I should've really mentioned that the Hip-Hop on Strings Covered East & West Coast Hip-Hop from Nas to J-Zay; and ATCQ (A Tribe Called Quest) and of course Bigge & Pac. West Coast was Dr. Dre, Snoop Dog, and closed out wit' Coolio... I think that's it but over all it was a dope (good) show! read more

St. Francis Hall - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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Saw the Lord of the rings candle light show and the venue was enchanting. Great music and and welcoming staff. If you need a relaxing date night idea I highly recommend checking this place out. Seats could be more comfortable but it is a minor point. read more

St. Francis Hall - Violin quartet performing - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Beautiful event space that is both elegant, historic, and classic. They also have convenient parking and a beautiful garden right across the street. I've been to a number of events here and have always walked away appreciating the beauty and adaptability of the venue. read more

We attended a musical performance spotlighting hits from the show Bridgerton. It was a great performance. The musicians did an incredible job. The venue was simple and well organized for the event. The decor was very elegant. There are free parking lots for the hall as well. Street parking available too. read more

St. Francis Hall - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

We had our wedding here on 9-17-22, and we were thrilled with how everything went! First of all, Edward is amazing. He helped with so many logistical questions, and he remained calm, cool and collected through any of our planning nervousness. He really set us up for success. Miranda also helped a ton on the night of! The next part speaks for itself: the hall is beautiful! The exposed brick and hanging chandeliers make for a magical environment. Not much additional decor is needed to turn the space into the perfect wedding atmosphere. The monastery gardens across the street are available for portraits with your photographer. Note: the gardens close at 5pm! Such a beautiful venue! We could not be more pleased. We hosted 177 guests, and the spacing was perfect. read more

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I went here for a candle light show. I will review the location. The location was nice and grand. The decor and feel went really well with an intimate setting. The place was very clean and comfortable to sit in. The restrooms were quite a ways a way downstairs. Might not be too accessible for others. I am looking forward to going to other events hosted here. read more

Most relevant for summer weddings but some general feedback as provided to them with update. Many I statements as this is mostly from the feedback I sent them Temperature outside The outdoor space was not at all "completely shaded" and had not been since morning. It was sunny/hot and I'm told someone almost passed out. (When deciding venue I was told it would be completely shaded). Temperature inside It was hot. We had to request a few times that the AC temperate be lowered as people were still fanning themselves/sweating inside. The heat, even indoors, had people leaving early.  From a planning and health standpoint, when I walked out and saw the sun/heat in which the guests were in I made the decision to shift portions of the ceremony indoors because it was so hot/sunny. I'd also heard someone almost passed out, which just set a tone of worry for me that the guests might've physically not been ok. Given the high temps of that day but also generally a of late I'm not sure if there's a heat plan just as I'm sure there's one for rain. I do realize the high temps outside of the Hall's control, but knowing that guests would have been in the sun/high temps would have changed my planning and perhaps should the venue's. I was also sad to see that the flowers had not yet bloomed so maybe less assurance for other prospective brides on that, which I understand also outside the halls control.. (I was told the flowers would have bloomed, for sure) Decor The majority of my rose/vases/candles were not used. I paid for and had to source that quantity for a specific look that was not achieved. (unsure if this their issue or the Day of Vendor Duarte LLC whom they recommended. From my understanding they'd be working together) St. Francis We were looking forward to gift from St. Francis even if not the oils, but nothing. No biggie here but unsure why it was mentioned if wouldn't be given.   Staffing I don't know that I saw any of the staff on site during the event besides Pedro's which might have helped with some of the gaps (To correct I did see Edward briefly removing the string lights as the tables were being set up with a plan different than the agreed upon so we spoke then. Never saw again for the ceremony/reception)   Fransiscan monastery-  Across the street was not solely for us to use as there were people walking/running around on the upper and lower level. (I was told only we'd have use of the space) Access I had been dreaming of taking pictures in the space that looks like a cave. It literally was the one space that Id sent our photographer, but the gate was locked and we had to adjust our entire photography plan. Several other spaces the gates were locked as well Reflection I send this knowing you all have been paid, have moved on to other weddings and probably don't care. Financially we paid for this wedding from our savings and it was a stretch for us... So to have so many missteps from decor items, food and drinks unused, being unable to use the spaces as we were told/envisioned, discomfort of our guests is difficult to be left with... - As an update I emailed to let them shortly after the wedding with mostly the above. Edwards offered to talk but his response seemed to gaslight me and frankly I was still distraught and still am about how poorly it turned out. He said something to the effect of sorry.. things that I felt wrong. Months later I responded again to let him know I was interested in speaking with Edward and a refund. He promptly responded apologizing that I was still feeling that way and recommended I speak with Cara who upon calling immediately told me their books were closed, a refund wouldn't be issued and they'll be sure to make sure clients know to have a contingency plan for the heat. Lol really? From my multipronged email this was the highlight??? Additionally the two work closer I'm sure than is let on. I'm sure he knew this would be her response based on how her role and their working relationship described but good cop/bad cop approach. Anyway I paid 9k for the space (price seems to vary), about 6 k for Duarte LLC whom they partner with/whom we also had issues with but that's another story for another day. The venue is BEAUTIFUL and sells itself but please be careful of these areas, be sure to discuss in detail if moving forward with them, and get it all in writing, including these details. They were nice and allowed longer venue access so another plus read more

