In this article I describe eleven of my favorite wedding venues near Raleigh, NC. One of the first steps of wedding planning is choosing a venue. It’s important to pick a venue early on, because having a venue allows you to officially set your date. Once you have this, you’ll know for sure when and where your wedding will be! (Exciting right?!) Not only that, the venue also sets the tone for your wedding style. It’s basically the foundation to your wedding planning.
That being said, choosing your wedding venue can be daunting. There are so many great options in the Raleigh-Durham area. According to a google search, there are over 57 wedding venues in Raleigh alone! Now I’m not sure how accurate that actually is, as many places can double as a wedding venue and something else, but you get the idea. To help you narrow down your list, I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorite venues near Raleigh, Durham, and the surrounding areas.
These venues are listed alphabetically, not ranked by favorites. You can use this list to jump to a favorite, or just keep scrolling to see them all.
- The Barn of Chapel Hill
- The Bradford
- The Cotton Room
- The Graham Mill
- Highgrove Estate
- Market Hall & The Grove at City Market
- The Maxwell
- The Merrimon-Wynne House
- Pinehill Pavilion
- The Stockroom at 230 & The Glass Box
- The Upchurch
The Barn at Chapel Hill
The Barn of Chapel Hill is a gorgeous wedding venue where modern and barn-style meet! It is one of the farther venues on this list, just under an hour west of Raleigh, but it is well worth the drive. The Barn of Chapel Hill began as a floral farm, Wild Flora Farm, and they became a wedding venue with the addition of a renovated barn in 2016. They continue their floral legacy with an in-house floral design team. Trust me, this floral team, does an amazing job! Elaborate floral arrangements are their thing!
On top of the to-die-for florals, this venue features a bridal suite with plenty of natural light, a getting-ready cabin for the guys, a covered porch and lawn, and a garden patio. Another nice feature of the Barn at Chapel Hill is heat and a/c! Some barn venues rely on fans or space heaters, which can make summer and winter weddings tough, but the Barn at Chapel Hill is great year-round.
The images I feature here today were captured while shooting alongside Danielle Pressley Photography. I just couldn’t pass up showing you this décor!
The Bradford
The Bradford is a charming European-style wedding venue near Raleigh. It is located in New Hill, NC, just about a half hour south of Raleigh. The venue is incredibly picturesque! Even though the house is less than ten years old, it was designed to feel like a historic home in the English countryside.
The Bradford features a main house with several bedrooms and a kitchen to sleep the bridal party for the entire weekend. There is also a space for the guys to stay and get ready above the ballroom complete with games and TV. (That way the guys don’t go off anywhere when you need them!) Let me tell you, these rooms are nicer than any hotel in the area!
The venue has several areas for ceremonies and receptions including a grand ballroom, a smaller connected room with a bar area, a terrace courtyard, and a green lawn with an outdoor fireplace. Because of the variety of both indoor and outdoor spaces, the Bradford is great year-round and in all types of weather! Fun fact: each of the rooms is named after a member of the owners’ family!
You can book the Bradford for just the wedding day itself, but the real gem their weekend collection! The weekend collection is a luxury experience that brides are sure to dream of!
The Bradford is an excellent venue for couples who are looking to have a luxurious wedding escape but don’t want to travel far.
The Cotton Room
The Cotton Room at Golden Belt is located in the heart of Durham, NC. The wedding venue was originally a textile factory built in 1900 that produced cotton pouches for Bull Durham Smoking Tobacco. The history of the building is apparent with its beautiful exposed brick walls and wooden ceiling beams. Floor-to-ceiling drapes and white-light globes add an elegant flair that help turn this industrial building into a luxury wedding experience!
The Cotton Room is a full-service wedding venue, able to seat over to 400 guests, making it an excellent choice for large weddings! Their parent company, TC Hospitality, includes Triangle Catering and Petal and Oak floral to serve your wedding day. Smaller weddings can feel comfortable in the Cotton Room as well, as the drapes can be used to section off the space. Alternatively, TC Hospitality also owns two smaller venue options in the very same Golden Belt campus. These are Belt Line Station, created from an old train depot, and the Lucky Strike Suite. These venues can hold 175 and 49 guests respectively.
If you’d like to see more images of the Cotton Room, check out this blog post with highlights from a wedding reception I captured back in 2021.
The Graham Mill
The Graham Mill is located in Graham, NC, in Alamance County. It is just under an hour west of Raleigh and only a half hour from Durham. The Graham Mill is a beautiful wedding venue fashioned out of a historic mill. The modern industrial design was done perfectly, with exposed brick walls, abundant natural light, and exposed beams. This venue is incredibly photogenic! There are plenty of focal pieces for ceremonies and portraits including large white barn doors, a garage door filled with windows, and a private backyard/courtyard space.
The venue hosts up to 200 seated guests, making it ideal for mid-sized weddings, and it features two getting ready suites that can be joined by connecting doors if desired. Rental includes tables and indoor chairs. The Graham Mill is owned by Harmony Weddings & Events, which by the way, is an amazing wedding planning and coordination team!
