About this vendor
Formerly a Catholic church, this beautifully-restored, 1847 venue is located in the heart of historic downtown Wilmington, North Carolina. Our exposed brick walls, stained glass windows, high ceilings and loft make Saint Thomas a perfect backdrop for your wedding festivities. We are fully-equipped for ceremonies and receptions for up to 200 seated guests. Our rental rate includes tables and chairs and use of the facility for 18 hours so that you can set up and decorate all day at no extra charge. Our venue includes a downstairs cocktail hour space indoors, as well as an outdoor patio space with plenty of tree coverage and ivy growing up and along the building. St. Thomas Preservation Hall features a full bridal suite & lounge, plus a separate groom room!
Amenities + details
Ceremony Area
Dressing Room
Indoor Event Space
Liability Insurance
Outdoor Event Space
Reception Area
Wireless Internet
Covered Outdoors Space
Handicap Accessible
On-Site Accommodations
Ceremony Types
- Civil Union
- Commitment Ceremony
- Elopement
- Interfaith Ceremony
- Non-Religious Ceremony
- Religious Ceremony
Settings
- Ballroom
- Garden
- Historic Venue
- Loft
- Religious Setting
- Trees
Venue Service Offerings
- Bar & Drinks
- Food & Catering
- Planning
- Rentals & Equipment
- Service Staff
Awards and Affiliations
2023 'Best of Weddings'
Best of Weddings
The Knot independently assesses vendors for this award—it’s never self-reported. We base it on firsthand experiences from real couples and guests, and they must have a 4.5-star average across 7+ reviews in the qualifying year.
Reviews
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4.9
out of 5.030 reviews
The venue is absolutely stunning. We had a beautiful wedding here in July 2022. We did our wedding and reception here and I did not have any issues on the day of. On the night of t...
he rehearsal dinner, we noticed a few leaks from a torrential rain that evening. When I called them, they arrived almost instantaneously and cleaned up. My only complaint is that they pretend like you are able to use any catering or alcohol vendor that you want but that is really not the case. In their contract are astronomical fees to use anyone else besides their own in-house caterer because they are owned by the city club.
St. Thomas was so amazing! I hosted a wedding here & it this venue is truly a gem! Shannon was a saint! She was super helpful with the process & the supporting staff were phenomena...
l! I would 100% do another wedding here!
My friend just had her wedding here a couple weeks ago and it was absolutely beautiful. The food was excellent and the venue itself was stunning. Thank you so much to the staff and...
team that helped put this wedding together, it couldn't have been more perfect!!
Attended a wedding here on 06/18/22 and was completely blown away by the service staff and venue! It’s a true gem in downtown Wilmington!!
You will not regret choosing St. Thomas! This venue is absolutely stunning it does not need many decorations because it is so beautiful in itself. Off season is affordable! They ha...
ve a catering package and provide wonderful hours. The staff is so sweet and great to work with! Would 100% choose St. Thomas again and again. Could not recommend a venue more!
I loved this venue! Roxanne was amazing and kept everything on schedule and helped me to finalize any last minute details. The venue is gorgeous all on its own so not much decorati...
ng was needed! It was also perfect to have our ceremony and reception in the same place and we were super close to the river walk of downtown, which was great for pictures.
We had our wedding reception at St Thomas this December and it was great. The venue is an old church that has a lot great character and very beautiful! The downstairs area provided...
a great spot to get ready at on the day of and there was a separate room we were able to set up lunch for that day as well. Poppy, the day of coordinator, was absolutely awesome! She never made us felt like were bothering her when asking questions or communicating about the wedding reception prior to. She had the table layout completed early in the week and allowed us to drop everything off a few days early so that we would not feel rushed. She helped coordinate the first look at The City Club next door, and made sure all of our items were packed up after the event. I could go on, but ultimately a beautiful venue with excellent day of coordinator services!
My husband and I absolutely loved getting married in Saint Thomas. It is a stunning building, so it didn't require much decor. We loved that we could have the ceremony and receptio...
n all in one place, and that it was indoor, since we had our wedding in August. It is a great location, so there are lots of places for beautiful photos. The whole day I felt like I was in a dream because of how beautiful it all looked. We were able to have our rehearsal the night before our wedding, but Heather would have worked out a separate time to meet with me if it was booked. Heather also answered any of the questions I had in a timely manner that made everything go so smoothly! Having the chairs and tables included in the venue was also a big bonus!
