Rancho Nicasio Reviews

I got married in September 2025, and the whole day was absolutely amazing. From initial conversations with Marina all the way to the final day-of details, Marina was organized, considerate, and an overall pleasure to work with. Her organized planning document and phone calls helped me feel heard and on top of things! She helped my wedding vision come to life! The venue itself is beautiful and it was the perfect space to accommodate 160 guests. The food and drinks were fantastic, and there were many options for every dietary need. Rancho Nicasio's crew and sound tech were all so kind and professional. There is a bridal cottage on site that my bridesmaids and I had access to the morning of the wedding. This made getting ready and seeing the venue come together easy and relaxing. Our wedding day was the best day of my life, and Rancho Nicasio played a huge role in that! I cannot recommend and thank them enough!!

We hosted our daughter’s wedding ceremony and reception at Rancho Nicasio in late September and could not have been happier with the outcome. From initial contact throughout the planning and execution of the 150 person event, Marina was a pleasure to work with and made everything effortless. Her guidance and recommendations were very helpful and always aimed at delivering the best possible guest and bridal experience. From coordinating with our band to the minute to minute timing of the day, it all went without any hitches or surprises. Clearly this venue knows what they are doing and does it well. The settling is of course gorgeous, surrounded the beautiful Marin countryside and provides an ideal layout for ceremony, dinner, and dancing. While space is abundant it maintains an intimate feeling to ensure guest are comfortable, relaxed and have an enjoyable time. The cottage provided to the bridal part for the entire day was a huge benefit for overall logistics and providing the bride that special time with her closest friends. Last but certainly least, the food was amazing! Getting a buffet done right for 150 is not easy task, yet the kitchen delivered perfectly cooked salmon and chicken, a beautiful spread of roasted vegetables as well as everything else on the menu that simply exceeded expectations. We were beyond pleased as was our daughter. At the end of the day, giving the bride her dream wedding is what it is all about and with the right excellence of Rancho Nicasio, her dream came true.

We would highly recommend Rancho Nicasio as a wedding venue! Marina was great to work with throughout the process - she’s an incredible and detail oriented planner.
The venue is gorgeous; beautiful views for our ceremony, large outdoor spaces, and the charming, rustic Rancho room. The food was delicious & service was made easy by the onsite restaurant & staff. The team made sure everything ran seamlessly, and our guests have had nothing but good feedback. Get the late night bites!
If you're looking for a beautiful venue and a stress-free experience, we highly recommend Rancho Nicasio!

Absolutely perfect experience. We reached out to Rancho Nicasio with a pretty short timetable after a previous venue fell through, and they made it happen with no fuss or drama. Everything taken care of, all our requests incorporated into the plan. Plus a very reasonable price, delicious food, helpful staff, and beautiful venue and scenery. Could not possibly have been better.

My husband and I fell in love with Rancho Nicasio the first time we toured the venue. It had such a warm, authentic feel — the perfect mix of natural beauty and charm. By the time of our wedding, we knew we couldn’t have chosen a better place to get married. Marina was so patient, professional, and level-headed throughout our planning process. We had a last-minute chance of rain, and Marina spent hours perfecting various individualized backup plans so that we could approach the day with minimal nerves. It ended up being a beautiful day. Our guests did not stop talking about how tasty the food was and how special the setting was. We felt so taken care of the entire time. We are so grateful to Rancho Nicasio for creating this experience for us, and we would not change a thing.

As a queer mixed-race couple with a very diverse community, we wanted a place for our May 2024 wedding that reflected who we were and that would be comfortable and inviting for everyone. Our criteria were that it was somewhere beautiful, had delicious food, and wasn’t too far from the East Bay. We visited a few venues around the Bay, but they all felt like copy/paste of whatever pinterest wedding fad was happening at the time. Beautiful, but just not us. I heard about RN and asked a friend from the area if she knew it. Without hesitation she said, “That place is great!”
We went to visit in May 2023 to scope it out and meet with Marina, the event coordinator. The backdrop for RN is quintessentially California: tightly nestled in golden rolling hills flanked with redwood forest. The venue itself is funky, rustic, and meticulously cared for. We went through the event space and overviewed the planning process. Before we even left, we knew it was a solid yes.
People say planning a wedding is stressful but not when you’re working with Marina. Over the next year we had regular phone calls to go over the spreadsheets she’s created that cover EVERYTHING, and were customized to our vision. We did our own flowers, had friends make cakes, a memorial table, and lots of bespoke table decorations/ signage. The organizational planning we’d done over the previous months made it simple and easy to drop off the items the day before/morning of, and they were set up exactly how we wanted. Picking up the items the day after was just as easy.
When the Big Day came, we walked through the gates into our own private and stunning wonderland. The garden teemed with flowers, butterflies, and birds. During the ceremony, a family of quail scuttled behind the arbor. During cocktail hour, servers passed delicate appetizers and fresh drinks to our guests. Dinner was superb. “Buffet” and “salmon” don’t usually go together for me, but the chef is a sorcerer; it was moist and perfectly seasoned. As the evening progressed, the friendly bartenders crafted our specialty cocktails with consistency and finesse. When the fog rolled in, we headed inside to the dancefloor where the nearby tables offered space for non-dancers to still be a part of the party. The entire experience went off without a hitch. The whole experience exceeded my expectations.
As for Marina. It’s palpable she genuinely cares about not only the couple, but also the guests, staff, and the West Marin community. Her approach to planning is methodical, focused, empathic, and invested. She went above and beyond to make our wedding special. Marina did her own research and worked with the chef to come up with recipes for foods we wanted to reflect my fiance’s culture but they didn’t offer on the menu– Cuban pork and black beans. We wanted to make sure the venue was wheelchair accessible, and Marina happily sent us measurements and photos of all the door thresholds. Her care reflects in the staff– everyone seemed happy to be there. In all the packing and unpacking of the decorations, nothing was missing or broken. On top of being REALLY good at her job, Marina is a brilliant and funny person. We were happy to have her as a wedding coordinator, and now thrilled to have her as a friend.
Tips: Marina offers various table decorations to rent for the event such as votive candles; This will save you time, space in your garage, and money. Also, rent the heat lamps. That fog is cold.