You can see more highlights from this wedding at the Graham Mill here!
Highgrove Estate
The Highgrove Estate is a full-service wedding venue located in Fuquay-Varina, which is just about a half hour south of Raleigh. The Highgrove Estate makes your wedding planning a breeze by taking care of nearly every element for you. They provide not only the typical full-service vendors, such as coordinating, catering, tables and chairs, but they also provide linens, china, table centerpieces, and even the cake! This luxury service saves you so much headache while planning so that you can just enjoy being engaged!
This venue features a historic house with an elegant parlor room, as well as a beautiful bridal suite, a groom suite, and a grand ballroom. At time of writing this post, the getting ready suites and ballroom were undergoing some updates, but in their website gallery you can see for yourself the elegance of the rooms. Outdoors, there is a side patio that is perfect for cocktail hour or small ceremonies. In the back, a beautiful triple-arched pergola stands as a gorgeous space for larger ceremonies.
The attention to detail in this venue is impressive. Signs everywhere help guests know just where to go, and beautiful chandeliers adorn just about every ceiling space! The Highgrove Estate is an ideal option for brides looking for timeless elegance and streamlined planning.
Historic Market Hall
Historic Market Hall holds a special place in my heart, as this is where my husband and I got married in 2018! Market Hall is a beautiful industrial-style venue located in City Market in Downtown Raleigh. This part of downtown has such a cool historic flair with cobblestone streets and market lights flanking the venue on multiple sides. Couples can even choose to have the streets closed down during their wedding for more space and privacy! (This is huge bonus for photos, as cars usually are present for street parking.)
Market Hall is the largest historic venue in Downtown Raleigh! It has two rooms that can be used for ceremonies and receptions: Market View, which can hold up to 350 seated dinner guests, and Park View which can hold up to 150. This allows all wedding sizes, both large and small, to feel comfortable within the venue.
Market Hall also two large getting ready suites. These rooms have abundant natural light, making them perfect for your getting ready photos! After you’ve gotten ready, there are plenty of great locations for portraits, including the cobblestone streets and Moore Square park across the street.
The venue is full-service, with in-house catering and bar, to save you the headache of having to search for additional vendors. They have also included your dining needs: china, glassware, silverware, tables and chairs. Many decorative items are included as well, such as lounge furniture, a wooden backdrop wall, and market lights. All those little details can take you so much time and budget when you have to search for them elsewhere, so I love that they come included!
Bonus: The Grove at City Market
In November 2022 City Market debuted a second, more intimate wedding venue called The Grove at City Market. The Grove at City Market is a speakeasy style venue that holds up to about 100 guests. When you step into the space, you instantly sense the classy night-time feel with a marble mosaic entryway. Inside, there are two rooms that are perfect for a small ceremony and reception, plus an industrial-style walk-up bar (because what speakeasy would be complete without a bar?) Outdoors there is a patio with lounge furniture and a firepit. From the patio guests enjoy views of the city and the market light-lined cobblestone streets.
The Grove at City Market also includes catering and bar services, though couples will have to source their own plates, glassware, and silverware. Brides and grooms can get ready in one of the many nearby hotels, as there are not on-site getting ready suites. The Grove provides a list of recommended hotels on their website, many within a short walking distance of the venue.
The charm and character of this venue, plus its proximity to downtown, make it a unique wedding experience that is not commonly found in Raleigh. It is perfect for couples looking for an intimate, classy downtown wedding experience!
The Maxwell
The Maxwell is a charming wedding venue located just a few minutes south of Downtown Raleigh. It just opened in 2021 and has a modern, yet timeless style that brides are sure to love! Elegant gas lanterns and ivy walls adorn the outside of the building, giving it a bit of European flair!
The venue features a large Great Room for ceremonies and receptions with vaulted ceilings and modern pendant lights. The focal point of the room is a grand fireplace with a reclaimed wood mantel, perfect for gorgeous floral arrangements. A second indoor room serves as an option for lounge seating, cocktail hour, or smaller weddings. Outdoors there is a beautiful large patio covered by strings of market lights next to a lush lawn. This space is perfect for an outdoor cocktail hour on a nice evening!
The Maxwell also has an elegant getting ready suite for the bridal party with all the features you need to get ready! The luxury of the dressing suite is matched all throughout the venue, creating the perfect atmosphere for enjoying your wedding day.
For more detail about the Maxwell, please check out my full feature post: The Maxwell: Modern Raleigh Wedding Venue
The Merrimon-Wynne House
The Merrimon-Wynne House is a luxury wedding venue located just north of Downtown Raleigh. The house was built in 1876 and is full of elegant charm! Inside the house there is a gorgeous bridal suite with lounge furniture and floor-length mirrors. The downstairs is commonly used as a space for cocktail hour. Guests can wander from room to room and admire charming antique fireplaces and hardwood floors. Natural light is abundant throughout the house, giving it a beautiful airy feel.
