In this guide
Planning a wedding at The Springs Resort & Spa in Costa Rica is about choosing much more than a ceremony with a volcano in the background.
The Springs Resort & Spa sits outside La Fortuna with direct views toward Arenal Volcano, dozens of hot mineral spring pools, large guest rooms, several restaurants and Club Rio down by the Arenal River.
That makes it one of the few Costa Rica wedding venues where the wedding weekend can feel equally focused on the celebration and the trip around it.
Guests can soak in hot springs, go river tubing, horseback ride, visit the wildlife sanctuary or simply stay at the resort between events.
The trade-off is scale. The property is large, and some of its strongest wedding settings—especially Club Rio—sit away from the main hotel area.
If you are comparing locations in this part of Costa Rica, my Arenal wedding photographer guide gives more context on La Fortuna, weather, light and logistics.
How I’m evaluating this venue: I have photographed weddings at The Springs Resort & Spa, including Alyse & Daniel’s June wedding, so the photography, weather and movement observations in this guide include firsthand experience of the property. I still use the resort’s current published information for capacities, package structure and operational details that can change over time.
The Springs Resort Costa Rica wedding at a glance
Location: Arenal / La Fortuna, Costa Rica
Setting: Volcano-view luxury resort with hot springs, rainforest and riverfront areas
Guest accommodation: 75 rooms and suites with volcano-facing views
Indoor and covered event space: Approximately 9,800 square feet
Outdoor event space: Approximately 17,200 square feet across poolside, terrace and riverfront areas
Wedding formats: Elopements, intimate ceremonies and larger wedding celebrations
Notable settings: Arenal Volcano views, riverfront spaces and Club Rio
Good for: Multi-day destination weddings where guests want both luxury and adventure
Planning support: On-site wedding specialist, catering, transport assistance, florist and group logistics
For current wedding details, see the official The Springs Resort wedding page.
The volcano view is important, but it is not the whole reason to choose it
Arenal Volcano is the obvious visual anchor here.
Rooms, terraces and ceremony spaces can all take advantage of that view when the weather cooperates.
But weather in Arenal changes quickly.
Clouds can cover the volcano for part of the day and reveal it again later. That means I would never build the entire visual identity of the wedding around one guaranteed volcano photograph.
The stronger reason to choose The Springs is that the resort still works even when the volcano is hidden.
The rainforest, river, hot springs, architecture and guest experience give the wedding enough identity on their own.
Club Rio creates a second wedding environment
Club Rio sits down by the Arenal River and feels different from the main resort.
The official wedding information highlights the riverfront as one of the resort’s most popular ceremony and event landscapes, with natural hot-spring waterfalls and rainforest around it.
Real wedding guests also specifically describe ceremonies overlooking the volcano followed by parties at Club Rio.
That gives couples something useful: the wedding can change atmosphere without leaving the property.
The trade-off is transportation.
Club Rio is not a room you walk into from the main lobby. Guests need to move between areas, so the timeline should include that transfer rather than treating it as invisible.
The wedding packages are deliberately broad
The Springs currently publishes two main wedding formats.
The Elopement Plus package is designed for the couple and up to four guests.
The Wedding Celebration package is designed for celebrations larger than that.
Both include the resort wedding coordinator, ceremony venue privatization, a small cake and tropical flowers for the couple, while officiant and photography are separate.
That tells you something about how the resort approaches weddings.
The package is the starting framework, not the entire wedding design.
For anything beyond the core ceremony, I would ask for a detailed custom proposal covering reception space, food and beverage, transportation, décor, entertainment and any private-event minimums.
This is one of the stronger guest-experience venues
The Springs has enough happening on property that the wedding does not have to carry the entire trip.
Guests can use the hot springs, pools, spa and restaurants, while Club Rio adds tubing, horseback riding, nature experiences and other activities.
A 2025 wedding guest described the weekend as a 10/10 experience, specifically praising the volcano ceremony, party at Club Rio, food, pools and hot springs.
Another guest attending a large wedding that same year said the whole group enjoyed the resort and that they did not hear complaints from the wedding party.
Those are useful signals because destination weddings succeed or fail partly on what guests experience outside the ceremony itself.
The guest budget is part of the decision
The Springs is a luxury resort, and recent guests consistently describe it as expensive.
That does not automatically make it poor value.
The rooms are large, the hot springs are part of the property, and there is a significant amount to do without leaving the resort.
But it does mean the room rate is not the only number guests should consider.
Food, drinks, spa services and some activities can add substantially to the trip.
If you are asking guests to travel internationally and stay several nights, I would look at the full expected spend rather than only the wedding-room-block rate.
Arenal weather changes the planning approach
La Fortuna does not behave like dry-season Guanacaste.
Rain can appear quickly, clouds move across the volcano and humidity is part of the landscape.
That is also why the area looks the way it does.
I would plan the wedding around flexibility rather than trying to force a perfectly predictable outdoor schedule.
The resort has a meaningful amount of indoor and covered event space, which is important.
The best rain plan is one that still feels intentional enough that moving the celebration does not make the wedding suddenly feel like a compromise.
What I learned photographing weddings at The Springs
The first thing I protect here is flexibility around the volcano.
During Alyse & Daniel’s June wedding, the green-season weather was part of the story rather than something to fight. Arenal can appear clearly, disappear behind cloud and return later, so I never build the entire photography plan around one guaranteed volcano portrait.
The second is movement between the main resort and Club Rio. Those transfers are real, and they need enough time in the schedule that guests and the couple do not feel rushed.
The third is the experience around the wedding. Hot springs, river activities, breakfast and time with guests can tell more of the destination story than adding another formal portrait session.
The Springs already has enough visual variety. The photography works better when I follow the day rather than turning the wedding into a tour of every viewpoint.
Who The Springs Resort works particularly well for
I would look seriously at The Springs if:
- you want Arenal Volcano to be part of the wedding setting;
- you want guests to have activities without leaving the resort;
- you are planning a multi-day destination wedding;
- you like the idea of combining a luxury resort with hot springs and adventure;
- you want both intimate and larger event options;
- you want a family-friendly resort rather than an adults-only property.
I would think more carefully about it if:
- your guests are highly budget-sensitive;
- you want a compact property where everyone walks between every event;
- you need a guaranteed clear volcano view at one exact time;
- you prefer a beach wedding over a rainforest-and-volcano setting;
- you want to spend most of the wedding trip exploring independently outside the resort.
The Springs Resort Costa Rica wedding photography
Photographing a wedding at The Springs Resort in Costa Rica has a very different visual rhythm from a beach wedding in Guanacaste.
The landscape is wetter, darker and greener. The volcano appears and disappears. Steam rises from pools. Guests move between the resort and the river.
That unpredictability is useful for documentary photography because the place has its own atmosphere rather than simply functioning as a backdrop.
When I photograph here, I want the final story to show what it felt like to be in Arenal, not only prove that the volcano was there.
Planning a The Springs Resort Costa Rica wedding?
If you are considering The Springs Resort & Spa in Arenal and want photography that covers the experience around the wedding as well as the ceremony itself, I photograph destination weddings and multi-day celebrations throughout Costa Rica.
My wedding collections begin at $5,000, with travel within Costa Rica included. You can see the current options on my Costa Rica wedding photography packages page.
You can also compare more properties in my Costa Rica wedding venues guide.