We are so glad we chose Rancho Nicasio as our wedding venue. This was without a doubt one of the best decisions we made about our wedding. The setting is beautiful, food was absolutely delicious (and attended to many different dietary restrictions), and all the staff were excellent. The venue day-of coordinator, Marina, was also incredible. She is very experienced, organized, and went above and beyond to make our day as smooth as possible both before and on the big day. And of course, the location is incredible being within an hour to 2 major airports, yet feeling tucked away in rural old style California. I cannot recommend Rancho enough!

I grew up in Marin County and now live in Brooklyn, NY. When I got engaged, it was important to me that we had a West Marin wedding as this special part of the state is something we really wanted all of our friends from all over the world to see. The first planner I spoke to told me what I wanted was impossible to pull off. But I’m determined….
My first idea was to have a Welcome Party at Rancho Nicasio for what ended up being 150 people. I had my 8th grade Father Daughter Dance there and its been a special place to me since I was a little girl. From the moment I reached out and started talking to Marina, the events co-ordinator, everything was SEAMLESS. She was so on top of it, helped me plan every detail and stayed in consistent, clear communication.
This planning took about one year and had many meticulous details- a roving count of guests, a local band, a little girl’s birthday and provided transportation to name a few. Marina was AMAZING all along, as was Jamie who did the sound for our speeches and the event. A truly TOP NOTCH crew.
Then came the actual night- because of other events planned for this Wedding Weekend, I wanted Rancho to not be decorated and just be shown for the beautiful, special and preserved place it is. When we arrived, I was blown away by how beautiful it was- the setting sun, beautiful table settings, lovely bar, such polite and well dressed service. It was far beyond my expectations. The food was amazing, the setting breathtaking and the whole night beyond our wildest dreams.
Thank you to Marina and everyone at Rancho Nicasio who made our dreams come true and gave ourselves and our guests a true West Marin night that will remain unmatched and be in everyone’s memories for many years to come. I could not recommend this venue and their staff more, and we will always be back to remember the best weekend of our lives.

Planning an important event long distance is hard, but the folks at Rancho Nicasio made it really easy. Working over the phone with Marina to plan food for 45 and select the most comfortable space to gather was a real pleasure. It’s not always possible to do this, but they allowed us to wait until the day of the event to decide whether to eat inside or outside with space heaters. The food was delicious, the setting was charming, the wait staff was attentive, and our guests raved about how wonderful the evening was. Thank You Rancho Nicasio!

Rancho Nicasio was the perfect venue for our wedding! It was beautiful and fun and our guests loved it. Marina and the entire Rancho Nicasio staff were friendly, detail oriented and rock solid. The food was really good (Oysters and salmon especially!) We feel lucky we were able to have our wedding there. Thank you Marina!

Amazing venue!! Great ceremony space (beautiful backdrop, very fun walk-down), great food (oysters! stellar veggie options), great knowledge and organization from staff. Excellent dance floor space too.

Highly, highly recommend. Couldn’t imagine getting married anywhere else.

cannot praise Rancho and the team there enough! From day 1, even just touring the venue, we felt right at home. Marina is so attentive and helpful throughout the whole process. Any fears or concerns I had, there was a practical and helpful answer. The quality of the work and service was incredible, and it made the entire wedding experience from the planning to the event, easy and low-stress.

The venue itself was so accommodating to our guests. It’s the perfect blend of rustic and natural beauty. Small details really show the charm and character of Rancho that your generic venue could never.

Also, I could rave about the food for another paragraph too. SO good! The guests loved it.

