The legal bit is not what you think
Almost nobody who gets married in Ibiza is legally married in Ibiza. A civil ceremony in Spain needs one of you to be resident, the paperwork takes months, and the registry office won't do it on a clifftop anyway. So the way it works is this: you do the legal part at a register office at home, a week or a month before, with two witnesses and a lunch. Then you have the wedding in Ibiza with a celebrant, and that's the one everyone remembers.
Nobody at the Ibiza ceremony will know or care that the legal bit happened in Guildford. Some couples tell their guests, some don't. It makes no difference to the day.
Your ceremony time is wrong
Every couple sends us a timeline with a 4pm ceremony. In July, 4pm in Ibiza is somewhere between 31 and 34 degrees with the sun straight overhead. Your grandparents will not enjoy it. Your photos will have everyone squinting. The ice sculpture (there's always an ice sculpture) will be a puddle by the vows.
Push it to 6.30pm. Six at the earliest. The light between seven and half eight in summer is the reason people get married here, and you want to be outside for it with a drink in your hand, not sitting through a speech in a marquee. Dinner as the sun goes down, party when it's dark and the temperature drops. That's the rhythm the island runs on and the weddings that fight it are the ones where the guests are wilting by nine.
Wind. Nobody warns you about the wind
Ibiza is windy. Not always, but enough that every venue has a plan B and you should ask what it is before you book. The north coast gets it worse. Clifftop venues get it worse still. We've seen a table plan blow into the sea, veils go horizontal, and a beautiful open-air dinner moved indoors at forty minutes' notice because the tablecloths wouldn't stay down.
This is not a reason to avoid the north or the cliffs. Six Senses is on the north coast and it's one of the best venues on the island. It's a reason to ask the venue what happens if it's blowing, and to pick a hairstyle that survives it.
The noise curfew is real
Most Ibiza venues have to stop outdoor music at midnight, some at eleven, a few at one. The rules are enforced, the fines are large, and the venue will pull the plug on your DJ at the stroke of whatever time it is. Ask before you book. If you want to dance till three, you need a venue with an indoor space that's licensed for it, or a villa remote enough that nobody's counting.
This catches out more couples than anything else. They've come from a UK wedding culture where the band goes on till one and the disco till two, and they haven't checked. Then it's midnight, the DJ's packing up, and half the guests are wondering what happened.
Flights and the guest list
Ibiza in summer is served from most UK airports, but the cheap seats go early and the Sunday evening return is brutal. If your wedding's on a Saturday, a lot of guests will fly home the next afternoon on a plane full of people who've been at Ushuaïa till six. Warn them. Or tell them to stay till Monday, which most will happily do.
You'll lose some guests to the travel. That's normal. The ones who come will be the ones who really wanted to be there, which is its own kind of gift. Plan for about seventy per cent of the people you'd have had at home.
It's a week, not a day
Because everyone's flown out, the wedding turns into a few days. Welcome drinks the night before. A beach day after. Maybe a boat. The couples who plan for this, even loosely, have a much better time than the ones who only planned the Saturday and then found forty people at a loose end on the Friday.
You don't have to organise everything. A WhatsApp group with "we'll be at Cala Bassa from two on Friday if anyone fancies it" does the job.
Get someone on the island
If you're planning from the UK, you need a planner or at least an on-the-day coordinator. Not because you can't do it yourself, but because on the day, someone has to know where the florist is, why the cars are late, and which switch turns the terrace lights on. That person cannot be you and it shouldn't be your mum.
A good Ibiza planner knows every venue, every supplier, and every way a day can go sideways. They'll cost you a few thousand euros. They'll save you more than that in mistakes and they'll save you your wedding day, which is the point.
Local suppliers, mostly
You'll be tempted to fly your photographer out from home. Some couples do and it works. But most of the good suppliers on the island (photographers, florists, DJs, us) have done hundreds of weddings here, know the venues, know the light, and don't need a hotel room and a flight paid for. Book local for the things that need to know the island. Bring your own for the things that need to know you.
We get asked about this a lot, and our honest answer is: use us or another Ibiza supplier for the booth, because we've been to your venue before and we know where the power is. Use whoever you love for the dress.
Money
Everything's in euros, deposits are normal, bank transfers are how it's done. Most Ibiza suppliers will invoice properly. Some smaller ones won't. Ask. Open a euro account or use Wise or Revolut so you're not losing three per cent every time you pay someone. Over a whole wedding that's a lot of money.
Frequently asked
Can UK citizens legally get married in Ibiza?
In practice, almost nobody does. A legal civil ceremony in Spain needs one of you to be resident and the paperwork takes months. Do the legal part at a register office at home, have the ceremony in Ibiza. Your guests won't know the difference.
What time should the ceremony start in summer?
Not before six in July and August. Half six is about right. Photos in the golden hour, dinner as the sun sets, party once it's dark.
Do I need a wedding planner?
If you're planning from the UK, yes, or at least an on-the-day coordinator. Someone has to be on the island. It doesn't have to be you.
What's the noise curfew at Ibiza venues?
Usually midnight for outdoor music, sometimes eleven, occasionally one. It's enforced. Ask before you book if you want a late party.
More on this: when things book up for 2027, the planning checklist, and what a wedding at Six Senses looked like.