Okinawa wedding guide: chapels, beaches, hotels, prices and seasons
Okinawa weddings: prices, seasons, plannersOkinawa is Japan's beach wedding destination: glass-walled chapels above the sea, resort hotels on the coast and white-sand beaches on the main island and Miyakojima. It is also a very different trip from a Kyoto or Tokyo wedding. Typhoons, the rainy season and the way chapels are booked all shape what you can plan. This guide uses Okinawa Prefecture's official wedding statistics, Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) data and prices published on companies' own English pages to compare chapel, beach and hotel weddings, what they cost and when to go. Every source is listed at the end.
Want to compare Okinawa companies term by term?
Our studio database lists each company's published prices, what's included, cancellation terms, payment and rain policy in the same format, with links to the official pages.
Browse the studio database- Resort hotel ceremony: The Busena Terrace from ¥297,000 (approx. US$1,890), tax included. Outfits are extra.
- Planned elopement: Nomad Weddings' Miyakojima package from ¥650,000 (approx. US$4,130), with English planning and 4 hours of photography.
- Photo shoot only: local studios publish plans from ¥79,800 to ¥196,900 (approx. US$510–1,250).
- Season: October and November are the busiest wedding months. The rainy season normally runs from about May 10 to June 21, and typhoons come closest in August and September.
US dollar figures are approximate, converted at the European Central Bank reference rates for October 30, 2026 (€1 = ¥175.68 = US$1.1172, so US$1 ≈ ¥157.25). You'll pay in yen at the rate on the day you pay.
Why couples choose Okinawa
Okinawa Prefecture publishes a yearly survey of "resort weddings" held in the prefecture. The 2025 edition (published May 2026) counted 14,124 weddings and photo shoots, of which 687 were by couples from overseas, up 18.2% on the previous year. There were 37 wedding chapels operating in the prefecture.
- Couples from abroad bring a crowd: overseas couples brought an average of 14.9 guests and stayed 4.9 days; their guests stayed 4.8 days. A wedding here is usually part of a holiday.
- Most come for a ceremony: of the 687 overseas couples, 638 held a chapel wedding and 49 came for photos only.
- Where: Onna Village had the most weddings (3,403), followed by Yomitan, Chatan and Miyakojima. Those four areas account for about 70% of the total.
Types of Okinawa wedding
| Style | What it is | Weddings in 2025 (all couples) |
|---|---|---|
| Chapel wedding | A ceremony in a purpose-built chapel, usually with sea views; many chapels have a reception room next door | 7,260 (51.4%) |
| Photo wedding | No ceremony; you're photographed in wedding clothes on beaches and at chapels | 6,425 (45.5%) |
| Hotel wedding | A ceremony in a resort hotel's lobby, garden or banquet room | 315 |
| "Original" wedding | Garden and outdoor ceremonies arranged one by one | 94 |
| Beach wedding | A ceremony on the sand | 18 |
Two things stand out. Chapel weddings and photo shoots make up 98.4% of everything. And a ceremony right on the beach is rare: only 18 couples held one in 2025. Many "beach weddings" you see online are chapel ceremonies followed by photos on the beach, which is easier to plan around wind and heat.
How much does an Okinawa wedding cost?
The table lists the lowest published price on each company's official site, grouped by style. The order has nothing to do with partnerships. We've only included companies with official information in English.
