Ray's Boathouse

equests (we had our friends play live music for our ceremony + cocktail hour, had specific table layouts we wanted, dietary requests, etc). The plated dinner service was fast and everything was served hot. Our guests are still raving about the drinks (we did their signature cocktails - cucumber gin swizzle -yum!) and the sablefish main dish literally is one of the best seafood dishes we/our guests have ever had. We used their complimentary fresh flowers and also hired their house florist, Shelby Bond/Bond in Bloom, to create floral arrangements for our ceremony that we reused for the dinner table centerpieces. They were absolutely beautiful and the Ray's team did a great job transitioning the cermemony space for our cocktail hour. The view, cost, food, and service are unbeatable -- especially for and in Seattle.

off perfectly with the gorgeous views over Elliott Bay and an elegant setting. We also wanted to keep ceremony and reception in one place, and it was simple and easy to do it all there. Hannah was our contact and she was an absolute pro. She accommodated all of our quirky add-ons, answering endless questions and offered solid guidance along the way to help us make decisions. We didn’t have a wedding coordinator, instead relying on friends, and the evening went off beautifully. Everyone raved about the food, the location, and feel of the place, and we had the best time. Compared to other wedding venues, we felt Ray’s offered far more value for the price, with team support, table settings, table flowers, set-up, etc. We kept it simple, adding flowers and a photographer, and it was perfect. Their team is clearly very experienced, and handled it all beautifully. We were super happy with our choice. One item of note: If you’re getting married during cooler times of the year, it can be chilly for people sitting closer to the cocktail area so worth potentially renting additional standing heaters.

helpful, and just lovely to deal with. Then, on the day of my clients' wedding, the event staff took great care of all wedding guests in EXACTLY the way I would want them to. They were attentive, welcoming, warm and so very helpful from start to finish, delivering delicious and beautifully presented food at just the right pace. The experience we received from Ray's is what you expect when hosting and event, but it's not always what you get.

They kept everything on track and made the evening personable for our huge family. We all have very special memories of the evening and look forward to doing it again next year! Don’t lose our reservation!Happy New Year!

nd everyone was very impressed with the quality. We even had lovely weather for the end of October with a sunset over the Olympics and frolicking seals! All this AND a parking lot! Best of Seattle!

event and we could not have been happier. We HIGHLY recommend this place to anyone planning a special event!! Great food, service and accommodations.

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lucky that on our wedding day it was hot and sunny (a rarity), and everyone raved about the food and the views. It's truly a gorgeous location and we are so happy we were able to get married there. Highly recommended!

ent above and beyond to make sure we felt taken care of throughout the planning phases and event execution. The day of the wedding we were taken care of by Pamela who was incredibly thoughtful and kind. If you need one stop shopping for your wedding (food, floral, setup, linens, flawless execution), seriously book Ray's.

and will not recommend them.

lans and questions. Rays and Jenna in particular were amazing and didn't miss a beat. They were so helpful, super responsive and came up with ways to make our day even more special than we could have ever imagined. The entire team went above and beyond. We look forward to having future events there and eventually our large party!

absolutely gorgeous, we used the standard package and barely added any other decor because the view from the outdoors is so overwhelmingly beautiful! We had a lot of guests from out of town so we wanted to show them everything that is great about Seattle, and Ray's was the perfect setting. We did a cocktail hour and then dinner and dancing, and everyone commented on how delicious the food was. We can't imagine our reception anywhere else, every last detail was perfect.

cost or at a very reasonable rate. They also contract with local companies to bring in anything you need (tents, linens, chairs, etc.) if you're looking to enhance the space. We had the chance to attend their Open House twice (due to our lengthy engagement), which was a great opportunity to spend time at the venue to really get a sense of the look/feel of the space and how we wanted everything to be on the day-of. Would highly recommend this venue every day of the year!

plans change, you are making decisions with a million different things happening at the same time. Having a venue that has professional staff, who know what they are doing and make everything just flow smoothly is such a comfort. Ray's staff (Jenna was our coordinator) were super helpful from the time we signed on. They had a checklist that was helpful for us to think of all the things that we needed to worry about. Reminded us about various deadline (and were gracious when we were a little bit late). Worked with our photographer and DJ to set up both for the ceremony and reception. On the day of the wedding, Jenna took on the role of day of coordinator and made sure everything went smoothly. We had cancellations on the day of the wedding and Ray's was so easy for us to work with to reconfigure the table, etc. A huge shout out to our Banquet Master who had taken the time to know what we were drinking and had the right wine to top off our wine glasses while we were shuttling from table to table. We were super impressed by him and the rest of the staff. We cannot thank them and our Banquet master in particular enough. They helped make our special day SPECIAL. We could write this entire review on Ray's incredible staff, but you get the idea. Of course, one cannot beat the location. The views of the Olympics are incredible, you are right by the water and the locks. On a late summer day, the shades of red in the sky are even more stunning. One caveat, is that later in the summer, with lots of wildfires, some of that view could be obstructed by smoke...but that is true anywhere in Seattle or the Pacific Northwest (in late summer). In conclusion, we are so very glad to have picked and worked with Ray's and highly recommend their exceptional staff and great location.

erpiece for us on our wedding day! Paula was there to anticipate our every want and need (like Gin and Tonics in the Bride's Room before the ceremony ) Our family and friends have all shared that this was by far the BEST wedding they've attended! How very lucky we were to have Ray's and their wonderful staff create the wedding of our dreams. Thank you, Paula and Ray's Boathouse for a PERFECT wedding!

