A Fiji wedding budget has about thirty-five line items across six blocks: statutory fees, the ceremony, the reception, production and people, travel and transfers, and tax. Only the statutory block has a published national price. This page lists every line, names who charges it and how, and gives the one question that makes each quote comparable.
For the headline question — what does it all add up to — start with what a Fiji wedding actually costs, which collects every published package price in the country. This page is the register underneath it.
Conversions use Reserve Bank of Fiji indicative rates for 11 September 2026: FJ$1 = NZ$0.7752 = A$0.6278 = US$0.4493.
What does the law actually charge you?
This is the only block in a Fiji wedding budget with a published, national, government-set price. It is also trivially small.
| Item | Fee | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Notice of marriage and declaration | FJ$15 (VAT-exclusive) / FJ$16.35 (VAT-inclusive) | Ministry of Justice / gazetted 2019 fee notice |
| Application for special licence | FJ$54.50 | Gazetted 2019 fee notice |
| Registrar-General or district registrar solemnising, including the certificate | FJ$50 (VAT-exclusive) / FJ$54.50 (VAT-inclusive) | Ministry of Justice / gazetted notice |
| Same, outside office hours | FJ$109.00 | Gazetted 2019 fee notice |
| Certified copy of a marriage entry, including the search | FJ$16.35 | Gazetted 2019 fee notice |
| Decorated certificate of marriage | FJ$54.50 | Gazetted 2019 fee notice |
| Certificate of marriage via Post Fiji | FJ$27.25 | Gazetted 2019 fee notice |
| Civil marriage celebrant registration | FJ$3,000 (VAT-exclusive) | Ministry of Justice |
| Religious marriage officer registration | No fee | Ministry of Justice |
The two-figure pattern is not two different fees. The Ministry of Justice publishes FJ$15 and FJ$50 marked "(VEP)"; the gazetted fee notice publishes FJ$16.35 and FJ$54.50 in a column headed "Fee (VIP)". The ratio is exactly 1.09 in both cases, which is Fiji's VAT rate at the time the notice was issued. Read them as the same fee, exclusive and inclusive of a 9 per cent VAT rate that Fiji has since changed twice — to 15 per cent in August 2023 and to 12.5 per cent in August 2025. We could not find a reissued fee notice, so the inclusive figures may now be stale. Budget the higher number and confirm the current price at the registry.
The FJ$3,000 celebrant registration fee is not something a couple pays. It is what a Fijian civil celebrant pays to be licensed, and it is the reason celebrant fees in Fiji are not nominal. Religious marriage officers pay nothing, which is part of why so many Fiji ceremonies are conducted by ministers.
Full process, documents and timing are in how to get legally married in Fiji.
What are the ceremony line items?
Eleven lines. This block is close to fixed regardless of guest count, which is the structural reason small weddings in Fiji save so much.
| # | Line | Usually charged as | The question to ask |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Celebrant or minister | Flat fee | Is the celebrant registered, and is travel included? |
| 2 | Ceremony setting hire | Flat fee, sometimes waived with a package | Is there a minimum spend attached to the setting? |
| 3 | Arch, arbour and set-up | Flat, or hire plus labour | Is dismantling included, and who moves it if it rains? |
| 4 | Chairs and aisle dressing | Per chair, or flat | How many chairs are included before the per-unit rate starts? |
| 5 | Bouquet and buttonholes | Per item | Are the flowers imported or local, and what happens if a shipment is late? |
| 6 | Ceremony florals | Per arrangement or per metre | Can the arrangements be moved to the reception? |
| 7 | Sound for the ceremony | Flat hire | Is a lapel microphone for the celebrant included? |
| 8 | Traditional Fijian elements | Per group, per element | Who exactly is being booked, and are the performers paid directly? |
| 9 | Sparkling wine on the aisle | Per head or per bottle | Is corkage charged if we supply it? |
| 10 | Marriage certificate framing | Flat | — |
| 11 | Wet-weather alternative | Often free, sometimes a set-up fee | Where is it, and does using it cost more? |
Line 11 is the one couples skip and regret. Get the answer in writing before you sign, and ask to see a photograph of the alternative space, not a description of it.
