St Peter’s Chapel Mare Island

Absolute beautiful location for a wedding! I have to give this place a lot more credit because it’s located on a former naval base, and coming from a family of military servicemen, this chapel speaks wonders of and dedication to the ones who have came here to marry and pray while in service.
It’s an absolutely small and beautiful venue, maintaining it’s vintage structure. Getting to this location is a little tricky if you are not familiar with the northern California area of Vallejo, but it seems that even if you were just a bit loss it’s probably because you were distracted by the ocean, the bridge, the white mansions on «soldier row», or the cemetery. Maybe even be distracted by the old couple who held hands as they walked, one in his uniform and the other in her classy 1920’s dress.
But once you arrive, this small, beautiful, chapel is amazing from the outside in.

My husband and I were looking for the perfect church to hold our wedding but had a lot of constraints with time as we had already booked the reception site and needed to have the ceremony on a Sunday (which is often difficult to do in any regular church). In comes the idea for St. Peter’s Chapel… It’s an official chapel (sacred space), so people from any Christian denomination can be married there (including Catholics) as long as you bring your own priest (BYOP). It’s right in our hometown, not to mention totally affordable. We loved the historical significance of the building as well and the architecture and stained glass added a magical feel to our special day. The downsides: the process of securing the building for your date is a bit archaic, everything is done by snail mail and not many people answer the phones on a regular basis to field any questions. Also, because of the military history (I’m assuming) they are STICKLERS when it comes to time. You have exactly 60 minutes to complete your rehearsal and if you are not done, you are literally thrown out of the building. The same is true for the ceremony, so be smart if you know you tend to dilly dally and pay for the extra time (it’s $ 100 for one more hour) – you’ll appreciate the piece of mind in the end and not being rushed to get through these very important things!

Wow! What a cool vintage setting for a wedding! I photographed a wedding here, this summer, and found it to be a very memorable and unique setting. It was a little hot inside, as there is no AC, but I think the weather we had was much hotter than usual for vellejo. The dark natural wood interior, red carpet, and amazing stained glass windows, designed by the famed Louis Tiffany, make for a beautiful setting for a wedding.
You can see photos of Saint Peter’s Chapel here:

I recently got married in St. Peters Chapel in Vallejo. The church is very beautiful. The dark wood that the church is built with is beautiful. The stained glass that adorns the walls makes it even better, with the sun shining through. It is truly an amazing place to get married. And very affordable at that.
So why not 5 stars? Well I would say it is because of the staff of the Vallejo Historical Society which runs it. The night of our rehearsal, we ran a little late. The lady who was there from the VHS was so rude about the time we had that she got into an argument with our coordinator from our church. Pretty stressful for an already stressful time.
Day of the wedding was more of the same. After the ceremony when we were taking pictures we were hurried out because of time constraints. I understand that we had it for certain times, but we weren’t going hours over. They were just very strict about this. Also, they were very hard to get a hold of after we sent our money in to them.

Beautiful location for a classic wedding.
Gleaming dark wood, jewel-​toned stained glass, high beamed ceilings with woodcarvings, wonderful acoustics, and ample seating makes this chapel magically photogenic. Because Mare Island was a Naval base, the ceiling’s carvings have a U.S. Navy theme. They are intricate and interesting to study.
It can be a little chilly in winter if the heater is acting up, but that’s a minor trade-​off for the atmosphere.
It’s old, and does show it’s age in a few spots, but has weathered the years near the coast with grace, and is in no way dilapidated.
Getting to the parking area is a bit awkward due to the street layouts, and parking is somewhat limited in the immediate vicinity.

One of the oldest navy chapels in the country checked out this chapel when I was looking for a place to get married a couple of years ago. It’s dark inside and out, colored like a rich chocolate bar for the most part but the startling jewel like Tiffany windows really make this dim little chapel awe inspiring. It can seat about 100 people, and it has a lot of the nautical information and history of the island. It’s not terribly expensive to rent if you’re looking for place to get married or have a small event. The 25 astonishing Tiffany windows, designed in the early 1900s make up for the trimness of this delicate small church. Built in 1901 the style and history of this church make it very attractive and a wonderful place to visit. Because of the age of the church it was kind of musty when we visited but I’m sure it will be fine if properly aired out.

I went on a tour of Mare Island 2÷26÷06 and I got to go inside St. Peter’s Chapel in Mare Island. It’s really nice. It is the oldest chapel in the Pacific and the first interdenominated chapel in the service. Originally dedicated on Oct 13, 1901, the shingle style chapel was designed by Albert Sutton. The chapel contains sixteen stained glass windows created by Tiffany Studios. The tour was a private tour w/​a docent for $ 14 pp. Tours by appt: 707−644−4746 or 707−280−5742. Weddings and other events: 707−649−8024. Mare island Historic Park Foundation. web: