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St. Lucie County—which includes Fort Pierce, Port St. Lucie, and Hutchinson Island—sits on Florida’s Treasure Coast, famously named after a 1715 Spanish fleet wreck that scattered gold and silver offshore. While this maritime history offers a legendary allure, event planners can also explore the area’s rich modern venues and unique coastal offerings.
“(Planners) love our uncrowded beaches, thriving waterfront, botanical gardens, museums, spring training baseball, and other unique attractions,” says Charlotte Bireley, tourism and venues director for Visit St. Lucie.
MIDFLORIDA Event Center in Port St. Lucie features versatile event space, including two grand ballrooms, an outdoor amphitheater, and festival grounds. The Havert L. Fenn Center offers a 22,700-square-foot exhibit hall with a capacity of 3,200 and six flexible rooms.
Part of the Opal Collection, The Lucie in Jensen Beach offers 110 guest rooms and suites, onsite catering, audiovisual-equipped meeting spaces, and beautiful beach views. The new voco Sandpiper All-Inclusive Resort by IHG opened earlier this year following the rebranding and transformation of a former property. The 335-room resort features approximately 18,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space, seven restaurant and bar concepts, and other amenities. The resort’s first phase of renovations and additions, already unveiled, includes 249 updated guest rooms and two-bedroom suites, enhanced tropical landscaping, and a new 150-person-capacity waterfront event space. A second phase will include renovations to the event space, new dining rooms, and other enhancements. In addition, the 142-room Holiday Inn Port St. Lucie offers 3,080 square feet of space; the 130-room Hilton Garden Inn at PGA Village/Port St. Lucie has more than 3,600 square feet of meeting space for small events; and the 125-room Residence Inn By Port St. Lucie has a small meeting room.
Other venue options include the Historic Tradition Town Hall and Peacock House Art Foundation, both in Port St. Lucie. In Fort Pierce, venues include the Riverwalk Center, Pelican Yacht Club, and Heathcote Botanical Gardens.
In nearby Martin County, Marriott Hutchinson Island Resort & Beach Villas, Golf & Marina boasts more than 30,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor function space. Opal Collection’s Hutchinson Shores Resort & Spa in Jensen Beach has 178 guest rooms and suites, as well as more than 8,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space. For marina-based stays, Pirate’s Cove Resort and Marina in Stuart offers event space to accommodate up to 300 guests. Other options include Courtyard by Marriott Stuart and Hampton Inn & Suites Stuart-North, both of which accommodate smaller groups.
