Mariner's Church Banquet Center Reviews

Just attached a wedding there and it was outstanding!

Priest: "How many people are you expecting?"
Me: "We both have huge Catholic families -- we're inviting over 200."
Priest: "You know, the folks at the Mariner's Center really do a nice job. I've been there for a number of large receptions. It's right in the Old Port."
Me: "Oh that's so great to hear -- we've already booked with them!"

Our reception at the Mariner's Center was fabulous. I comparison shopped. It is the best in So. Maine for a big indoor wedding.

The formal plated dinner was excellent and brought up efficiently as possible -- no one left hungry.

The space is incredibly versatile, as the photos on the Facebook page and home page will show you.

The price was right -- for 176 guests, full formal plated dinner (because the groom was anti-buffet), and a drink ticket redeemable for one drink (wine, beer, well or soda) in lieu of a party favor for all guests, the bill did not exceed $9,000. That price does not include cake or decorations, but does include service and linens. There were no sneaky fees (cake cutting fees, bottle opening fees, etc.). They were very transparent about costs.

Sarah Campbell, the banquet manager is really sharp and gave me great advice about planning and vendors. Devin the assistant manager also a great job managing the day, bustling my gown, bringing us snacks while we waited in the Billiard's Room before being announced, etc.

Few venues in the area have the abundance of natural light that the Mariner's Center offers (not even some pricey ones). Add some candles and your photos will be great -- you can't fake good light and those photos are your memory of the day! You'll want to look gorgeous!

I could not have been happier with my wedding day. Thank you, Mariner's Center!

When searching for the perfect venue in Portland, we stumbled upon Mariner's Church Banquet Center by chance and were definitely not disappointed with our choice! From the initial phone call and meeting to the tasting and wedding day itself, Sarah was absolutely amazing to work with! Short of screwing anything into the walls, the venue really lets you make it your own and offers amazing suggestions for local vendors. Sarah was available every step of the way, including last minute damage control when I was freaking out about something :) We held our ceremony upstairs in the banquet center, moved into the pool hall for our cocktail hour while the upstairs was reset, then returned to the banquet center for our reception. Our guests (almost all out-of-state) appreciated not having to travel to different locations, and it allowed us to spend more time with them. The food was also delicious and it was convenient not to have to book a caterer too. Prices there were extremely reasonable and allowed us to stay right on budget. I would HIGHLY recommend Mariner's Church as a venue for your whole wedding day!

With the high ceilings and large dance floor, I loved Mariner's Church from the first time I saw it. Even though we first looked at it a year or so before our wedding, Sarah was very patient and flexible with us through the entire process! The food was great and the entire team was professional and friendly. Sarah was incredible and our wedding day wouldn't have been as perfect as it was without her!

Absolutely a 5 out of 5. Sarah and her team are incredibly professional, responsive to my needs as a bride, and a great value. The food was delicious, and we received several compliments from our guests on the food. The chef was even able to incorporate some of my own recipes into our hor devours!
I was also pleasantly surprised at Sarah and her team setting up the room for us. We were able to get in that morning to put up a lot of the wall / window decorations, but her team took care of the rest - and it turned out great.
She was even able to help us and the couple the night before work together to share cost on chairs. We had priced out our own chairs, but the couple the night before used these gorgeous silver chiavari chairs, and we had picked simple white chairs. Due to the logistics and when the pick-up was scheduled, we split the cost and ended up "upgrading" our chairs while the couple the night before got a discount!
We did have a small issue with our guitarist blowing a fuse and taking out our lighting, but Sarah was able to call the lighting designer and work to resolve the issue prior to our entrance. We had a wonderful time, and many of our guests said it was one of the best weddings they had attended!

My husband and I recently got married at Mariner's Church. We couldn't have asked for a more amazing place to have our reception! Sarah was incredibly helpful and flexible and always willing to give us ideas to make our reception exactly how we imagined it. Our reception was perfect and Sarah helped make that possible! We would definitely recommend Sarah and Mariner's Church!

All around A+ service. Very accommodating, flexible and the most bang for your buck in the area. Highly recommend!

This place is right in the heart of the old port and is amazing! Scott has done thousands of weddings and you can tell. He is very organized and keeps in touch with you through out your whole experience! He assured me everything was going to be great and it was more then great! Everyone had a great time and the food was Spectacular! We Had the Roast Beef, Chicken Marsala, with red potatoes, soup, rolls and a salad! The bar was quick and gave great service as well! We hope to return for anniversary's and birthdays. Our friends and Family Truly enjoyed this whole event and it was because Scott knew what he was doing! Thanks so much!

We recently had our wedding at the Mariner's Church back in May. My now husband and I cannot express how happy we are with how our magical night turned out with the help of the wonderful Sarah. She was extremely professional, caring, flexible, and always ready with helpful tips and tricks to make the wedding exactly what we wanted. Sarah even made the unexpected need of having to move the ceremony into the hall, because of rain, an incredibly smooth and almost stress free transition. Thank you so much to Sarah and all of the wonderful staff at Mariner's Church Banquet Hall for making my dreams of the perfect wedding I had always dreamt of come true!!

My wife and I were so glad we chose Mariner's church banquet center. It is a beautiful space right in the heart of the old port. Everyone from Sarah the contact for the center to the chef and other staff were so friendly and helpful. I would recommend this place a thousand times over. Great venue and great price!

The Mariner's Church was all I could have hoped for. The room is beautiful and the staff was fantastic. Scott is great to work with. He will do what he can to accomodate everything a bride could need. The food was fantastic! I was never a huge fan of Chicken Marsala, but I am now!!!