Line 8 deserves care of a different kind. A warrior escort, a meke group, serenaders or a village choir are people with names, not decoration. Book them properly, credit them, and make sure the money reaches them — Fijian wedding traditions, done properly sets out the etiquette.
The only published à la carte pricing for these elements in Fiji comes from Daku Resort in Savusavu: a warrior escort at US$85, serenaders at US$75, a village choir at US$145, an entertainment group at US$165, Fijian attire hire at US$195, a DJ at US$240 and extra cake tiers at US$30 each. Those are Savusavu prices and Vanua Levu is not Denarau Island, so use them to sanity-check a quote rather than to argue with one.
What are the reception line items?
Twelve lines, and this is where the money is, because almost all of it scales with your guest count.
| # | Line | Usually charged as | The question to ask |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Food, per head | Per person, by menu tier | Is there a minimum number we are charged for regardless of attendance? |
| 13 | Beverage package | Per person per hour, or on consumption | What happens at the end of the package hour? |
| 14 | Corkage | Per bottle | What is the rate, and is BYO permitted at all? |
| 15 | Cake | Per tier or per head | Is cutting and plating charged separately? |
| 16 | Reception venue hire | Flat, often waived against a spend minimum | What is the minimum spend, and does it change by day and season? |
| 17 | Minimum food and beverage spend | Threshold | Is this in the quote or in the contract only? |
| 18 | Service charge | Percentage | Is it in the quoted per-head figure? |
| 19 | Staffing beyond standard ratio | Per staff member per hour | What is the standard ratio? |
| 20 | Table linen, glassware and cutlery hire | Per item or per table | What is included before hire starts? |
| 21 | Styling, centrepieces and lighting | Per table plus install | Who installs, and when do they get access to the room? |
| 22 | Entertainment — band or DJ | Flat, by set length | Is a sound system included or hired separately? |
| 23 | Dance floor and staging | Flat hire | Is there a surface charge outdoors? |
Line 17 is the single largest source of budget shock in Fiji. A beach or lawn setting at a larger resort will often carry a food and beverage minimum that appears only in the contract, not the enquiry reply. Ask for it explicitly, in writing, in your first email.
What are the production and people line items?
Seven lines, mostly bought from independent suppliers rather than the resort — which is where outside-vendor policy starts to bite.
| # | Line | Usually charged as | The question to ask |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | Photography | By coverage hours, plus travel | What is the delivery timeframe, and who owns the files? |
| 25 | Film or video | By coverage hours | Is a second shooter needed for a beach ceremony? |
| 26 | Hair and makeup | Per person, plus trial | Does the artist travel to the property, and is travel charged? |
| 27 | Planner or on-the-day coordinator | Flat, percentage, or included | Is the resort's coordinator a planner or a sales contact? |
| 28 | Outside-vendor fee | Flat, per supplier | Is our photographer permitted at all, and at what fee? |
| 29 | Supplier travel and accommodation | Per supplier, per day | For an island wedding, who pays the boat fare? |
| 30 | Attire, alterations and transport | Various | Will the dress travel as cabin baggage? |
Line 28 and line 29 are the two that most often blow a carefully-built spreadsheet. Some Fiji resorts charge a fee to bring in an outside photographer or florist; a few do not permit it. And a Nadi-based photographer working IN the Yasawas is charging for a travel day in each direction plus a transfer fare, not just a shoot — see the published transfer rates in the Fiji wedding guest cost sheet for what that leg costs.
Fiji's supplier base is deep around Nadi and Denarau Island and thins quickly with distance. Photographers with published sites include Ocean Studio Fiji, Lia and Stu Photography and Zoom Fiji Photography; coordinators include Fiji Weddings, Silvestre Weddings and The Wedding & Events Atelier Fiji; florals include Genesis Flowers. Fiji wedding suppliers covers how to brief and book them.
What are the travel and transfer line items?