ruly went above and beyond. The rest of the staff was also amazing and assured a successful event. We attended their open house in the spring and had not yet selected most of our vendors. We ended up hiring their house florist (Bond in Bloom), photographer (Starr Photography), and band (Ambiance Jazz Ensemble)-- which was awesome because they all knew the venue so well. Truly a perfect evening and would not hesitate to recommend hosting a wedding here to anyone.

ests (including dietary restrictions!). On the day-of, I wasn't worried about anything because I knew Paula and her team were on top of it. The venue is gorgeous, the food was amazing, and the space was perfect for our 50 person wedding. I would recommend Ray's to anyone.

erything - from flowers and the gorgeous view, first-class food and drink, to attentive and fun servers, plus a straight-shooting day-of coordinator. Ray's went above and beyond! Arranging the venue was easy and straightforward. The open house at the beginning of the season allowed us to try a number of different dishes, meet different vendors, and ask questions -- while not having someone hovering over our shoulders so that we could be honest about what we liked and didn't. Amanda, our contact and day-of coordinator, was incredibly responsive and happy to answer our questions along the way. She was also very patient during our walk-through and kept everything organized so that we knew what to expect. The day of the wedding Amanda and Kenzee, the server lead/banquet captain, were SO great. My whole family arrived before our scheduled time to set up. The entire team was super accommodating and worked around the hoard of people. My dad even made an observation about some bird excrement on the deck, not thinking anything of it, but Kenzee was out there a minute later getting it cleaned up. Talk about service - what a champ! Everything came together for an unforgettable day. People talked about how superb the food was, commented on the great service, and loved the view and setting. Couldn't be happier with our choice. Thanks, Amanda, Kenzee and team at Ray's - you rock!

ause Ray's was so wonderful. This is a wonderful place to have your wedding!

info from Phyllis. I then went down in person to see the venue and met with Andrea and she gave me a tour of the 'Northwest Room' and surrounding area and from then on all email contact went through her. Andrea was absolutely amazing to work with! She responded to my emails promptly and provided answers to all of my questions. As a bride planning one of the most important days in her life that is costing thousands of dollars she put me at ease. I loved that they had multiple ways for us to do our bar. We could full on host everything, host up to a set dollar amount, host certain beverages, do a drink ticket option, etc. We ended up doing drink tickets which kept our budget in check. Ray’s allowed my family to come and set up THREE HOURS prior to when guests were to arrive! This though isn’t normal as you usually only get 1 hour but there was no other event scheduled before ours. They also allowed us to drop off certain items prior such as lanterns so that they would be setup in plenty time for the event. I had been told that my family would be responsible for laying down and stapling the aisle runner to the dock, but on the day of they did it for us! My guests RAVED about the food which of course was one of the main reason I decided to host my wedding at a highly rated restaurant location instead of a banquet hall, hotel, etc. This venue was absolutely gorgeous. Married right on the water with Puget Sound and mountains behind you, water flowing under feet below the docks, beautiful tented outdoor cocktail hour area and the Northwest room was just the right size for my wedding size (60 guests). There was space for a nice sized dance floor and DJ, and if we hadn’t hired one, an ipod hookup with speakers would have been a free option to utilize. After the wedding we received nothing but compliments about how beautiful everything was. There were a few cons. 1. Andrea whom I spent months talking to via email was not working the day of my wedding so her partner Phyllis was the coordinator the day of. This led to a few things that were talked about in the emails and documented on the event order form not being implemented. For example, the purple linens were supposed to be placed in the wine glasses and not laid across the table. Also, my wedding party was supposed to be able to have unlimited drinks and the bartender later on refused to give my bridesmaid/sister drinks without tickets. (She had placed hers down in the back office area and they disappeared) 2. Guests were allowed to walk through the patio doors from the cocktail hour area into the reception space and sit down instead of that room being closed off until guests were officially supposed to move into that area at 7:00pm. We wanted guests only to be able to walk through the front doors to see the Welcome table and access the bathroom prior to 7:00pm and then through those doors into the reception area. To be fair, I did not clarify this with Ray’s prior to as I had assumed they wouldn’t let guests into that area until cocktail hour was over, so I advise future brides to clearly communicate this with them if it’s important to them.

Ray's staff was professional and the food was wonderful. We had a great evening.... everything went smoothly and we had no issues! The only issues I ever had with Ray's was during the planning process... the event coordinator changed and one point after I booked with them, and I was never notified. This caused for a small amount of panic when I could not get a hold of the person who I thought was my contact/coordinator. After getting in contact with the new coordinators, everything worked out well. The only difficulty at that point was that I sometimes received different answers to my questions from the event coordination staff, which was confusing. All in all, everything went smoothly and I'm very happy with my choice of venue. Ray's is a wonderful place to hold a wedding or any other event!

ople said the salmon was the best they ever ate; others said it was the best wedding food in general they ever had). The staff was helpful in every possible way. We didn't need a wedding planner; we hired a terrific disc jockey and photographer, and Ray's included floral arrangements, flowers on every table, helped set up strobe lights for the dance floor, made plaques for seating arrangements, found the space for the photographer's humorous "photo booth", etc,etc. We had the bar provide wine, beer and cider and there were little tables near it, so people could circulate all night by the water as well as join their dinner tables, and the dancing went on full force until midnight when we sadly had to leave.