This venue does not allow LGBTQ couples to host ceremonies in their space. Be an ally to the LGBTQ community and please look elsewhere for your wedding venue. We are a heterosexual couple who toured their venue and were seriously considering booking the event space. We were shocked to learn through a post on PopVille that queer couples aren't allowed to host their wedding ceremonies at St. Francis Hall. We emailed St. Francis to ask if this was their policy, and St. Francis confirmed. I suspect that many straight couples who book this space do not know about this policy, and would not support it if they knew. I had wished I'd seen this policy before we toured and seriously considered the idea, and hope this review can help others who would not support this learn sooner rather than later. read more

Rented St. Francis Hall for an anniversary celebration in 2017. All aspects from set up to closure were handled with care and concern. The venue is gorgeous! read more

We couldn't have dreamed of a better spot for our special day! So many of our guests told us the venue was perfect and we couldn't agree more. Lead up to the day was so easy. The team at St. Francis is so relaxed and professional. Coordinating with them is a breeze and if you ever get stuck in the process, they are there to help. We loved the cocktail hour on the balcony and it was super cute and easy for our guests to go to the ceremony to the right of the venue. We got amazing pictures in the gardens next door with our photographer! And the hall itself was so comfortable and fun for our reception. They have set lighting that is already there and is super cute. The stage is easy and you can easily move your ceremony indoors if there is rain on your big day. St. Francis knows basically every vendor in town and their skills coordinating with vendors are really outstanding. We used their vendor list on their website to find PIGS catering, ACE beverage service to drop off and pick up unused alcohol, Ashlee Wilcox photography, Bialek's music for a DJ, and Petal's Edge florals and day of coordination. Super super easy. B Lin catering also works there often and charges a decent rate. There's a parking lot your guests and vendors can easily access. Our guests easily ubered to the venue. Compared to many other vendors we looked at, St. Francis charges very reasonable rates. read more

Beautiful space. Beautiful place. Across the street from the Franciscan Monastery - with history and gardens and places to meditate and worship and simply BE. ST. FRANCIS HALL is accessible, and open and bright and an amazing venue for an event. We enjoyed a lovely wedding and reception there this week. I have been to the monastery for decades (and more decades). I used to pray and play here on the 1960s and 70s. I used to bring my middle school students here for field trips in the 1980s. I used to bring my children here - to feel God - in the 1980s and 90s and early 2000s. In 2014, the 10 year anniversary of my son (Mattie J.T. Stepanek) was celebrated here. And now - I celebrated the vows of commitment and marriage here, at a lovely ceremony, at St. Francis Hall. Highly recommend. read more

Went to w wedding here. Great venue for any gathering. They set it up based on the bride and grooms needs and had some great space to make it extraordinary! read more