Three lines for you, and they are easy to underestimate because they are charged per leg and per person.
| # | Line | Usually charged as |
|---|---|---|
| 31 | Your own flights and accommodation | Per person |
| 32 | Transfers for you and the wedding party | Per vehicle, or per person per leg |
| 33 | Transfers for suppliers | Per person per leg |
Published transfer rates exist and are worth using rather than estimating: Xplore Fiji publishes FJ$50 per vehicle for one to four people from Nadi International to Denarau Island and FJ$190 to the Coral Coast; Airport Shuttle Fiji publishes FJ$34 per person to Denarau Island and FJ$70 to the Coral Coast; South Sea Cats publishes FJ$229 per adult from Port Denarau to Mana Island Resort.
What does tax add?
Two statutory taxes and one merchant charge, and the position changed this month.
| Charge | Rate | Effective |
|---|---|---|
| VAT | 12.5% | Reduced from 15% on 1 August 2025 |
| Tourism Services Tax | 5% | 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2027, operators above FJ$2m turnover |
| Card surcharge | Commonly 2.5%–3.5% | Merchant-set |
The Tourism Services Tax is new and carries a transition rule that is worth money. The Ministry of Finance confirmed on 25 August 2026 that bookings made before 1 September 2026 are not subject to it, even where the service is delivered afterwards. If you contracted a 2027 wedding in August, get that confirmed in writing — on a reception for eighty people it is a meaningful line.
Whether operators absorb the tax or pass it on is not settled, and it is not obvious that function space and catering are treated the same way as rooms. Ask your property, in writing, whether TST applies to your ceremony fee, your venue hire and your catering separately, not just to accommodation. One Fiji property, The Remote Resort, already publishes both lines openly on its rates page — "Fiji Government VAT: 12.5%" and "Tourism Services Tax: 5% (Sept 1, 2026 – Sept 1, 2027)" — which is the disclosure standard the rest of the market should be held to.
No Fijian government or tourism authority publishes guidance on card surcharging. What operators publish for themselves clusters between 2.5 and 3.5 per cent, so on a five-figure wedding bill, paying by telegraphic transfer rather than card is a decision worth making deliberately.
Guideline only. Statutory fees and tax rates change with each national budget, and the published fee notice we could locate dates from 2019. Confirm current marriage fees with the Registrar-General, Ministry of Justice and current tax treatment with the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service before you contract. Last reviewed 11 September 2026.
How do you make two quotes comparable?
Send every property the same eight questions, in writing, and refuse to compare until you have all eight answers from each.
- What is the ceremony package price, and exactly what is in it, line by line?
- What is the venue hire or set-up fee if we take the ceremony but not the catering?
- Is there a minimum food and beverage spend, and does it vary by day and by season?
- Are VAT, Tourism Services Tax and service charge included in every figure quoted, or added?
- What is the outside-vendor fee, per supplier, and are there suppliers you will not admit?
- What is the wet-weather alternative, and does using it cost more?
- What is the corkage rate, and is BYO permitted?
- What is the payment schedule and cancellation policy, and in what currency?
Question four moves the total more than anything else on the list. Question three is the one most often answered only in the contract. Question eight is the one that matters if a cyclone changes your plans — see wedding insurance for a Fiji wedding for what cover does and does not do about that.
The verdict
- The legal block is under FJ$100 and fully published. Everything else is quoted.
- The ceremony block is close to fixed; the reception block scales with headcount. That is the whole economics of a Fiji wedding in one sentence.
- Five lines do the damage: minimum spend, outside-vendor fees, supplier travel, service charge, and tax treatment. Ask about all five before you compare anything.
- Tax changed on 1 September 2026. A pre-September booking is exempt from the 5 per cent Tourism Services Tax. Get your position in writing.
Next step: pick a region, shortlist three properties in it from Fiji wedding resorts A–Z, and send all three the eight questions above on the same day. The Fiji wedding planning timeline tells you when each decision is due, and Fiji wedding venues covers the settings themselves. Browse venues and suppliers in the directory to build the shortlist.