| Company / venue | Style | Published price | What's included |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Busena Terrace (Nago) | Hotel ceremony: lobby, garden or yacht | ¥297,000 / ¥326,700 / ¥415,800, tax incl. (approx. US$1,890 / 2,080 / 2,640) | Pastor, choir, musicians, bridal attendant, flowers, program and wedding certificate. Outfits extra |
| Halekulani Okinawa (Onna) | Hotel ceremony + reception | ¥1,600,946 for the couple + 8 guests, tax incl. (approx. US$10,180) | Ceremony, dinner reception, dressing, hair and makeup, snapshot photos, two nights in a suite. Outfits extra |
| Nomad Weddings Japan | Elopement (Miyakojima) | From ¥650,000, tax incl. (approx. US$4,130) | English planning, English-speaking coordinator, 4 hours of photography, 200+ photos, transport on the day |
| BEREL | Photo shoot | Dress ¥108,900 / kimono ¥163,900 / kimono + dress ¥196,900, tax incl. (approx. US$690 / 1,040 / 1,250) | 1-hour shoot, 200 original + 10 edited photos, outfits, bridal hair and makeup |
| Ryukyu Wedding | Photo shoot | Simple Beach ¥79,800 / Japanese-Western ¥179,800 (approx. US$510 / 1,140); tax not stated | Simple Beach: 120 photos, 1 Western outfit, hair and makeup, studio + 1 beach |
| WEDDING AVE. | Photo shoot | ¥151,800 tax incl. (approx. US$970), a sale price through November 2026; standard ¥195,800 | Dress and tuxedo, hair and makeup with the artist on location, 200+ shots, 100 photos delivered |
Halekulani's plan prices appear only on its Japanese page. Ryukyu Wedding's English package page doesn't say whether tax is included, so ask. Prices marked "from" change with the date, the venue and add-ons.
What couples actually spend
The prefecture's survey also reports average spending. In 2025, couples from overseas spent an average of ¥498,066 (approx. US$3,170) on a ceremony and ¥510,556 (approx. US$3,250) on a photo wedding. From 2025 the survey calculates the average per couple rather than per company, so it can't be compared directly with earlier years.
What isn't included
- Flights and hotels for you and your guests. None of the prices above include them, except the two suite nights in Halekulani's plan.
- Outfits at hotels: The Busena Terrace lists wedding dresses from ¥220,000 and tuxedos from ¥143,000 before tax (approx. US$1,400 and US$910).
- Weekend surcharges: BEREL adds ¥9,900 and up before tax; WEDDING AVE. adds ¥22,000.
- Reception: Busena's reception venue fees start at ¥16,500 for two hours, before food and drink.
Chapel weddings: how they work
Okinawa's chapels are wedding-only buildings, not working churches, and most ceremonies are Christian-style or non-religious. Many sit on the west coast of the main island around Onna, Yomitan and Chatan, where chapel weddings are concentrated (Onna alone held 1,790 chapel weddings in 2025). Chapels are typically booked as a package through a wedding company, so the price you see includes the venue, an officiant, music, and often hair, makeup and photos.
In our checks, English-language price lists for individual chapels were hard to find; most are published in Japanese or Chinese. If you want a specific chapel, ask an English-speaking planner to quote it, or contact the chapel's operator directly. When comparing quotes, use the same date, the same chapel and the same guest count.
Beach and resort hotel weddings
- The Busena Terrace: the open-air lobby seats up to 40, the garden up to 50, and the yacht takes up to 10. In bad weather, garden and yacht ceremonies move to the lobby. Photography and hair styling must be booked through the hotel; outside vendors aren't allowed for these. Ceremony-only bookings are accepted only on weekdays or on certain weekend days the hotel designates. Ceremonies are Western-style; ask about a Shinto-style one.
- Halekulani Okinawa: there's no traditional chapel. You marry in the garden or on the indoor Hau Terrace, and every package includes a reception. Ceremony-only and photo-only packages aren't offered.
- Miyakojima: Nomad Weddings' island package is built around a beach elopement and includes a sheltered venue for rain. Ceremonies are symbolic, not legal.
