St. John Event Center

to host the cocktail hour and reception. We decided on SJEC after checking with other local venues ( country clubs, hotels etc ). Many of these places have tight restrictions ( you are not allowed to bring your own sweet table and strict time restraints). We rented the center for the entire day 8:00am to 12:00am. We were able to get the bride, moms and bridesmaids ready in the kafenio. I appreciated the blank canvas of this venue as we were able to personalize our event as we wanted. We hired our own caterer, DJ, photographer, wedding planner, cake and musicians for cocktail hour. We used the large island in the kafenio as the bar during cocktail hour . The large ballroom is beautiful with plenty of space for buffet line, sweet table, DJ, photo booth and cake table with plenty of room for guests to mingle around. They even have there own dance floor for rent at half the price party rentals charge!Serena ( site coordinator ) was kind, accommodating and easy to work with. There was a support staff available all day as well as an off duty police officer during party time(at your expense ). I cannot say enough about how beautiful the center is. It was perfect for our vision of an absolutely amazing wedding celebration.

commodating enabling us to use the outside ceremony area for rehearsal and escape the heat into the Kafenio – we were lucky that there was not another event that day which would have prevented that. The following day, we spent the morning having the girls' hair and makeup done in the Kafenio and made full use of the bridal and groom suites. After a beautiful ceremony in the courtyard, where the bride and groom stood in front of the fountain, we returned to the Kafenio for the cocktail hour. We setup the bar in the bright, airy space on the beautiful, enormous granite/marble island. We put up static food stations adjacent to the bar and we also had roving servers offering hors d'oeuvres to our guests. The stations were beautiful as we used the raw-edge wood tables onsite. Following, the reception was held in the ballroom. As fine if not better than any ballroom in the area, the space was beautiful, bright during the day and well-lit in the evening. Lighting was able to be dimmed as needed for dancing. The full-kitchen provided ample prep and clean up space for our caterer. And notably, the bathrooms are very spacious and beautifully maintained. Overall, the space provided the perfect backdrop for the day's events. Moreover, the service was impeccable. From booking just several months ago, to follow up the day after the wedding, St. John's staff was helpful, friendly, and willing to work with us to meet our needs. Sharon filled in while an event manager was being secured, and she was very communicative and helpful during the early planning stages. Being a bit nervous because the onsite event manager was hired just a couple weeks before our event, we can not say enough about Serena's attention to detail, her pleasant demeanor, her ability to be available when needed but willingness to allow the space to be ours for the night. She was unobtrusive, but ready to lend a hand. Peter, likewise, was knowledgeable about the space and also nearby for assistance if needed. But truth-be-told, we really did not need anything. The venue was just perfect from ease of access to climate-controlled spaces. The only downside was that we needed to provide sound for the outdoor ceremony (I believe they are planning to make that available in the future) and our DJ decided not to use the onsite sound system in the ballroom thinking it wasn't quite adequate for our needs. But for others it may be just fine. Neither of these were issues that a coordinator or DJ won't be able to help with for future clients. One other small downside is that the areas for outdoor photography are somewhat limited, but creative photographers will figure out how to make it work. I HIGHLY recommend St. Johns for your upcoming event! I am sure they will become a KEY, sought-after Jacksonville venue and I wish them great success because they were FABULOUS!