We can't possibly recommend Ranch Nicasio more. From our first initial walk through with Max we were positive our experience planning out wedding would go smoothly, and we were proven right every step of the way. Marina's planning skills and attention to detail are unmatched! She was there every step of the way to answer any questions we had, no matter how big or how small. The staff on the day of the event went above and beyond to make sure every detail was perfect! They were polite, respectful, and there to help with everything we needed! The food was incredible and we're still getting compliments from our guests about how amazing everything tasted. You can't go wrong by choosing Rancho Nicasio for your wedding venue, they will make sure your day is everything you want it to be!

Rancho Nicasio was the perfect place for us to have our wedding, and I am so glad we did it here. The staff was tremendous, at both preparing us for how the day would run, to a flawless execution of everything that needed to happen on the day. Furthermore, the food was some of the best I have ever eaten, anywhere. The location is fairy-tale-dream beautiful, and every part of the wedding process was made easier by the staff at Rancho Nicasio that worked with us. Marina, their wedding coordinator, not only ran around tirelessly the day of our wedding to make sure everything happened that needed to, she also shared with us her preferred vendors list that lead us to an amazing photographer, florist, and baker for our desserts. Every part of the day was flawless, delicious, and beautiful. Thank you Rancho Nicasio for making all of our wildest wedding dreams come true.

Our wedding at Rancho Nicasio was wonderful! Everything was amazing - the venue, the food, the setup, the staff. It was everything we wanted and all of our friends and family kept saying what a great time they had. The oyster bar was a big hit and the dinner buffet was much much better than most wedding venue dinners I've had. The ceremony in the grove under the trees was intimate and special, the dinner outside on the lawn was great, and then the dancing inside with a live band was so much fun. We wouldn't change a thing. Max was great to work with at the beginning as we finalized the contract and the date. He was really approachable, flexible, and we appreciated that he didn't charge a fee for every little aspect of the event like a lot of other venues do. Marina was very helpful and responsive as the venue coordinator during the planning process, and she made sure everything ran smoothly the day of. We were a little nervous leading up to the event, but everything was perfect from start to finish, and a big reason for that was Marina and the Rancho Nicasio staff!

This was an experience I’ll never forget. Perfect scenery surrounded by nature, the BEST food, and amazing help from Marina. They truly made our wedding experience unbelievable!

Rancho Nicasio was easy to work with, helpful in making decisions and extremely flexible to our specific requests. Everything was executed to plan and went very smoothly.

We had the BEST wedding experience at Rancho Nicasio! This place is an absolute gem. The entire experience was great -- they provide the rentals, food, drink, service, and incredible planning expertise. We brought in florals, DJ, some additional rentals, photographer, videographer, dessert, lighting, and additional decor. Our guests were blown away by the beauty of the venue (stunning views of West Marin's rolling hills), the food (a lot of sourced locally!), the incredible drinks, the staff, the fun and laid back atmosphere, and so much more. Rancho Nicasio has the best in-house event planner, Marina, who worked with us for months to bring our vision to life. She is a true expert planner with an impeccable attention to detail who runs a flawless show! We were in such good hands with her and the team at Nicasio. Cannot recommend Rancho Nicasio and their incredible team enough! We are so grateful.

We were 100% happy with the team at Rancho Nicasio! The venue is lovely, and the package there includes a planner, whose help is indispensable. Their package also includes all the food except for the desserts, so you have a pretty good handle on what the total costs will be. The venue is lovely, and staff were great.

We had the most wonderful wedding we could have possibly imagined at Rancho Nicasio and continue to receive compliments from our guests, many of whom have said it was the 'absolute best' wedding they'd ever been to (thanks in large part, no doubt, to our having chosen Rancho Nicasio as our venue). 

The beautiful, rustic-chic setting with potential for indoor/outdoor festivities, the DELICIOUS food and the fabulous staff are some of the reasons Rancho Nicasio was the perfect venue for us. 

Max, the owner, and Julii, the onsite wedding coordinator, were instrumental in executing such a wonderful experience for us and for our guests. They were also responsible for the production of much of the food (I really can't emphasize deliciousness of the food enough -- especially in such large quantities. People RAVED about it)! Julii is an expert (and so fun!) and helped us craft our vision. She accommodated and encouraged us to add special touches to make our wedding as 'us' as we hoped it could be. She and her staff went above and beyond to efficiently execute a last-minute switch-up due to unforeseen weather, which we really appreciated. Julii worked directly with our vendors to ensure everything ran seamlessly. 

We recently received our photographs from the wedding and were reminded again of how lucky we were to have been able to have Rancho Nicasio as our venue. The beautiful outdoor ceremony among the trees, the picturesque cocktail hour (complete with fabulous oyster bar!) and the cool inside bar and fabulous dance floor are some the visual highlights. We will cherish these memories for the rest of our lives. 

Rancho Nicasio was an absolute dream venue for our wedding! The aesthetic creates an incredible atmosphere of "California rustic" and the team was so awesome, flexible, accommodating, no-nonsense, and on top of things. There is no bureaucracy or jumping through hoops or senseless rules at Rancho Nicasio -- everyone is on the same team and works hard to pull off a seamless event. Staff is friendly, they do all the set-up and clean-up, and the food is so fresh and so good!! The price is extremely reasonable for a California wedding, and we had 250+ guests pulled off without a hitch!

