Inn Marin is one of Marin’s best outdoor spaces for ceremonies and receptions. It's Spanish-style buildings cluster around a grand courtyard—a sweeping swath of grass edged by ivy-covered trellises, hydrangeas, palmettos, cypresses, orange trees and a liquid amber that has to be the biggest tree of its kind for miles around. The lawn’s center point is a towering magnolia that, when it’s not sheltering wedding guests, has several “sky chair” hammocks lazily dangling from it. In summer, the high ridge behind Inn Marin blocks the chilly gusts of fog that pour off the Pacific, creating a warm and sunny climatic island. By 3pm, when the sun’s slanting light is a golden wash and the big trees are making velvety shade, the garden becomes almost Edenic, balanced between perfect light and shadow, balmy and cool.

Adjoining the lawn, the Patio Garden and Garden Room are the two primary sites for post-ceremony activities. The Garden Room, which is often used for the cake cutting or for mingling after the wedding reception, looks out through a large bay window and two French doors to the patio, and has an all glass-wall view of Inn Marin’s pool. Large mirrors line the opposite wall, giving the room a spacious feel. The patio, paved with terracotta, is sheltered under umbrellas and another large magnolia. A classic Spanish fountain, water trickling placidly down its sides, formally marks the boundary between the patio and the lawn. The patio is an easy place to set up a bar, a bandstand or a dance floor, allowing guests to enjoy a fine day outdoors long into the evening.

Inn Marin displays a freshness of design and joie de vivre, from its great central courtyard and generous greenery to the big, robustly colored still lifes by the owners’ mother that adorn the walls. Couples often arrive here a day or two early, just so they can settle in and take temporary ownership of this unique, secret garden.