Dreams Tulum Wedding Chapel Annex

Dreams Tulum Wedding Chapel was renovated in 2019 to add the Annex, providing seating for an additional 80 guests.
Chapel and Annex can be used for religious, legal, and symbolic ceremonies as well as a rainy day plan-B backup.
The Annex is also available as a cocktail hour or intimate dinner venue.

While destination weddings often focus on the beach – many couples want to have their ceremony in a chapel while spending the rest of their time with their toes in the sand. There are several Churches and Chapel in Cancun and the Riviera Maya. One of our favorite wedding chapels is located inside Dreams Tulum Resort. An onsite wedding chapel inside an all-inclusive resort is worth its weight in gold reducing time, logistics, and cost – all good things.

Dreams Tulum Chapel and Annex real wedding

The Dreams Tulum Wedding Chapel and Annex. The Annex extension, added in 2019, can be seen to the right of the main chapel and can accommodate up to 80 guests for a ceremony. Photo by Del Sol Photography

Wedding Chapel Capacity

The main area of the Chapel seats approximately 40 people on wooden benches. There are fans AND air-conditioning in the chapel, high ceilings keep the space cool even in the hotter months. The recently added Dreams Tulum Chapel Annex extension accommodates approximately 80 more guests. The Annex brings the Dreams Tulum Chapel total capacity to a whopping 120 guests!

The Annex itself is an open-sided structure, cooled by fans, set alongside the main chapel. Chapel and Annex are connected by 2 sets of double doors so guests can be part of the ceremony – albeit that they don’t have a “front-row seat” on the action. The great advantage of the Annex is that guests can come and go without interrupting the ceremony. There are several bars, cafes, and restrooms right by the chapel. While moving around during a wedding may sound unlikely, try keeping kids and babies quiet for an hour-long mass!

Religious, Symbolic and Legal ceremonies

The Dreams Tulum Wedding Chapel is most often used for Catholic ceremonies. However, it’s important to mention that the chapel can also be used for other religious denominations as well as symbolic and legal ceremonies. Being able to host non-religious ceremonies in a chapel is huge! Many chapels (especially Xcaret for example) have very strict requirements about who can get married there.

All Catholic weddings require the couple to attend the Pre-Cana marriage preparatory program provided by their church. Certificates must be sent back and forth between the chapel in Mexico and parish back home. We’ve had a couple who simply ran out of time with the paperwork process! Luckily for them, since they were getting married at Dreams Tulum they could still get married in the Chapel. Even though it was not “officially” a Catholic wedding ceremony they still got the wedding they wanted. Dreams Tulum wedding chapel a great option for couples who want to give importance to their religion in their wedding but don’t want an hour-long mass or are not great at paperwork!!

It is important to mention that in the chapel, in addition to performing Catholic ceremonies, we can also use this location for symbolic and legal ceremonies, it is worth mentioning that it is plan B of the ceremonies, in case of having a forecast of rain.

Dreams Tulum Wedding Chapel Annex Catholic religious symbolic and legal ceremony venue Riviera Maya Mexico

The Dreams Tulum Wedding Chapel and Annex. Photo provided by AMResorts.

Wedding Chapel Annex Cocktail Hour or Intimate Dinner

The Annex has a variety of uses apart from overflow ceremony seating. It can be used as a private location for post-ceremony cocktail hours for up to 40 people. Since the annex is covered from the sun and well ventilated it’s actually a really smart cocktail location – especially if the couple plan to do formal family photos in front of the Chapel itself. The Chapel Courtyard itself is very private by nature with its high walls which also means that elegant wedding guests are not going to feel windswept. It also avoids moving guests around to another location, such as the Lobby Terrace which is another popular cocktail hour location for Chapel Weddings.

The Chapel Annex can even be used for or even for an intimate dinner. Wedding Manager Landy Cahum told us that the Annex can even be used for a just the couple for dinner, with a maximum of 30.