(photos by Alena Evteeva https://www.alenaevteeva.com)

Our wedding was more than we could have asked for. The whole experience was extremely stressed free and I felt incredibly taking care of the whole time. We had the best time and still get compliments on the wedding, especially the food. Look no further, this is the place.

Julii was amazing! I highly recommend Rancho Nicasio for an outdoor wedding. They take care of the linens/chairs, food, bar, setup and break down. They even have a ton of decorations we could use so we didn't need to buy all new things. The food was delicious and our guests had a blast!

Our wedding at Rancho Nicasio was absolutely perfect; from the beautiful backdrop of the rolling hills to the delicious food (guests raved about it!) we couldn't have asked for a more perfect place. The staff, especially Julli and Max were great for helping with all of the details. They are well-organized and know what they are doing. The cost was reasonable and Julli has a ton of great ideas for decorations without breaking the budget. We can't wait to come back for dinner on our anniversary!

I can’t recommend Rancho Nicasio and the good people there enough. A special thanks to Julii and Max. Our wedding was early July and we had the ceremony and dinner outside, then dancing inside.
Julii was fantastic at coordinating everything and taking care of ALL the details. We had one brief meeting with her to give a general feel for what we were looking for and then just trusted her judgement to figure everything out, and she nailed it! For example, we had no idea what the menu was going to be until it was served, since she just “got whatever looked good at the local farmer’s market,” and it got rave reviews from our guests. Kind of last minute, I came to Julii asking what we could do with all the kids. No problem, she found some babysitters, set them up in the bridal cottage, and all the kids and parents had a blast.
The venue has an elegant, rural, casual atmosphere, yet the staff working behind the scenes are highly regimented and professional. The surrounding scenery is beautifully pastoral, so much so that we had to tear our photographer away from shooting. The outdoor area was very convenient and conducive to mingling and eating after the ceremony, then the indoor space was perfect for a packed raucous dance floor.
If you do decide to have your wedding here, I would recommend trusting their judgement and letting them make recommendations for you. They’re good at it and it makes it less stressful for you. Obviously you don’t get to compare and review a lot of wedding venues, but we had high expectations and Rancho far exceeded them!

We were married on 7/28/18 at St. Mary's Church and had our reception to follow at Rancho Nicasio (RN). As we are in our late 50s, we did not want a formal wedding or most of the usual rituals. We had 70 guests, many who came a long way as my husband is from France. From the first time we set eyes on St. Mary's, we knew this was where we wanted to get married. Neither of us are Catholic or even religious in any way but it is such an adorable little church in a completely bucolic valley. From the first, everyone at RN were accessible, responsive and most of all, professional in a way that was not at all stuffy. They obviously have done this so many times and have a very relaxed confidence that put us at ease from the start. Julii, the caterer that works with RN is a hoot and a fantastic caterer. She knows her stuff! All our guests raved about the food. Their recommendation for a band (Dee and Mixx Company) was right on! Our guests danced all night! We did hire a Bauer bus from San Francisco as I didn't want my guests driving back home after a great party on the dark and winding road back to Terra Linda. Anyway, everyone said it was the best wedding that they have ever been to and I agree! It was perfect in every way, which is amazing as it was so stress-free. Max, Julii, all of you at RN are the best!!

Where do I start? My husband and I chose Rancho because we wanted to have a fun, unpretentious yet beautiful outdoor wedding where people could enjoy amazing food, drinks and dance the night away to great music, and that is exactly what we got. The location is Marin countryside at it's best, St Marys church just down the street, the small town square, the flowers on site were blooming and rolling golden fields stretch out for miles to provide a beautiful backdrop. Amidst the natural beauty Rancho adds the laid back rustic wagon wheel type charm and then our wedding flowers brought the elegance. The thing that makes this venue so incredible is the farm fresh food that the caterer/coordinator Julii masterminds. Our guests are still commenting on how great the food was, which is incredible when you think about making food for 140 guests. Based on previous reviews we read that she had the magic touch so we had high expectations and it ended up being even better than what we had expected! Not quite sure how she manages it all but Julii also ensured that everything, beyond the food, went off according to plan - including helping us with rentals (she has the hookup with all the local vendors!) and stepping in in a BIG way when our shuttle plans fell completely apart. I only saw her once during the night - but she was like a stealth ninja ensuring it all came together just like we wanted. Highly recommend!