English-speaking Okinawa companies compared
| Company | English support (per its site) | Rain or weather policy |
|---|---|---|
| Nomad Weddings Japan | Bilingual Japanese planners handle all Japanese-language contact with venues | No rescheduling for weather; the Miyakojima package includes a sheltered venue |
| The Busena Terrace | English wedding pages and FAQ; meetings by email, phone or Zoom after contract | Garden and yacht ceremonies move to the lobby |
| Halekulani Okinawa | English wedding pages; prices on the Japanese page | Indoor Hau Terrace available |
| BEREL | English, Chinese and Korean pages; English inquiry form | Rain guarantee: reshoot during your stay, postpone within a year at the same price, switch to a studio plan, or a full refund |
| Ryukyu Wedding | Native English-speaking support staff and photographers | Decided the morning two days before: if rain probability is 70% or more, move to another day or a studio plan |
| WEDDING AVE. | Online consultation with an English-speaking interpreter; English email replies | Free date changes for rain, any number of times, if requested by noon the day before |
Two well-known chapel companies that sell Okinawa weddings abroad, Watabe Wedding (through its Taiwan and Hong Kong branches) and Japan Wedding Chapel, publish their Okinawa information in Chinese rather than English, so we haven't listed them here. You can still contact them; just expect to ask about English support.
Best time for an Okinawa wedding: weather, rainy season and typhoons
| Months | Naha climate (JMA 1991–2020 normals) | Typhoon approaches, Okinawa region (normal) | Weddings in 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan–Feb | 17.3–17.5°C (63°F) mean; fewest sunshine hours | None | Jan 508 (fewest of the year) |
| Mar–Apr | 19.1°C (66°F) and 21.5°C (71°F) | Apr 0.0 | Mar 1,447, Apr 1,578 |
| May–Jun | 24.2°C (76°F) and 27.2°C (81°F); June is the wettest month (284 mm of rain) | May 0.4, Jun 0.6 | May 875, Jun 997 |
| Jul–Sep | 27.9–29.1°C (82–84°F) | Jul 1.5, Aug 2.2, Sep 1.9 | Aug 548 |
| Oct–Nov | 25.5°C (78°F) and 22.5°C (72°F) | Oct 1.1, Nov 0.3 | Oct 2,079 (most), Nov 1,966 |
| Dec | 19.0°C (66°F) | 0.0 | 942 |
"Approach" means a typhoon's center came within 300 km of a weather station in the Okinawa region. The Okinawa region averages 7.7 approaches a year.
Rainy season. JMA's normal dates for Okinawa are about May 10 to June 21. They vary a lot by year: in 2026 the season ran from about May 4 to June 29, and in 2025 from about May 5 to June 7.
Typhoons. August and September have the most approaches, but July and October still average more than one. A typhoon can cancel flights and close beaches for a day or two, so if you choose summer or early autumn, build a spare day into your trip and read each company's weather policy before paying a deposit.
Our take: October–November and March–April are the most comfortable, which is why they're the busiest. That's our reading of the data, not a guarantee. If those months are full, December–February is mild and quiet, though cooler for beach photos.
How to plan an Okinawa wedding, step by step
- Decide legal or symbolic. A chapel ceremony in Japan is not a legal marriage by itself (see below).
- Pick your style and a date range. Chapel, hotel, elopement or photos only. For peak dates, Nomad Weddings suggests enquiring 10–12 months ahead and 3–6 months for other periods.
- Request quotes in English. Ask each company for an itemized quote for the same date and guest count.
- Confirm the weather plan in writing. Ceremonies usually go ahead on the day, indoors if needed; photo-only plans have very different rain terms (see the table above).
- Pay the deposit. Examples: BEREL takes ¥33,000 within 3 days of approval; Nomad Weddings takes 30% of the quote, non-refundable, with the balance about 30 days before; WEDDING AVE. takes ¥50,000 by credit card for international bookings.
- Book flights and hotels. Tell guests early: with an average of nearly 15 guests per overseas couple, room blocks fill up in October and November.
- About 3 months before: finalize details. The Busena Terrace starts detailed ceremony and reception planning about 3 months ahead.
- After the wedding: Nomad delivers photos in an online gallery 8–10 weeks later; BEREL's photo files can be downloaded for 100 days.
Can you legally marry in Okinawa?
