Lightner Museum

As a VENUE: Host your event…

The crown jewel of St. Augustine wedding venues! In the heart of historic downtown St. Augustine proudly stands an iconic treasure, and one of the city’s most exquisite wedding venues, the Lightner Museum. Originally opened in 1888 by Henry M. Flagler as the grand Hotel Alcazar, the Lightner Museum has played host to the city’s most regal celebrations for over 130 years. Art, culture, and romance emanate through the multiple indoor and outdoor venue spaces available for your wedding or event. These unique spaces provide the ability to accommodate intimate wedding ceremonies and receptions for 50, or grand events for up to 250 guests. This makes the Lightner Museum not only one of the most elegant St Augustine wedding venues, but one of the most versatile as well! Five distinctive renatal spaces are offered:

• Historic Pool: With its majestic three-story ceiling and twin grand staircases, the Historic Pool creates an immersive experience for you and your guests. Host a romantic wedding ceremony on the lower level, inside what was once the world’s largest indoor swimming pool. While your guests enjoy cocktail hour in one of our other stunning locations, the Pool transforms into the perfect reception to suit your vision and style–be it vintage, modern, casual, or extravagant. With incredible versatility, the only limit to this stunning venue is your imagination.
  • Capacity: Seated Ceremony – 250 guests; Cocktail Style – 250 guests; Seated Banquet – 110 guests
• Mezzanine: After your wedding ceremony, take the party upstairs to the Mezzanine. The second level above the Historic Pool provides the perfect space for cocktails or dinner service. Guests are able to view the venue from a completely different perspective throughout the evening–without ever being too far from the action on the dance floor! There are several areas where you can set up your sweetheart table, food stations, guest book table, or memory table. When you are ready for your cake cutting and speeches, the Mezzanine also provides a unique viewing perspective for these special moments.
  • Capacity: Seated Banquet – 250 guests
• Outdoor Terrace: Located just off of the Historic Pool’s second-floor Mezzanine is the spacious Outdoor Terrace. Most often used during cocktail hour, the Terrace is the perfect location for guests to enjoy a little bit of Florida sunshine before dancing the night away inside the Historic Pool. Are you looking for an outdoor location to host your wedding ceremony? The secluded Outdoor Terrace allows you to take advantage of the incredible exterior architecture of the Lightner Museum. When it comes time to ride off into the sunset, the staircase of the Outdoor Terrace is the ideal place to stage your Grand Exit.
  • Capacity: Cocktail Style – 200 guests; Seated Ceremony – 150 guests; Grand Exit – 250 guests
• Grand Lobby & First Level Exhibits: With sparkling crystal chandeliers, intricate mosaic tile flooring, and eight majestic arched windows, the Grand Lobby of the Lightner Museum is a show-stopping event space. Perfect for cocktail hour, the Grand Lobby looks out onto three manicured private courtyards. The central courtyard, with its charming stone bridge over a rippling Koi pond, makes a beautiful entryway for guest arrival and an ideal backdrop for photographs. Depending on your guest count, the first floor of the museum’s eclectic collection of antiquities may also be available for your guests to enjoy. * If you are hosting your wedding ceremony off-site, the Grand Lobby & First Level Exhibits can be added on as your cocktail hour for an additional fee.
  • Capacity: Cocktail Style – 250 guests
• Private Suites: Included in your rental of the Lightner Museum is access to our two elegantly appointed private suites, the Maria Jefferson Lounge & Otto Lightner Lounge. With easy access to the Historic Pool and Mezzanine, the suites are the perfect locations to do final preparations before you say “I do.” The gents can challenge each other to a game of darts or foosball, or relax on the ultra-plush sectional while they catch a game on the big screen TV. The ladies can make sure to do all of those last-minute hair and makeup touch-ups, slip on their gorgeous gowns, and sip on champagne while taking photos.

Support the Lightner Museum …by simply booking your next special occasion here:
https://weddings.lightnermuseum.org/

As a SHOP: Discover unique gifts…

The Lightner Museum Store is a veritable cabinet of curiosities. Come in and shop from a carefully curated selection of specialty items inspired by the Museum’s compelling collections and its iconic building, the former Hotel Alcazar. Merchandise is catalogued within these collections: * Lightner Museum Gifts * Art + Science * Clothing + Accessories, and * Local Jewelry.

Support the Lightner Museum …by simply purchasing your specialty merchandise here:
https://lightnermuseum.org/museum-store/

As an EATERY: Food for thought…

For a unique dining experience, visit the Café Alcazar directly behind the Museum. This elegant eatery is located in the former indoor swimming pool of the Alcazar Hotel, the largest in the world at its time.