Rancho Nicasio is the ultimate northern California wedding venue. The food was INCREDIBLE. Our guests could not stop talking about it for weeks after. Local, organic, beautiful, and so delicious. The service was also more than we could've asked for. Julie has impeccable taste. She is creative and thoughtful and made our wedding look amazing. Max is great at food planning and logistics. We are so happy we chose to have our day here. Check out the blog for photos of food and venue: http://annedaivablog.com/stephen-isabel-nicasio-ca/

Rancho Nicasio offered everything we ever wanted in a venue: fantastic food, experience with large parties, great drinks, gorgeous surroundings and up-front pricing and no surprise fees.
When we went to visit the location, we were instantly charmed by the rolling golden hills and the no frills attitude of the staff.
We hired all local vendors in Marin county: cake, flowers, day-of coordinator, invitations, table-settings printouts, buses, etc. so we had this truly local experience and everyone worked great together.
Our ceremony was in the redwood grove and it was beautiful, with the golden hills serving as the backdrop.
The cocktail hour offered an awesome selection for local cheeses and meats, in-season passed hors d’oeuvres, and raw oysters.
Dinner was on the beautiful lawn. It was so awesome that all we had to take care of were the flowers. Julii had her staff take care of the rest: table cloths, place settings, etc. She was also super helpful in implementing our ideas about the seating charts, etc.
We did a buffet dinner with grilled meats and fish, as well as tons of salads. Our guests still talk about the food, saying it’s the best food they had ever eaten at a wedding. We had lots of vegetarian options as well, so all our guests were happy and ready to hit the dance floor. People went for seconds and thirds and we still brought leftovers home with us.

We hired a full band (Lucky Devils, highly recommend!!!). RN offered such a great setup for the musicians: sound engineer and multiple locations where they could play and sound awesome.
Cake and desserts were served on the beautifully appointed deck, with lights and the seamlessly-moved flowers serving as the decorations, along with the little cake toppers and table runner we brought ourselves. RN had everything we wanted and needed: beautiful, delicious and super experienced. Just choose your package and trust them with the food and the booze so you could have fun!

The staff at Rancho Nicasio will make sure your wedding day is exactly what you hope it is, whatever that may be. In working with Julie, their wedding planner, my wife and I felt that she has the unique ability to not only hear what you are looking for in terms of decorations, organization, etc, but she is proficient at reading personalities and tailoring the feel of the night exactly to the needs of the families involved. There is NOT A SINGLE THING we could change about our wedding day, it was simply flawless. Not to mention, it was about 95 degrees on our wedding day and despite, the staff at Nicasio had no problem keeping every guest at the wedding comfortable and having a good time. There was zero stress on our wedding day because of how good their staff is, and we will be eternally grateful for that. Another thing we were also blown away by is the quality of the food. Wedding food sucks, most people know that, but the food that the kitchen at Nicasio put together for our dinner and desert was out of this world, you won't find a better meal. The ingredients were fresh, selected by Julie, Nicasio's wedding planner herself at local farmers markets and everything was prepared right on time, nothing sat before being served and everyone went home with at least one box of left overs (everyone was full from the incredible oyster bar and hors d'oeuvres hosted during the cocktail hour). The staff at Nicasio are real, down to earth, honest, caring, and hard working people who truly enjoy making this celebration a special day that will always be cherished and remembered. We had people as much as 80, 90 years old at our wedding and they truthfully said that in all their years, they have not seen or been to a better wedding. Others said they felt like they had just been to a wedding right out of a movie. The venue, the people, the food, and the entire package the Nicasio is so precisely and skillfully able to piece together for each couple makes Rancho a heaven on earth for

My husband and I just had our wedding at Rancho Nicasio in July. We absolutely loved it. Julii was fabulous, she does a magnificent job of bringing all the food and drink and setting together on your special day. The food was fabulous, so many people told us it was some of the best wedding food they have had.

The great part about this venue is it is the best of both worlds: outside and inside, casual but formal enough, rustic but chic. We just could not have been happier with the result. We highly recommend this venue!

Rancho Nicasio was the perfect place for our casual but elegant wedding. The venue is beatutiful. The food was delicious. And everyone is super nice and helpful. We cannot say enough good things about Julii and her team. They bent over backwards to make our day perfect. Five stars doesn't really capture how great our experience was. Big thanks to Max, Jim, Jane, Julii (love her!) and the entire staff: you all are terrific.

This was actually easy wedding planning and I had so much fun at the wedding.
Here’s the stuff I think best recommend the venue (i.e., what I wish I knew when I
was shopping venues):
1. The food, the food, the food. It is HARD to do bulk food well but Julii was
undaunted. A couple weeks before the wedding she called to say she was worried
the local tomato salad was redundant with our tomato/basil crustini appetizer
and asked if she could replace the appetizer with homemade ricotta crustini. I
continue to get complements months later.
2. Almost everything included. There is so much to think of when planning and the
fact that plates/flatware/tableclothes/food/booze/ceremony set up/A PLANNER
all come wrapped up in one was a God-send. Compared to other friends, my
planning was a breeze. Also, contrary to what I thought going into this and based
on conversations with other friends, I think it’s easier to control costs if everything
is included - I certainly ended up without all the “surprise” charges people get.
3. The venue. To me, this place captures the natural beauty of Northern California
- rolling hills, the dramatic drive through tall tall trees. Decorating was easy. The
indoor/outdoor aspect was great as well. Also - I had not predicted how cool
it would be to have “dance space” and “bar space.” People really enjoyed that
aspect after dinner was over.
4. The people. Julii (the planner/chef) is a can-do magician - as creative as can be
and perfectly practical. Max (the owner) is upfront (no extra fee for cake cutting,
higher thread-count tablecloths or whatever weddings will charge you for) and
very easy to work with. And I think his attitude trickles down to all the staff.
Could not recommend highly enough!

