The Boathouse at Mercer Lake — Attraction in West Windsor

The venue location has a pretty view and the food was good. However I had a recent wedding there and the service by the staff was terrible for the ceremony rehearsal and the wedding day. First of all, for our ceremony rehearsal we had a staff member who was not our wedding coordinator and could care less how the rehearsal went or any of the details. The staff member who was suppose to guide us through our rehearsal was 30 minutes late to the rehearsal. Luckily our Pastor was extremely organized and ran the entire rehearsal ceremony himself. The day of the wedding we were assigned a maitre d' who we never worked with before and did not know any of the details of our wedding. Neither my coordinator nor maitre d' knew our processional order, although we sent it weeks in advance. My bridal party and I were checking times and were the ones to line up and say it is time to go down. During the cocktail hour my husband and I were taking photos. However we were never asked if we wanted any of the cocktail hour food. One of my bridesmaids brought us a plate from the cocktail hour, none of the staff did, staff didn't even ask us. Apparently my mother said during the cocktail hour the food was running low and the staff was extremely slow to replenish it (probably intentionally to save money on their end). My mother had to ask the staff to replenish plates during the cocktail hour as well. When it was time for the reception one of our tables was missing a seat and plate, although we sent table arrangements and number of people at each table way in advance to the staff. During dessert they would not refill the Venetian desserts, although they promised me in advance everything would be refilled on multiple occasions. I barely saw our coordinator after we were introduced at the reception. However my bridesmaid did see she was meeting with other couples (to sell them on getting married there) during our reception in the side office. I honestly felt we could of gone without the maitre'd (which was $250 extra) and wedding coordinator assigned by the venue and the wedding day would of gone the same. I luckily had an extremely helpful and hands on bridal party and all my other vendors were very very organized. Also the staff started cleaning up tables and putting things away 20-30 minutes before the event ended! We paid for those last 20-30 minutes, so it is not right for them to do that!!! One last thing, the staff at the boathouse does not dress professionally at all. They were wearing tight leggings and a scarf on my wedding day, which just is not professional. Several of my bridal party even commented how they were dressed too casual and it was unprofessional. The Boathouse is a wedding "mill" trying to cram in as many weddings and events as possible at their venue to make money. Before the wedding, for months we went over every detail with them extensively, but they only followed about half of those instructions on the day of the wedding. By the wedding day we had paid them for everything and I felt they really made MINIMAL effort the day of...

✔️If you want service, respect and a following of the contract that you have paid so much for go to another venue and here’s why… Our coordinator was NOT available for the rehearsal and she had a substitute we never met before and who was very unprofessional and very uncaring about the rehearsal. They kept us waiting at the rehearsal time they were not ready to have us go through the rehearsal although all the bridesmaids all the groomsmen sisters and brothers Pastor and his wife two sets of parents bride and groom were all waiting to start on time. The path down to the gazebo is covered with poison ivy .no one bothered to clean off the pathway where the bride will be going with her gown and her trailing and very delicate train.The table for the brides family was not set correctly and we had to stand and wait for chairs and settings which was very awkward before we could sit down although they had received at the boathouse the table numbers well in advance. There was NOT enough food put out for appetizers and the serving platters were empty. Many guest asked me as mother of the bride for plates and forks which were not replenished and then I had to find a waitress and ask her to do her job! The bride and the groom were not brought a plate full of food down to where they were having photographs although they hadn’t eaten and it was now noon by the hired wedding coordinator! Cake was cut up against the window on the side of the reception hall and it was not rolled as it is customary into the Center of the reception so that everyone could be aware of this tradition taking place. I was told desserts would be “💥one and done “although the bride and groom told me they paid for replenishing of the pastries as part of the contract not followed by the boathouse at Mercer County Park. 30 minutes before the end of the reception the staff begin cleaning up so guest left early because it was very uncomfortable. The bar area was dark with no wine or soda sitting on the counter No one would know that there were drinks available for our guests which had been paid for and was part of the contract. When the bride and groom went to pick up their cake they were just handed the cake no one asked them if they enjoyed themselves,suggestion they would like to give ,wished them well or any other professional ,polite ,customary discussion that should occur to make sure that the customer is well satisfied. When We went to rehearsal the coordinator we paid for was BUSY meeting with another possible client, during the reception she was meeting with another possible client and she never even presented herself when the bride and groom had their final visit to pick up the cake.Suzanne Bossart ...

We had our wedding at the Boathouse on 5/5. The ceremony was beautiful, the cocktail hour had amazing food, and the reception space was gorgeous. All of the service was amazing and flawless. As the bride, I had wine and cheese waiting for me before the ceremony. They also made sure I did not see my groom until the ceremony. During cocktail hour hors d'oeuvres and drinks were sent to the bridal suite for myself, the groom, and the bridal party. The buffet lines were not long during the reception. Everyone complimented the food, especially the BBQ station. As the bride and groom, we had 3 plates of buffet food on our table waiting for us. Our water and wine glasses were always filled. Everyone working there had a smile on their face and was very accommodating to needs, especially my gluten allergy. They were able to make as many food items gluten free for me as they could. Sonya and Daniella were always there to help. They answered every email and phone call promptly to get us what we needed. We had an incident where there was a boat race was happening and spectators were refusing to leave the ceremony/picnic area and Sonya went above and beyond to make sure the area was cleared for us. We cannot say enough about how great of a job Sonya did to make sure we were never stressed and had everything we could possibly need or want for our special day. We highly...