Ceremonies and receptions can be held on the lush green lawn or in the Carriage House, which is a large indoor space with gorgeous chandeliers. These spaces can accommodate over 200 guests, depending on the style of seating. The variety of spaces allows weddings to flow seamlessly from one event to the next without guests even realizing the transformations happening between ceremony and reception. Variety also means there is a good backup in case of bad weather!
For couples looking to have some professional help planning their day, The Merrimon-Wynne has an in-house event management team. They have packages that range from day-of-coordination to full-service wedding planning. (By the way, I ALWAYS recommend you have at least a day-of-coordinator! They are amazing at reducing wedding-day stress. You can see more of my recommendations for planning a stress-free wedding day here!)
Pinehill Pavilion
Pinehill Pavilion is a beautiful, modern wedding venue in Youngsville, NC, which is about a half hour north of Raleigh. Being outside of the city, this venue offers more privacy. It is located out in the country on 160 acres of land and features a two-acre pond.
The Pavilion also features a large indoor ballroom and numerous outdoor spaces that can serve for your wedding ceremony. One of the most popular outdoor ceremony locations is the enchanted forest, which is a large grassy clearing in the woods covered by a canopy of twinkling lights! Other notable spaces include a pondside arbor and an ivy-wall.
Inside the pavilion is a beautiful chandelier, modern wood paneling, and abundant natural light! There are also two separate cabins that serve as the bride and groom’s separate getting-ready spaces. Both are spacious and perfect all your getting ready needs, including the photos!
Pinehill Pavilion is a nice blend of modern and rustic. The décor is quite far from a barn-style wedding, yet the land reminds you of a beautiful farm.
The Stockroom at 230
The Stockroom at 230 is a great wedding venue in the heart of Downtown Raleigh along Fayetteville Street. It is located in the Carolina Trust Building, which dates all the way back to 1902! Situated on the second floor of the building, The Stockroom was originally just that–a stockroom–for a street-level business below. Now it is a modern industrial-style wedding venue for mid-sized weddings, able to hold up to 175 guests for a ceremony and a seated dinner.
The Stockroom has a unique, warm character that makes every wedding charming! Key style features include exposed brick walls, hardwood floors, lattice ceilings with market lights, and a chalk board wall that you can customize for your wedding. The venue rental also includes access to two getting ready spaces. One of those spaces is the Glass Box, which is a gorgeous room surrounded by floor to ceiling windows (more on this described below).
A great feature of downtown weddings are their proximity to hotels, restaurants, bars, and attractions such as museums. This means that guests have a place to stay and plenty to do all weekend long (not that guests need to go anywhere else to eat, because The Stockroom’s parent company, Empire Eats, has amazing cuisine!)
You can see more highlights from this wedding at the Stockroom at 230 here!
Bonus: The Glass Box
The Glass Box not only serves as the prime getting ready suite for the Stockroom at 230, but it also can stand alone as a wedding venue in itself! It is located on the 5th floor of 230 Fayetteville Street, right in the heart of Downtown Raleigh. The Glass Box can hold up to 30 seated guests, so it is great for small weddings.
It has abundant natural light, as it is surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows on nearly three sides. There are amazing views of the city from these windows and also from an attached private balcony. The balcony serves as a beautiful place for first looks and portraits (for Stockroom weddings as well!)
Weekend dates are opened up three months in advance, as its availability depends on bookings from the Stockroom. For couples who are looking for an intimate gathering, the Glass Box is definitely a great option to consider!
The Upchurch
The Upchurch is a beautiful wedding venue in Cary. It just opened a year or two ago, but quickly established itself as one of the premier venues in the Raleigh area. The Upchurch is comprised of the historic Upchurch-Williams house and their new Conservatory, a 4,200 square foot space perfect for receptions. The property also has a gorgeous lawn space for ceremonies and portraits.
The Upchurch can host up to 225 guests in the indoor Conservatory space, and rentals includes use of both the house and Conservatory, outdoor lawn space, two dressing suites, as well as tables and chairs. They have partnered with Rocky Top Catering to provide in-house catering services, meaning you must use them for your catering needs.
The natural light in the Upchurch an absolute dream, as well as the variety of portrait locations. I had the honor of photographing a styled shoot there last spring, and these remain some of my favorite photos to this day!
Other Ideas for Raleigh Wedding Venues
There are so many wonderful wedding venues in Raleigh and the surrounding towns. Each of these I’ve shared with you function primarily as as a wedding venue, but there are other locations such as restaurants and hotels that are popular too, such as the Angus Barn, Caffe Luna, and the Umstead. What I love about each of these venues is that the entire day can happen in the one venue. There is no need to travel between sites, which I have found makes the day flow much better. I hope this list of venues give you a good place to start your search!
Photo credits: All photographs by Megan Nicole Photography
comments +