Marrakech is having a moment on the luxury wedding map. The city can be as raw as a desert dune or as polished as a royal palace. Wedding planner Marianna Idirin works across both. Her studio is based in Mexico, with an office in Morocco. We asked her what makes the country so special for a celebration and which places she loves most.
Photo: La Dichosa, Jardin Majorelle
Why Morocco?
“From the very first moment, Marrakech felt magical to me, a place full of culture and contrast,” Marianna says. “For a wedding, or really any celebration, it has this magical quality: the energy of the people, the colors, the food, the culture. Everything comes together into something incredibly rich, a real explosion of flavor and color everywhere you look.”
That contrast is what makes the city work for so many different couples. The simple and the opulent sit side by side here, sometimes within the same week of a celebration.
“You can have experiences that are very natural, very down to earth, exploring the desert landscapes, but surrounded by art, antiques, music, fire, candles, and this mysticism that defines the culture,” she says. “And then, on the other end, you have these ultraluxury hotels that are simply spectacular, with incredible curation of antiques, artistry, history and grandeur. Some of them are literally reimagined royal palaces.”
Photo: Ilyass Nazih
The medina is Marrakech’s old walled city center. Tucked behind its doors are riads, traditional Moroccan houses built around an inner garden or courtyard. For Marianna, they sit at the opposite end of the scale from a grand hotel.
“The riads are completely different: small, magical, intimate, warm,” she says. “They let you really connect with your guests. You open a small door and it opens onto an entire world of possibility.”
Every riad has its own story. Marianna points to Rosemary as one example. The five-room riad near Bahia Palace belongs to Belgian artist Laurence Leenaert and her husband Ayoub Boualam, founders of the design brand LRNCE. Its owner’s “very unique eye for design and contemporary pieces” creates a sharp contrast within the space.
Photo: Ilyass Nazih
North of the medina, among the palm groves of the Palmeraie, the setting shifts again. Jnane Rumi is one of the oldest homes in the area, originally designed in the mid-20th century by Tunisian architect Charles Boccara. After years of restoration, it reopened as a small boutique hotel and has since landed on several best new hotel lists for 2026.
“This private villa just outside the city is cozy, intimate, they give you that sense of closeness,” Marianna says.
The whole property, down to the plates, the linens and the robes, is built around a single design concept. For Marianna, what sets it apart is the interplay between its contemporary design pieces and its Moroccan architecture. She calls it “deeply personalized, with enormous attention to detail.”
Photo: La Dichosa
About 12 kilometers south of the city, Amanjena changes the scale completely. It opened in 2000 as Aman’s first property in Africa. Architect Ed Tuttle drew on the Alhambra and Marrakech’s 12th-century Menara Gardens. Rose-toned pavilions sit around a vast bassin, a traditional irrigation pool that anchors the whole property. In late 2025 the resort reopened after a careful refurbishment, with artisans restoring its pink tadelakt walls and laying new zellige by hand.
“Aman, on the other hand, is majestic, imposing arches, the feeling of being inside an enormous palace,” Marianna says. “It takes you to another level, not better or worse, just different, more opulent, opulence in its fullest expression.”
The medina riads can feel loose and a little funky. Aman, in Marianna’s eyes, is the gold standard of polish, with everything impeccably clean and refined.
Photo: Ilyass Nazih
About 45 minutes from Marrakech, the Agafay is a desert of a different kind. Instead of sand dunes, it has smooth stone hills and wide plateaus, with the Atlas Mountains on the horizon. It’s close enough for guests to move between the city and the desert in a single weekend.
“What really moves me is imagining the whole curation of the experience guests will live through, across the different facets of one place,” Marianna says. “That connection with nature: the openness, the colors, the textures, the silhouettes of camels against the sunset. That’s where the dancing, the music, the mysticism really come alive.”
Photo: Ilyass Nazih
Marianna’s list goes beyond wedding venues to two of Marrakech’s best-known landmarks. The first is La Mamounia, the city’s most storied hotel since 1923. Its gardens are even older. In the 18th century, the sultan gave them to his son, Prince Moulay Mamoun, as a wedding gift, and some of the olive trees there are centuries old.
Photo: 1-3 La Mamounia, Vasochatzimichail
You’ve probably seen its walls before you ever see them in person. Painter Jacques Majorelle created the Majorelle Garden in the 1920s and painted it a cobalt so vivid it now carries his name. Later it belonged to Yves Saint Laurent. Inside, cacti, bougainvillea and pink water lilies glow against all that blue. Go early in the morning, when the light is soft and the paths are still quiet. It’s an easy outing for guests who arrive a day early.
Marianna calls both landmarks “very emblematic, well worth seeing too.”
Photo: Jardin Majorelle
“Marrakech is an explosion of flavor, of culture, of emotion, the kind that makes your heart stay there,” Marianna says. “It’s a place you feel with your soul; it’s passionate, it’s something you experience rather than just witness. It’s not a trivial place, not somewhere you can just say, ‘I had my wedding there.’ It’s a place that stays tattooed on your body.”
If the desert is calling, two Agafay camps made our list of the world’s most stunning desert wedding venues. BE Agafay is the polished pick, with luxury tents and an oasis pool. Scarabeo is its more nomadic counterpart, all canvas tents, lanterns and Gnawa music by the fire.
Photo: Ilyass Nazih