My husband grew up playing Little League on the baseball diamond outside of Rancho Nicasio, so when we were searching for a wedding venue, it seemed like the perfect place. We couldn’t have been more right. From the moment we toured the property (we had both been to the bar many, many times, but had never been to a wedding there and I had never even seen the backyard area), Max and Julii took excellent care of us. We became part of the Rancho family. At our reception, Max grilled the food in their outdoor kitchen, chatting up our guests while he was doing so, and it was incredible -- we are still hearing about how good everything was! And the on-site wedding coordinator, Julii, never failed to answer our endless questions and went out of her way to make sure our day was smooth and perfect. We couldn’t be happier with how everything turned out, and the venue is absolutely beautiful. At capacity, Rancho can hold several hundred people, but it still feels intimate and family-oriented, the way a small-town wedding should.

In searching for a wedding venue I must have visited 20+ places, and booked Rancho the day I had my first meeting with Julii and Max at Rancho Nicasio. The venue is absolutely stunning. They are a full service venue including food, waiters and tables and chairs. Not to mention that Julii is the one who arranges all the details for the wedding, and is essentially a wedding planner that comes with having your wedding at Rancho Nicasio. She was even there the day of the wedding to make sure all of my requests were fulfilled. The food was amazing, we designed a custom menu that fit our Fall themed wedding. They have a cute house in the back of the property where we all got ready the morning leading up to the wedding. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Rancho Nicasio for your wedding, you will have no regrets ;)

We loved where we got married - Rancho Nicasio was unique, beautiful, fun, and the local, organic food was delicious. I wouldn't say this is the place for the overly neurotic bride and mother of the bride though - I would recommend for couple who are interested in a more laid back, natural experience but want good food and a lot of fun. We are going back for our one year anniversary to eat the BBQed oysters we heard about but never got to taste!

Rancho Nicasio created our dream wedding day! The location, setting and layout of the venue brought a warm and relaxed vibe to our wedding. We couldn't imagine having it anywhere else. The venue coordinator Marina and her team made the day so seamless for not only us but our families. They were accommodating, organized and helpful in pre-planning and day of logistics. We didn't think or worry about anything during the wedding itself and fully able to live in the moment. The food and service was so much better than we imagined. It can be hard to make quality/fresh food for large groups of people, but it delicious. Not to mention, the variety and options during menu planning. We cannot recommend Rancho Nicasio enough!

Rancho Nicasio was one of the easiest choices we made when wedding planning. The environment is beautiful and rustic, but still has the comforts of indoor plumbing and a relatively short drive from multiple hotels. We are still getting comments on how amazing the food was from our guests. Everyone had a great time and we didn't have to stress about logistics. The staff were amazing and so helpful. It was a bit windy earlier in the day so my table flowers kept blowing over before dinner. No one bugged me about this slight issue and instead took it upon themselves to place the flowers on the tables without the vases. Everything looked gorgeous. We were so happy with Rancho Nicasio!

We had a fantastic experience with Rancho Nicasio. We were looking for a beautiful, relatively outdoorsy venue that was mostly all-inclusive, and we found that at Rancho. The venue was gorgeous, the staff accommodated our schedule in months and days before the wedding, and the food was outstanding. The staff offered us a lot of "extras" -- help with extra decorations, a super convenient place for the bridal party to get ready, and even babysitters for our guests with kids. The vibe was relaxed the whole time, so if you're looking for a stress-free, casual-yet-professional experience, choose Rancho.

My husband and I live in San Francisco. When wedding planning, we looked
at several venues in the city, wine country, and farther north.
When we visited Rancho Nicasio, we knew we found a gem. The venue
is charming, the surrounding land is gorgeous, Max and Julii are very
welcoming, and we liked that so many services (food, drinks, catering) were
included in the package. The price felt like a good deal compared to other
places we looked at.
Rancho Nicasio has a comfortable, laid back vibe. It has just the right
amount of Northern California vibes (wagon wheel chandelier, moose on
the wall), while still feeling sophisticated, not campy. Incredibly scenic, too!
Rolling hills, tall grasses, and an adorable old wooden church surround the
venue.
Julii helps you plan the menu (food was excellent!) and figure out all of the
details, but she’s not a wedding planner per se. As I saw in another review,
go with the flow and it’ll be a wonderful time.
Overall, I’m a very happy bride. The day and night were so incredible and special!