Mariner's Church was a great spot for our wedding, and Carrie was helpful throughout the planning process. It is a spacious, affordable option, and such a gem to find in the middle of the Old Port. A really fun location! My guests kept saying they didn't know the space existed and really loved it. It was great to check venue, food and bar off the list all in one! The food was tasty and the bartenders were friendly and efficient. Don't let the outdated website and photos deter you. Paint colors and bar have been updated... set up a time with Carrie to check it out in person!! We couldn't be happier with the way our day turned out at Mariner's Church!!

Sarah was amazing to work with. The space was perfect and the big bay windows let in so much natural light. We originally only needed the space for our reception but my wedding venue fell through 11 days before my wedding day. Mariners Church was a Godsend. They accommodated the wedding ceremony AND reception and were so incredibly helpful and calming (clearly I was freaking out). They made wonderful suggestions and our big day was perfect!! We wouldn't have changed a thing!!

Sarah was AMAZING on the day of my wedding!!! Not only did she take care of me (met us at the limo, carried my things, got my flip flops before I could even get the words "I need to get my flip flops" out of my mouth, made sure we ATE, etc. etc.), but she also took great care of the guests (made sure everyone knew when to eat, and that they could go up multiple times since it was a heavy app/buffet). Sarah is SO on top of things, and she and her staff run like a well-oiled machine!
Sarah can be somewhat difficult to get a hold of, but keep on her and be patient. She's worth it! Also, Sarah is super laid back. Sounds great unless you are an absolute stress case like me - Sarah sees the big picture, while I wanted to iron out little details (I'd never planned a wedding before, so I could have used a little bit more detailed direction with the reception planning). That being said, Sarah is very accommodating (she let us come in the day before to set up!!), and was super helpful with helping me plan the menu. A word of advice - if you are doing a heavy app reception, ask Sarah to use dinner plates, not little appetizer plates. I didn't foresee this, so I didn't think to ask.
The venue itself is beautiful and super affordable! I'm know I'm forgetting stuff, but I would definitely recommend Sarah and Mariner's Church Banquet Center!!!! Thank you Sarah!!

This venue is well-sized with an excellent view, affordable, and completely customizable and flexible. Above all, it came with the impeccable Sarah, who offered real advice, a very yummy tasting, and was so helpful leading up to the day, both with myself and any other family members who threw wacky requests at her.

My Feb 2012 wedding was originally scheduled for a different venue. Six weeks before the wedding we were informed that our venue was closed to due financial issues, and we were left scrambling to find a new place to hold our 125 guest wedding. We contacted Mariners and thankfully they were available - which turned out to be a great thing because our wedding was fantastic! The room at Mariners is beautiful, especially at night with candles, and all the lights of Portland glowing outside. The food was excellent (or so I heard - I was too busy dancing to grab a bite!) and Sarah, the manager, was very flexible and accomodating with all of my plans, especially considering they were made less than six weeks before the event. Best of all, the prices at Mariners are EXTREMELY reasonable - our bar tab actually came in under budget - a lovely surprise, considering our friends are drinkers! There were a few very minor service changes I would have made (our favors weren't put in a prominent place and almost none of guests got them, would have appreciated some food being packed up for my husband and I to take away), but overall we had an excellent experience at Mariners and would recommend them to any couple.

Had my wedding at Mariners on 9/6/14. I adore Sarah, she provided me with some amazing vendor options and allowed us to decorate however we wanted. The hall is gorgeous with tall ceilings. The price for set up, take down, hall rental , and linens is really good. Sarah is extremely busy so you have to email and call a few times to get a response but I didn't mind. We did get complaints about the food being cold after the wedding, and my husband was upset that we paid for lobster&shrimp linguine and received bowtie pasta, but we did run late due to weather. Had an amazing time and would recommend this venue.

My now Husband and I searched around southern and coastal Maine for a wedding venue and eventually decided that having it in Portland would be fun for our guests. We also live in Portland so it made our planning a bit easier. We found Mariner's Church Banquet Center from an online forum. People said it was flexible, fairly inexpensive and best of all it was right in town. The location was perfect for us, although one downside is that there is not designated parking, so guests will have to park on the street somewhere or in a garage. The location worked great for us and our guests did love the downtown atmosphere as there are many great restaurants and things to do in Portland. The venue fee here is really cheap compared to others in the area. I think even during the high wedding season (June, July, August) the fee is only $700. One word of caution for anyone considering this location is that there is only one coordinator that handles events here and this is a popular spot. That being said, it seemed to us that perhaps they are stretched too thin and cannot provide great customer service. We often had a hard time getting a hold of the coordinator to ask questions. You really need to be super organized if you decide to hold your reception here and tell them multiple times what your wedding day schedule is. If you are looking for serious hand holding and a "wedding planner" either hire a separate person for that or don't use this venue. Our wedding went fine but it was simple and I was not super particular and didn't mind doing all the planning. Overall this venue worked for us and I'm glad we had it downtown, but I could see how it could be frustrating for a bride that is picky and has a particular vision. Their communication is not awesome, but the price and location is right. The food was good enough and everyone had fun so we are happy with how our wedding went. If you're organized and don't mind doing the legwork yourself this is a great location.

The food that we had at Mariner's Church was amazing! Everyone loved the atmosphere and the setup of the room. We loved the space and how much we could do with it. We were looking for a place that would accommodate our 140 guests at a reasonable price, and this was the place. Right in the heart of Portland, it's super convenient. The waitstaff was amazing and extremely hardworking. We had to plan our reception when they were going through a staff transition, that was pretty difficult but the day was perfect!