"All-inclusive" is the most overused phrase in the Marrakech wedding market and the least standardised. Two venues can quote the same figure for the same guest count and mean completely different things — one covering three days and every supplier, the other covering dinner and nothing else.
This is not usually dishonesty. It is that no two properties define the package the same way. Which means the burden of comparison falls on you, and the only way to carry it is to know what a complete package contains.
What a genuine all-inclusive package contains
- Exclusive use of the venue for a defined number of nights — normally two or three, not one.
- Accommodation for a stated number of guests, with the room count written down.
- All meals across those days: breakfasts, at least one lunch, the wedding dinner, and the brunch the morning after.
- Drinks, with the limit made explicit — open bar, a set number of bottles, or soft drinks only.
- Service staff for the whole event, with a ratio you can check.
- Basic décor and lighting: tables, linen, chairs, lanterns, candles.
- Coordination on the day, by a named person.
- Airport transfers for the guests staying at the property.
If a quote calls itself all-inclusive and any of these is absent, it is a dinner package with a generous name.
What is almost always excluded
These items appear in nearly every final invoice and in almost no initial quote:
- Photography and video. Nearly always separate, and rightly so — most couples want to choose their own.
- Flowers beyond the basic table dressing. An arch, a ceremony installation or imported blooms are a separate line.
- Music. A Gnawa group, a DJ or a band is quoted on its own.
- Hair, make-up and the officiant.
- Tourist tax, charged per person per night and collected on site.
- Overtime past the agreed hour.
- Guests who are not staying at the property — often billed per head for meals.
The three traps
The guest count trap. A package priced for 60 rarely scales linearly to 90. Ask for the price at your real number, not the headline number.
The one-night trap. A package covering a single night means setting up and clearing on the same day, which limits what is possible and rushes everything. Two nights is the honest minimum for a wedding.
The "from" trap. A price starting with "from" is the lowest season, the smallest count and the shortest stay, all at once. Ask for the price for your date.
Package or à la carte?
A package is worth it when the venue genuinely runs its own kitchen and staff: you are buying coordination as much as goods, and one supplier who owns the whole day makes fewer things go wrong.
À la carte is worth it when the venue is a shell. If the property brings in caterers and rental companies anyway, you are paying a margin on someone else's margin — you may as well book those suppliers yourself and keep the difference.
The test is simple: does the venue have a kitchen and a team, or a phone number for a caterer?
Eight questions before you sign
- How many nights of exclusive use does this cover?
- How many guests does the price assume, and what is the price at my actual number?
- Which meals are included, and does that include the day before and the morning after?
- What exactly is the drinks arrangement?
- How many staff, for how many guests?
- Is coordination included, and who is the named person?
- What time must the music stop, and what does an extension cost?
- What is not in this package?
How we do it
We publish our nightly rate rather than a package price, because the package price depends on your guest count and no honest single figure exists. Exclusive use of the whole property — every room included — is quoted for your dates — nights, season and event type all count; catering is quoted per guest on top, and you add only what you want.
The full budget picture by guest count is in how much a Marrakech wedding costs. To see how a wedding here is organised, start with weddings at Palais Zoya, or send us your date and we will write the breakdown out, exclusions listed.