Rancho Nicasio was an amazing, beautiful venue for our wedding; and the
staff, to a person, were wonderful to work with. Rancho Nicasio offers a
great combination of indoor and outdoor spaces. We had our ceremony in
the large backyard of the restaurant. The Chuppah was framed by beautiful
mature Redwood trees, and the reception and dinner (seating 150) fit
comfortably on the expansive grass lawn. Our aesthetic was casual, natural
and elegant, and this venue was all of that. After dinner we shifted inside for
dancing in a room made magical by a hundred small candles; and later to a
side deck, again festively lit for the cake cutting.
The wedding managers at Rancho are amazing. Julii Ashby is the caterer/
event consultant/day of leader...and an all around anchor to the wedding
experience at Rancho. I loved working with her! She is professional, easy
going and just quirky enough to make the process fun. Our food was
fabulous, our guests could not say enough about how yummy it was! Max
also was a pleasure to work with. He is the guy in charge of scheduling
the venue and grilling on the wedding day (we had grille oysters and flank
steak). The staff did a great job on the day of our wedding with set up and
service. Somehow (invisible to me) they moved us seamlessly from one
phase of the evening to the next. I didn’t think for a moment about logistics.
My husband and I highly recommend Rancho Nicasio as a place to
celebrate a wedding! In fact, invite your friends to stay in the area for the
weekend (we did) and extend the fun in beautiful Marin. We wouldn’t change
a thing about our wedding at Rancho Nicasio, even if we could!

My husband and I could not have been more pleased with our wedding at

Rancho Nicasio. Julii, their wedding coordinator is passionate, seasoned, and

down-to-earth. We ended up ordering our flowers online and she and her team

did the arrangements which came about beautifully. The guests raved about

the food - which was EXCELLENT!!! We live in Brooklyn, NY so had to plan the

wedding over the phone and via e-mails and that went very smoothly. We opted

to rent the cottage on the property, which was the perfect home base for the

bridal party. Thank you Rancho and Julii for an unforgettable, gorgeous day.

Rancho Nicasio was a beautiful venue with excellent food! I had multiple people tell me it was the best wedding food they ever had! Julii and her team did an excellent job with utilizing the decorations I provided (along with some great items from Julii's collection of wedding decor) in a way better than I envisioned. With almost everything included, it was a relatively stress-free process to plan and execute a wonderful wedding day.

I have to say we had the wedding of our dreams and a large part was due to Rancho. Having so much done in house from the food to the furniture cut down on a lot of headaches for us. The food was fantastic. Most of it was locally sourced and we received compliments on it from just about every guest. The staff was on top of things and never needed direction or reminders on the big day. We got married in the grove out back and started eating and dancing directly afterwards. Use the field for photos and you have a one-stop shop. There are many factors in having a perfect wedding but choosing Rancho eliminated a lot of things that could have gone wrong. Hope this helps you make you choice and your day was as good as ours was! I feel like I should say something critical to make this look like I'm not a plant but we really had a seamless experience.

We had our wedding in July at Rancho Nicasio and it was so lovely! We thought it’d be hot but it was pleasant in the 70s! (Near the sea, hard to tell, venue offered us heaters for rent on the day though we didn’t need them but it was nice to know they were an option). We were so happy that day, everything turned out great. Marina was very organized and professional and was very clear on what options we had for food, for decor, for services, etc., and I personally appreciated the reassurance of having that guidance and lots of options laid out clearly that way. In the end, not every little detail is controllable, and your wedding will be beautiful with the people you love who love you supporting you, but Marina did a great job accounting for so many things so I didn’t have to from scratch and I just really felt secure having help from Marina and staff (who were so friendly and made sure we got the food we wanted out of their menu and what they could provide, meant so much!) It is such a beautiful venue with the hills and the redwoods and wildflower garden which we used for pics and great warm wood aesthetic of the building. Lots of venues close early, the option to pay for extra time was life-saving! I gave guests a map to the place because it is in the hills and GPs may be spotty, though it’s a gorgeous drive!!(Sets the scene!) We had open bar until 9 pm so guests would be safe, but next morning car pickup if necessary was a really reassuring option (ask venue for details). Having access to the bridal cottage for decor and regular check-ins with Marina along the year for how to prepare, along with family’s help and Marina staying connected with vendors to handle things for the day was so helpful. We had our ceremony at Old Saint Mary’s Church of Nicasio Valley (donate what you can, they’re a beautiful church that needs support and is a wonderful part of the community! Fr. Bula Sebastine is wonderful). It’s an incredibly lovely church right next to the venue and you’re transported into a different world when you’re in there, so beautiful. It’s just a stone’s throw away from Rancho Nicasio and the procession from there to the venue was so special for us. I would say if you have a particular vision, to organize what you want, communicate with people and not be afraid to ask for help. Don’t worry about perfect. It will be beautiful no matter what. Try to enjoy the moments. They pass so quickly, including on the day. Take your time walking down the aisle, and SMILE for your pictures, focus on just being happy and graceful as you can within that. Having Rancho Nicasio handle food and alcohol was super helpful, we had family DJ and do audio at the church, parents help with flowers and mariachi, and friends recommended me a hair stylist that was awesome, and Rancho Nicasio also has great recommendations. I would say that if you are very particular on your vision, be prepared to plan and pay a the typical amount depending on your guest count - it’s not an insane amount or necessarily more than other venues, good value considering everything we wanted, it’s more just the nature of planning weddings and general advice. Check with Marina to ask more specifics on pricing. I feel like it was worth carrying out what I hoped and feeling confident in the day. Overall, we felt supported, reassured, provided for, and very happy on our wedding day, and Rancho Nicasio was a beautiful place to have it. We’re very grateful to Marina, the staff, our families, and God. We love Rancho Nicasio and now we can go back and remember our beautiful wedding day there with no regrets. Your wedding will be beautiful, just remember what’s most important and what you actually want on the day to be happy. What will actually make things feel special and make you feel good about how you look, how things look, and how things feel. Your wedding will be so full of love. That’s what matters most. Relax, it will all turn out beautifully! Congratulations to all of you entering married life! :) Thank you Rancho Nicasio!