Saint Thomas Preservation Hall is beautiful. Heather and Poppy were extremely help and always available to answers any questions I had. It was great being able to have both the cer...
emony, cocktail hour and reception at the same location and all of it inside. On my wedding day, I needed something, we called Heather and she took care of it immediately, even on her day off. Great venue and Great staff.
Beautiful venue and the staff was very helpful week of the wedding! We felt like we got a lot of bang for our buck being able to bring in our own vendors! Beautiful place for a wed...
ding in Wilmington!
What an absolutely beautiful place to have a wedding!! St. Thomas preservation hall was the perfect place for us... not only is the building gorgeous, but the staff is great, and t...
he location is unbeatable! I hired Heather as our day of coordinator and she made sure everything ran smoothly and had the room looking fantastic the whole night! She was a joy to work with, and knows the space well so is able to answer any questions or concerns you have! Heather was also very accommodating when I asked to take photos at the City Club and asked to have the cocktail hour outside on the driveway... she made both things happen without batting an eye! The only downside to the venue is that the bathrooms are down a flight of stairs but other than that, we could not have asked for a better place to say "I do!" Thank you so much for everything!!
Saint Thomas is a gorgeous venue, inside and out. Heather is beyond amazing! From start to finish of planning and throughout the wedding she was very knowledgeable, helpful, organi...
zed, and lifted so much off our shoulders in terms of the day of. I highly recommend her services if utilizing Saint Thomas. Poppy, all of the staff, and bartenders were fantastic as well. I couldn't have asked for a better day and people to work with!
Great space and amazing staff who was so helpful and great!
Absolutely gorgeous venue! It gives the vibe of a church without actually being one (was an old Catholic church) plus it can handle ceremony and reception all under one roof. I am ...
so happy with my choice of venue, never did I expect to get so many compliments on the beauty of the venue alone! You don't even need to worry about decorations since the place is so stunning on its own. The coordination service they provide is also out of this world - Heather was AMAZING and did so much the day of and the days leading up to our wedding, we would have been lost without her.
A must!!!! This venue is gorgeous and they left me with nothing to do on my end for the day of. They had everything set up just the way I wanted and it comes with tables and chairs...
. They allowed me to view the space multiple times throughout my engagement when I was planning. They are very helpful and respond very quickly to emails. I love this venue and would use it all over again. The bridal suite is so gorgeous and gave me and my girls the perfect spot to get ready.
My daughter and her fiancé got married at St. Thomas and had the reception there. I can't even begin to tell you how amazing everything was. The natural beauty of the venue means ...
you don't have to do a lot to make it beautiful. Just some candles and flowers is really all you need. The staff worked so hard to ensure everything was perfect. And the food, from City Club, was delicious. It's been three months since the wedding and the guests are still talking about how beautiful it was.
We were thrilled to have our reception at Saint Thomas! It is the most gorgeous wedding venue, and we instantly fell in love with the historical charm of the building. Heather wa...
s also very helpful in answering our questions and helping us ensure our vision was carried out.
This venue was my dream come true! St. Thomas offers a beautiful ceremony space and a downstairs room for cocktail hour while they flip the ceremony space for the reception. It wil...
l cost extra for the St. Thomas staff to set up, flip, an tear down the room. Heather, with St. Thomas, is wonderful if you are looking for a day of coordinator. She knows the venue and many vendors so well. I didn't have to worry about anything the week before or the day of. I highly suggest using her for the day of coordinator. There is also an ample kitchen for the caterers and downstairs is a beautiful bridal suite for the ladies to all get ready. We loved every part of St. Thomas, from the gorgeous architecture to the efficiency of the staff. It's a win.
Saint Thomas Preservation Hall is beautiful! I live out of town and was unable to visit any of the Wilmington wedding venues before picking one. I picked STPH and honestly it is tr...
ue to the photos. The rental hours are ideal and allow the wedding reception to last later than other venues. You can bring your own alcohol and choose your own vendors, which was important to us. I had read previous reviews and was worried about it being too hot (especially in late June), but if you keep the doors shut during the day then it isn't bad. The only downside was that Poppy was a bit difficult to get ahold of and didn't provide much help in terms of advice.
