly Planned 4 You, the Value Added Tax (or VAT) rate in the US is 10%, while in Gran Canaria it’s only 7%. This means that goods and services in Gran Canaria are generally cheaper than they are in the US.
In the end, the cost is most likely going to be cheaper than (or at least comparable to) a wedding held in the United States.
Weather
The weather in Gran Canaria stays pretty much the same year round. This makes it easy for you to plan your destination wedding during whichever time of the year works best for your schedule. The average temperature throughout the year ranges from the upper 60-degrees to lower 80-degrees Fahrenheit. With such a mild climate, no matter what date you choose, you can be sure your day will be beautiful.
Legal Requirements
According to Perfectly Planned 4 You, Spain (which Gran Canaria is a part of) requires you to be Spanish or have lived in the country for at least two years before you can get legally married within its borders. We recommend you hold a legal marriage ceremony stateside and hold your “real” wedding in Gran Canaria later.
Wedding Planners
Wedding planners are essential for organizing your wedding and dealing with the little details so you don’t have to. They are especially useful when it comes to destination weddings because they can be on the ground in the destination foreign country during the planning process. Below, we listed a couple of excellent wedding planners who will make your destination wedding in Gran Canaria the best it can be.
The Perfect Wedding Company
The Perfect Wedding Company will, per its title, provide the perfect destination wedding for you in Gran Canaria. They offer a variety of venues at your disposal, from chapels, gardens, and golf courses to beaches, poolsides, and boats. They promise to plan a beautiful ceremony and reception using their local connections to services and suppliers on the island. It doesn’t matter what your budget is – modest or extravagant. They’ll work with you to ensure your dream destination wedding comes true.
Talento
Talento specializes in destination weddings in the Canary Islands. They offer a comprehensive package for planning your big day that comes with all the works. Creating a concept and a budget, location suggestions, negotiating with suppliers and caterers, and even suggesting hair stylists and other personalized services. Their goal is to organize your wedding to your tastes with passion and enthusiasm. We believe you’ll enjoy working with Talento if you hire them as your destination wedding planner.
Suggested Wedding Venues in Gran Canaria
If you’re going to have a beautiful destination wedding in Gran Canaria, you need a beautiful venue. We included some of our favorites below.
Lopesan
Lopesan offers extraordinary, luxury wedding space in four different hotels: Baobab Resort, Costa Meloneras Resort & Spa, Villa del Conde Resort & Thalasso, and Costa Ravera Resort. You choose which hotel is the best for you. The choice isn’t easy because they all provide exceptional service. Lopesan encourages you to hold your marriage ceremony in their palm grovers, their African dance hall, or in any one of their exclusive event spaces. Furthermore, in their wedding package they offer accommodations for the wedding couple and discounted rooms for your guests, gorgeous decor, a catering service, event coordinators, and everything else you could possibly need for your special day.
If you have the budget, you can’t go wrong planning your Gran Canaria destination wedding at a Lopesan resort.
Casa Leacock
Casa Leacock is a private residence located in Las Palmas. Once the home of the Canary Islands’ first banana exporter, David J. Leacock, it is now a unique wedding venue. Here, you’ll find three different spaces where you can hold your marriage ceremony and reception. Plaza Las Palmeras, a garden in which tall, serene palm trees sway in the breeze. San Antonio Square, a large outdoor area illuminated by hundreds of tiny string lights. And the Pond, an expansive room indoors that’s big enough for dancing and partying after the solemn wedding ceremony is through. With so many options and so much space, you can easily hold a gorgeous destination wedding. Of course with all your friends and family at Casa Leacock.
Bodega de Parrado
Bodega de Parrado is a rustic, charming wedding venue in Gran Canaria. It has a vineyard onsite, and the sweet smell and sweet view will form a beautiful backdrop to your marriage ceremony. The Bodega offers outdoor spaces. A huge retractable pergola, as well as shaded lawns. So you can enjoy the island’s fresh air and glorious blue skies while you exchange your vows. Indoors, you’ll find a large hall, great for a ceremony out of the elements or a reception. Bodega de Parrado also features an onsite kitchen so you don’t have to outsource your catering. For the couple who loves vineyards, this winery/wedding venue may be the perfect option.
Finca Los Pinos
Nestled among pine trees near Las Palmas in Gran Canaria, Finca Los Pinos is the perfect retreat for your destination wedding. This farm provides plenty of outdoor space, rooms, haute cuisine, and charm to satisfy you, your future spouse, and all your friends and family. The views of the sky and the surrounding countryside are incomparable. And you’ll luxuriate in the smell of pine that wafts on the air. Couples who adore the outdoors and farm life will revel in Finca Los Pinos as their destination wedding venue in Gran Canaria.
Gran Canaria Destination Wedding Photography Packages
Above all keep the memory of your destination wedding in Gran Canaria alive with professional photos. We offer the following photography packages:
Conclusion
To sum it up it’s time to stop reading and start planning! We hope you use the inspiration and advice we provided in this guide to create your dream destination wedding in Gran Canaria.
Thank you so much for this amazing post ..Definitely, I wanna go there for once in my life…