It's been said, SFH is a hidden gem and it's true. When you get there and walk inside the Hall as especially around the Monestary grounds and gardens, you're transformed to another world. Forget you're in DC. We fell in love with it the moment we stepped foot here, so we booked it for our wedding reception. Considering it's in DC, the rental fee is really reasonable and includes tables and chairs. The other pluses to this venue: You can lay it out however you'd like, bring in your own caterer and alcohol, and there's a TON of parking. The venue is run by 2 part-time staff: Cara who runs the paperwork side from home & Pedro who is on-site for walk throughs and during events. When we first looked at the venue, we met Xhemil whom we heard great things about, but we never saw him again after that. We're not sure what happened to him, but he seemed to run a tight ship, which is what previous reviewers on WeddingWire had said. Given the part-time staff, we tried to work in advance of deadlines. Unfortunately, we still had a lot of problems with communication throughout the process leading up to and even after the wedding. Cara and Pedro do not seem to communicate because she wasn't aware that we had conducted our walk through 3 months before the wedding. She also followed up and asked for paperwork and requirements that we'd already sent her. Given that, I will say that Cara was always very nice and pleasant to work with. For our walk through, I'd told Cara a few days before that were planning on going so she could give them a heads up since you can't make an appointment (instead you go during a scheduled open house). Pedro was there, had no idea we were coming, & wasn't able to answer several of our questions that we had. On our wedding day, Katie (our wedding coordinator) later told us that it was really difficult to find Pedro, and, after her and her assistant had, he'd told them he was going out for a couple of hours so he wouldn't be available. Several of the things he was supposed to do before the reception started wasn't done - even things as simple as turning on the decorative lights. When you're the on-site person for a venue DURING an event, how can you say that you won't be available during it?! I don't understand. After the wedding, Katie and our caterer did a walk through with Pedro to ensure everything was okay (per SFH's requirements). Unfortunately, St. Francis Hall has no paper trail for this - such as a checklist marking off everything that is okay and noting any potential damage with present parties. Instead it's he said/she said. Even though we had a month until we received our deposit back, we'd contacted Cara two weeks after the wedding to see if there had been any issues. She told us no, that everything was good to go. Katie confirmed this too. However, we then received a notice a few days later that there was a single broken wooden window slate, and they were going to charge us over $200 to repair it! Since my father's name was on the contract, he corresponded with Friar, who was dismissive and rude when my father was simply trying to get an explanation as to why this was only now coming up when we'd been given the clear. We finally caved and stopped pushing the Friar when he threatened to never allow Katie or our caterer to work at their venue again. We didn't think this was fair, so we backed off. Strangely, we still got our full deposit back after the month. As you can tell, there is a serious lack of communication and processes in place for St. Francis Hall. It's really a shame because it's so beautiful and we did have an amazing wedding reception here, and our photos came out incredible. I hope things improve and change here as the venue has so much potential, and it's also getting more popular as more people are discovering it. So 5 stars for the uniqueness and beauty of the venue and property, but deducted two stars for the unnecessary stress added due to the disorganization and lack of communication on SFH side. read more

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We had our wedding here on 5/18/19. The staff at St. Francis Hall, in particular Cara and Edward were phenomenal in helping us to store items overnight and complete important steps promptly. The location is beautiful and unique gem tucked away in busy DC. We received compliments during and after the wedding about how memorable and beautiful the location is. The inside is exactly like a castle hall, much like the Hogwarts great hall could be imagined! We had 132 guests and the hall was the perfect size, but could easily fit up to 200. The outside balcony was a perfect cocktail hour location for that many guests. We highly recommend Puttin' On the Ritz catering if you go with this location. They know the ins and outs so well in coordination with St. Francis Hall's unique needs that they make it seamless! read more

I've seen two fantastic weddings here! Beautiful architecture inside. The side lawn was great for an outdoor ceremony, and the built-in stage was perfect for the live band. read more

I would have to say SFH was an amazing find in DC and loved having our wedding there! It wasn't always easy communicating with Cara, Pedro then someone else for the pictures and then someone else for the something else.. They should try to be a bit more organized but all in all everything went well and I would recommend this area for anyone who wants to get out of the cliche hotel wedding style! read more