Support the Lightner Museum …by simply dining here:
https://www.thealcazarcafe.com/cafe-alcazar/

Be a DONOR: Show that you care…

Membership:

Your membership gives you full access to the Lightner Museum’s exhibitions and programs. It also supports everything we do at the museum, from dynamic exhibitions and engaging K-12 education programs, to the preservation of our historic building and collections. Join today and become part of the Lightner Museum community. Memberships at specified levels are offered: * St. Johns County Pass * Individual * Dual * Household * Sponsor * Patron, and * Benefactor.

Donations:

Support the Lightner Museum by giving a donation. All donations and admission fees help support the museum’s restoration projects, programming, exhibitions, and renovations.

• Planned Giving: The Lightner Museum has been a fixture in St. Augustine since it was built as the Alcazar Hotel in 1888. Regardless of the size of your estate, a legacy gift can secure the museum for future generations. The Lightner Museum is grateful to those patrons and friends who consider making provisions for the museum in their estate plans. There are many ways a planned gift to the museum can be mutually beneficial to the donor and the institution. Whether you are thinking about establishing an endowment or leaving a lasting legacy through a bequest, your generosity will have a transformative impact on our work – today and far into the future. Adopt an Artifact: The Lightner Museum is excited to share new items available for adoption through the Museum’s Adopt an Artifact program. The Lightner Museum Adopt an Artifact program allows donors to choose items in the museum’s collection selected by the curator to restore. The “adoption” can be given as a gift, or in memory of a loved one.
  • Bequests: A bequest is a gift made through your will or trust. It is one of the most popular and flexible ways that you can support our cause. You can create a permanent legacy by leaving a bequest of a specific amount of cash, a percentage of your estate or the remainder of your estate to the Lightner Museum.
  • Charitable Gift Annuity: A charitable gift annuity is an agreement between you and the Lightner Museum that provides you with regular fixed payments annually for life in exchange for transferring assets to the Museum. You will get a charitable deduction in the year of your gift, and for a certain number of years a portion of your income will be tax-free.
  • Charitable Remainder Trusts: Charitable remainder trusts allow you to make a gift to the Museum and at the same time retain a benefit from the assets you give. These separately managed trusts can be tailored to meet your financial goals with respect to the payout rate, type of income stream (variable or fixed), and payment schedule. To establish a remainder trust, you make an irrevocable contribution of cash, securities, or other property, which is placed in trust. The trust pays an income stream to one or more named beneficiaries (which can include you) for life and/or for a set term of years (not to exceed 20), and the Museum receives the right to principal as a remainder interest. Establishing such a trust generally entitles you to claim an immediate income-tax charitable deduction.
  • Life Insurance or Retirement Plan Assets: When the Lightner Museum is named a beneficiary of a life insurance policy, any premiums paid qualify for charitable income tax deductions. Naming the Museum as a beneficiary of all or part of your retirement plan proceeds is one of the most cost-effective ways of making a gift and will protect those assets from both income and estate taxes.
  • Real Estate: In reviewing proposed real estate gifts, the Lightner Museum considers the amount the Museum would receive after liquidation and payment of expenses, the prospect for immediate sale, the property’s location, and consistency within the Museum’s mission. Donor must provide an appraisal conducted within the past 60 days, a title search, and a level one environmental survey.
  • Promised Gift of Art: Lightner Museum staff will be happy to discuss with you the process of making a promised gift of art to the Museum. Works enter the collection after careful review by the Museum’s curators and board members. All accepted new works reflect our mission, vision, and values.
  • IRA Charitable Distribution: IRA Charitable Distribution is a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) is generally a nontaxable distribution made directly by the trustee of your IRA (other than a SEP or SIMPLE IRA) to an organization eligible to receive tax deductible contributions.

Volunteer: Share your passion. Connect with people. Volunteer with us. Volunteering at the Lightner Museum is an incredible opportunity to join a diverse community of like-minded individuals, learn new skills, and support one of St. Augustine’s most unique museums. Volunteers have a tremendous impact at the Lightner, and we rely on their wide range of skills, friendly faces, and can-do attitudes. Volunteers act as gallery guides, lead tours of our collection and historic building, assist in the Museum Store, provide visitors with the information they need to explore the museum, and a whole host of other activities. In addition to an enriching experience, volunteers receive other benefits including free admission to the Lightner Museum and many area attractions, discounts in the Museum Store, and more.

Support the Lightner Museum …by simply joining, giving, and volunteering here:
https://lightnermuseum.org/membership-2/