We knew Rancho Nicasio was the perfect wedding venue for us the moment we met Max and he walked us through the site 9 months before the big day. From his laid back and pragmatic approach; how he talked about the food, the day, and the couples before us; it was clear RN knew how to throw a great party with delicious food in a gorgeous setting. What we didnt know was just how great it would be. Family members have said our wedding was the best day of their lives (better than their own!), friends continue to rave about the food (go for the oyster bar!), the rustic and natural beauty of Nicasio, the speeches during sunset, the dancefloor, the staff, everything, and we couldn't have dreamt how wonderful we felt when it all came seamlessly together! Max advised us to reserve one of the few remaining August dates for our wedding, and we're so glad we did. The lighting and weather were perfect, cooling down just enough after a 3 day heatwave. We did end up ordering heat lamps through RN for dinner and the dessert deck, which our guests really appreciated. Julii was a blast to work with - she really knows her way around yummy, local food and how to please a crowd and ensure that the bride and groom are taken care of (that special oyster platter during dinner was icing on the cake!) We also ended up hiring an outside wedding planner about 6 weeks before the big day, which was exceedingly helpful finalizing all the various vendor contracts (shuttles, florals, band, RN sound tech, cake) and ensuring we didnt have to handle vendor communications the weeks leading up to and on the big day. It was also helpful to have the planner take care of delivering gratuities on the day of and orchestrate with Julii behind the scenes, so that we could dance until the last song with no responsibilities other than taking it all in and enjoying being surrounded by our favorite people. Thank you Julii, Max, Steve, and the rest of the RN team for throwing us the best party of our lives!

This is the place to go if you don't want to fuss with multiple vendors. One price for just about everything (you just have to find your own cake, photographer, flowers, dj). All the people, food, drinks, linens, etc. are taken care of by a very friendly staff (nobody is uptight about anything). They work with you to come up with a menu that suits your event. The food was FANTASTIC, and everyone commented on how much fun they had here.
Not recommended for a bridezilla. You'll be annoyed with the woman who runs the show who can be a little flighty. She is, however, on her game when the day comes.
The only downside can be the fog/wind at random times in Marin, and occasional bees. Just the price you pay for beauty.

Rancho Nicasio was an amazing place to have our wedding. We saw many venues in our search, and as soon as we stepped foot in Rancho, we were sold. It has pretty much THE perfect layout and combination of factors to make for a great party -- there's a grove of trees for the ceremony, an outdoor lawn for cocktails, huge area outdoors for dinner on the lawn, spacious indoor dance floor and stage fully equipped for live music right next to the main lawn, and a huge bridal cottage (actually a small house on the property) that is great for getting ready etc. The way the event flowed from place to place within the venue was easeful and just perfect.

Rancho also has an in-house event coordinator/caterer Julii, and she basically took care of everything for us so we didn't have to stress about the small details. I cannot emphasize enough how much of a difference that made - the fact that the venue provides furniture/infrastructure and then Julii and her staff sets everything up for you is worth its weight in gold!! All of those elements and the staff's hard work meant that we could actually enjoy our day with a glass of champagne and not have to ask our friends and family to be setting up chairs and tables all day. Julii also has all kinds of back-up supplies and decor if you need any supplements (table cloths, decor, etc) she will take care of it. One thing I will say is that if you are the type of bride who needs everything to be exactly a certain way and you will freak out if the napkin is one inch to the right instead of left, Rancho might not be for you. That is not to say that they didn't do an amazingly beautiful job, it's more that they have this down to a science and ask you to trust them on a lot of stuff and they don't hand-hold you with details leading up to the event. They definitely came through in a major way and everything was gorgeous, so I'm glad we trusted them.

And omg the FOOD - Julii and her team got everything fresh at the farmers market that week and cooked up a bounty of beautiful dishes for our wedding. For cocktail hour we had an oyster bar (!!) and local cheeses and passed hors d'oeuvres, and then the dinner was a huge spread of delicious fresh gourmet dishes. I've had many, many people tell me it was the best food they've ever had at a wedding.

Overall, Rancho was fantastic and we're beyond happy that we had our wedding there. Thank you so much to the Rancho Nicasio staff for making our wedding amazing!!