Rich Latin Americans are descending on Uruguay’s beach haven to party

A wedding adorned with 40,000 flowers, barbecues burning more than 2,600 pounds of wood and private flights pouring in for big parties. Far from US and European hot spots, South America’s summer playground is enjoying a boom of luxury events.

Punta del Este has long drawn regional elites seeking pristine beaches and leisure in safe, laid-back Uruguay. Polo clubs are expanding, wealth managers are opening offices and luxury high-rises are proliferating along its Atlantic coast.

Now, deep pocketed foreigners are choosing the city and neighbouring beach towns to host Gatsby-style birthday parties and weddings as well as corporate events. Local officials estimate out of town couples host about 250 weddings a year between October and April. A two-day wedding or anniversary for 150 people typically starts at around US$100,000, according to people familiar with the market.

Wedding planner and corporate events organiser Monica Hirsch is fully booked with high-end events that often require at least a year of preparation. Clients are increasingly demanding personalised experiences like the mini-marathon complete with t-shirts and banners that Hirsch organised for a Brazilian couple and their guests. It’s a big change from more than a decade ago when she started her business.

“In the beginning, I would hear about every event taking place. I would quote every event taking place,” Hirsch said. “Nowadays there are so many I don’t even hear about them all.”

Punta’s party scene rose to new fame last November when the grandson of Paraguayan business tycoon Antonio Vierci reportedly spent US$1 million for an 800-guest wedding that spanned three days and 15 private and charter flights. They also flew in Colombian singer Carlos Vives for a private concert, according to local media. The Vierci family didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The events scene is helping transform a coastline that once only lit up for two months after New Year’s into an October-through-April destination. It’s also having a big impact on local businesses, from catering and decor to tents and lighting.

Isabel Castilla’s flower shop in Punta is a façade for a labyrinth of storage and preparation rooms supporting her wedding décor business, including refrigerated lockers that in peak season hold thousands of fresh flowers imported from Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador.

“We used to do one good party a month with a big budget. Now we have more than one big party every weekend,” said Castilla, who organised her first wedding in 2007.

Uruguay’s low violent crime has drawn a growing number of wealthy visitors, many of whom own homes in Punta. Wedged between Argentina and Brazil, this country of 3.5 million people is something of an outlier in Latin America thanks to its affluence and stability. Investors have taken notice. Google chose Uruguay to host a major data centre, while Italian luxury developer Cipriani is building a massive casino and residential tower project in Punta.

Last year, nearly 750,000 people from abroad visited Punta and surrounding towns, more than three times the area’s population and a 16 percent increase from 2024. Argentines and Brazilians accounted for 82 percent of those visitors, who spent an estimated US$918 million there, according to Tourism Ministry data.

Punta’s airport built a new terminal in 2024 just to keep up with the surge of private jets. Flights out of that terminal serving private aircraft rose by nearly 18 percent year-on-year to 5,864 in the most recent summer season that ended in March.

Nowhere is that spending more visible than at the table, where big ticket parties are embracing alternative dining formats. Grill master Diego Pérez Sosa has shaped the humble Uruguayan asado – slow roasting meats over a wood charcoal fire – into gastronomic theatre.

”People are looking for new experiences rather than the traditional,” Pérez Sosa. “They are tired of eating smoked salmon with blini and caviar.”

Pérez Sosa – who also runs a Uruguayan steakhouse in São Paulo, Brazil – said 2024 and 2025 were his busiest seasons since he began grilling in Punta in 2015. At one wedding anniversary, his crew of 11 grillers and cooks served more than 600 pounds of beef, lamb and fish to nearly 500 people in a job that took almost half a day from start to finish.

Destination events are frequently multi-day affairs, with guests taking part in activities such as polo, golfing, wine tasting and gambling at local casinos.

“We often pick two or three venues that show the different facets of Punta. We do one event in the vineyard, one event on the beach and another event at a farmhouse,” said Hirsch, the wedding planner.

Fernando Mosteiro runs one of the largest lighting and sound companies in Punta. With about 30 events this season, including weddings, luxury brand and corporate events, it’s one of the busiest seasons in years for Mosteiro, who had as many as 30 people working a major job, up from 10 a decade ago.

“Brazilians hold the most weddings. They are driving growth in this business,” he said. “Wedding tourism has been a very important source of income for the country and the area.”