Saint Thomas was my dream wedding venue! Charming, has character, tall stained glass windows. It is absolutely gorgeous (you can get away with very little decoration because it is ...
pretty all on its own)!
We had our ceremony & reception at the Saint Thomas Preservation Hall. The beauty of the building speaks for itself. Many of our guests spoke about how the building took their br...
eath away when they walked in. It works well to have the cocktail hour downstairs during the "flip" of the main hall if you choose to have everything in one location. The only discouraging thing to me was that it was often difficult to get in touch with the person that manages the property. I would send emails and leave voice messages and it would take days, sometimes weeks to hear back.
If you are looking for a venue for both the ceremony and reception look no further. We loved using this venue for our wedding. Deedy was very easy to work with and answered every...
question we had. She even allowed us to visit numerous times so we could decide on table placement and also for our wedding rehearsal.
We had the place from 10am until the next morning if needed. They set up the seating for the ceremony and the place was spotless when we arrived.
The only complaint we could possibly has was the lack of parking and the city trying to ticket our guests while parked in designated St. Thomas spots. We got the tickets settled but it was a bit annoying.
Overall a great venue at a great price.
Saint Thomas was by far the best bang for your buck in the Wilmington, NC market. For $1950 we had access to the venue from 9am-3am, tables & chairs and set up of the layout at my...
request. The venue also is one of the larger venues in Wilmington which was one point we wanted to stick to - having everyone in one room without losing the historical appeal of Downtown Wilmington. My only complaint is that St Thomas advertises that they can seat 200 for a buffet style dinner - this is true, but only if you utilize both the upstairs area, and the stage. I would say this venue is perfect for events for ~150 people.
This venue is absolutely beautiful and was the perfect backdrop for my wedding. However, they were not always easy to get up with and did not notify me about substantial changes to...
the venue. They retiled the floor just weeks before my wedding but never mentioned it.
We had our ceremony and reception at Sant Thomas. It was such a beautiful space that we didn't have to do much in the way of decorations which saved money. The old church has so mu...
ch character everyone talked about how perfect it was. They have done some updates in the past few years especially downstairs so the cocktail hour room is nice and so is the room for the bride to get married in with its own private bathroom. That was wonderful to be able to hang out there instead of having to rush from one place to another on the morning of our wedding. The staff was helpful and friendly and prompt in their responses to my inquiries. They have options of round and rectangular tables and white and brown chairs. I would recommend this space to everyone
Excellent venue. We had the ceremony and reception all in one place. Very convenient for our out of town guests.
LOVE this venue! I did a lot of shopping around in Wilmington before selecting because I am very frugal. They offer extended hours for your payment (in other words, unlike most pl...
aces only giving it to you for a few hours, you have it for over 14 hours!)
The only drawback was that you cannot change the temp. bc they have a lockbox on it and I was burning up.
I used Saint Thomas Preservation Hall for both my ceremony and reception space. It was beautiful! Our guests could not stop raving about what an amazing space it was. The decor i...
s wonderful and the space is so unique that minimal decoration is required. We were able to have the space for the entire day and decorate as we saw fit. We were also able to bring in any vendor of our choice and our own alcohol which was a cost saver. I would recommend this space to any bride. We were thrilled with it!
We had our reception at Saint Thomas in April and loved it! Our reception was fair/carnival theme and the brick and stained glass of Saint Thomas was the perfect compliment. Also, ...
the rental is for 24 hours and the place is big enough to have both the ceremony and reception. Everyone loved our reception site and got a lot of compliments. Would definitely recommend.
My wedding was scheduled for 8/27/11. The ceremony was supposed to be at a different site, with the reception to follow at Saint Thomas Preservation Hall. On 8/25 we found out our ...
groomsmen had to report to work for the entire weekend due to Hurricane Irene preparations. So we decided to have the wedding ceremony a day early if we could arrange it since all of our guests were already in town. It only took one phone call to St. Thomas, I explained the situation and they helped me make all the arrangements necessary THE DAY BEFORE the ceremony. They were easily reachable by phone, had staff available to do any set up that was needed, and the venue itself is gorgeous - it's an old church, has stained glass windows, a balcony, and an altar area. My guests were amazed that this was our "backup" plan and not our original site. I would HIGHLY recommend using them to anyone that asked.
Contact
208 Dock Street, Wilmington, NC
Saint Thomas Preservation Hall