The Outdoor Art Club 1 West Blithedale Avenue • Mill Valley • California 94942

The Outdoor Art Club, located in the heart of downtown Mill Valley, is one of Marin’s favorite (and most sought-after) event spots. You enter through a quaint, arched gate into a restful garden patio area that immediately removes you from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. A sprawling native oak tree provides a leafy canopy to the lovely, large wedding garden. Guests can mingle informally under the oak with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, or they can be seated in the wedding garden for a ceremony. Annuals, perennials and an abundance of shrubbery around two sides of the wedding garden add to the feeling of serenity.

The clubhouse, which borders two sides of the wedding garden, is a charmer with a capital “C”. Designed in 1904 by Bernard Maybeck, this classic Arts and Crafts structure has a rustic brown-shingled exterior, multipaned windows and multiple sets of French doors that bring the outside in when they’re all opened. The interior is spacious, with a beamed vaulted ceiling, hardwood floor and raised stage along one end, perfect for a head table or band setup. The Sun Porch, which is suitable for the cake table or buffets, is a smaller space with two sets of French doors opening out onto a wide deck behind the clubhouse. The deck, surrounded by Redwood trees, leads to the shaded wedding garden.

The wedding garden is the optimal spot for a wedding ceremony. Guests can be seated in rows here, while the couple say their vows in front of a backdrop of dense Redwood trees. It’s no mystery why the Outdoor Art Club is so popular—it has an Old World appeal that’s hard to resist.