Yes, but it's a separate process from the ceremony. The prefecture's survey defines a "legal wedding" in Japan as submitting a marriage registration to a city, town or village office under Japan's Family Register Act. In 2025, 109 of the 687 overseas couples registered a legal marriage in Okinawa, mostly in Yomitan (46), Naha (35) and Onna (17), and 103 of them were from Hong Kong. Most couples from North America marry legally at home and hold a symbolic ceremony in Japan. For documents and the U.S. Embassy's guidance, see getting married in Japan as a foreigner.
Kimono and Ryukyuan dress in Okinawa
You don't have to go to Kyoto to wear a kimono. BEREL's kimono plan is ¥163,900 and kimono plus dress is ¥196,900 (tax included). Ryukyu Wedding offers an Okinawa-Western plan (¥155,800) with ryuso, the traditional dress of the Ryukyu Kingdom, in place of a Japanese kimono. It's a rare choice: the prefecture counted only 2 ryuso ceremonies in 2025. For temple and garden backdrops, though, Kyoto has more options; see our kimono photoshoot comparison.
Before you sign: a checklist
- Tax: is it included? Most companies here state it, but not all.
- Weekend and peak surcharges and whether the ceremony is allowed on your chosen weekday or weekend (Busena limits ceremony-only bookings).
- Outside vendors: can you bring your own photographer? Busena doesn't allow it for photos or hair.
- Weather: what happens if a typhoon is forecast? Who decides, and when?
- Cancellation: for example, BEREL charges 30% from contract to 31 days before; Nomad keeps the deposit (30% of the total) if you cancel a month or more ahead, and charges 100% within two weeks (checked Nov 2026).
- Travel insurance that covers weather disruption, for you and your guests. This is our suggestion, not a company requirement.
To compare Okinawa with other regions, see how to elope in Japan and wedding venues in Japan, or take the 5-question place quiz.
FAQ
How much does a wedding in Okinawa cost?
A resort hotel ceremony starts at ¥297,000 (approx. US$1,890) at The Busena Terrace, outfits extra. An English-planned elopement on Miyakojima starts at ¥650,000 (approx. US$4,130). Overseas couples spent ¥498,066 on average on a ceremony in 2025, according to the prefecture. Flights and hotels are extra.
When is typhoon season in Okinawa?
Typhoons can approach from May to November. JMA's normals show the most approaches in August (2.2), September (1.9) and July (1.5), with 1.1 in October and 0.3 in November.
What is the best month for an Okinawa wedding?
October and November had the most weddings in 2025, followed by April and March. These months avoid the rainy season (about May 10 to June 21) and the peak typhoon months.
Can we plan an Okinawa wedding in English?
Yes. Nomad Weddings plans in English, Ryukyu Wedding has native English-speaking staff and photographers, and The Busena Terrace and Halekulani Okinawa have English wedding pages.
Is an Okinawa chapel wedding legally binding?
No, not by itself. A legal marriage in Japan requires registration at a municipal office. Most couples from abroad register at home and treat the Okinawa ceremony as symbolic.
Sources
- Okinawa Prefecture: Okinawa resort wedding statistics 2025 (Japanese, published May 2026) (checked Nov 2026)
- JMA: Naha climate normals (Japanese), Okinawa rainy season dates, typhoon approach normals (checked Nov 2026)
- The Busena Terrace: ceremony, reception, wedding FAQ (prices checked Nov 2026)
- Halekulani Okinawa: wedding, plans and prices (Japanese) (price checked Nov 2026)
- Nomad Weddings: Miyakojima packages (checked Nov 2026), FAQ, terms (Japanese) (site database, Oct 2026)
- BEREL: plans (checked Nov 2026), terms (site database, Oct 2026)
- Ryukyu Wedding: packages, rain guarantee (Japanese) (site database, Oct 2026)
- WEDDING AVE.: Okinawa location photos (checked Nov 2026), flow and FAQ (site database, Oct 2026)
- European Central Bank: euro reference rates (October 30, 2026)
Prices and rules were checked on each official site in November 2026 (items marked "site database" were checked in October 2026) and may change. Confirm the latest details with the company before booking.