The John M.S. Lecky UBC Boathouse is a floating venue in Richmond located on the historic Fraser River with stunning views of the North Shore Mountains. It is located near Richmond's business and entertainment district, as well as Vancouver's International Airport. The venue is perfect for hosting any type of event, but special care is most definitely placed on making sure they help you create the wedding you have always wanted.
Facilities and capacity
The venue captures its outdoor setting throughout the interior event hall space by its floor to ceiling windows on three of the four walls. The Event Hall is complete with a fireplace, lounge furniture, and breathtaking views of the city. Its capacity is for 150 guests for a seated dinner or up to 180 cocktail style function.
Services offered
The UBC Boathouse offers the following services:
Event hall with adjoining water-front balcony
Venue tables and chairs
State of the art multimedia package
Lockable change rooms, great for bridal ready spaces
Venue Coordinator included for the duration of your rental
Complimentary use of their gorgeous lower dock space if you would like to host your ceremony or cocktail hour outdoors
History
The John M.S. Lecky UBC Boathouse was named after a former UBC rower who won the silver in the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome and who passed away in 2003. Currently, it houses the UBC Thunderbirds rowing program, St. George's School's rowing program, and other rowing and paddling programs in the community.
A perfect blank canvas to customize your own wedding.
We had a medium sized wedding of 60-80 people and it was the perfect size for everyone to be able to mingle without being cramped. The venue itself is so beautiful, we only needed to decorate minimally for our ceremony and then the water and the sunset was our backdrop. The staff were very responsive and flexible, we had a lot of odd requests that we ran by them when doing the first meeting (ie. rose petal confetti cannons, sparkler send-off, a theatrical sword fight) and they didn't even bat an eye. This venue gives you a lot of flexibility on how you want to customize your wedding, they don't restrict you to a specific catering company or any other vendor.
The venue was very affordable and booking times are flexible. It is easy to get to for guests by transit and has plenty of free parking. Overall, a great venue and I would recommend it to my friends.
Sent on 12/11/2019
Elena Bergougnou
· Married on 23/06/2019
4.8
Quality of service:
5.0
Responsiveness:
5.0
Value:
5.0
Flexibility:
4.0
Professionalism:
5.0
Best venue in the Lower Mainland
We had our reception and ceremony here for 100 people. It's an absolutely stunning venue with great West Coast vibes, with the option for an outdoor ceremony and a back-up option in case of rain. The UBC Boathouse team was incredibly responsive whenever I had a question, straightforward and clear with their contract and pricing, and the day-of venue coordinator I worked with (Morgan) was on game during the event. Would recommend to anyone looking to host an event!
Sent on 10/07/2019
Elizabeth Creighton
· Married on 12/10/2018
5.0
Quality of service:
5.0
Responsiveness:
5.0
Value:
5.0
Flexibility:
5.0
Professionalism:
5.0
Stunning Venue!
My husband and I got married at UBC Boathouse in October, and it was picture perfect! We were able to get some pictures on the docks as the sunset, and they came out absolutely perfect! The space was perfectly sized for our medium wedding (110 people), although we're sure it would accommodate more or less equally well. The staff were amazing and worked with us from day one to make the day unforgettable!
Sent on 20/12/2018
Nicole
· Married on 24/08/2018
4.6
Quality of service:
5.0
Responsiveness:
5.0
Value:
4.0
Flexibility:
4.0
Professionalism:
5.0
Amazing Venue
My husband and I got married Friday August 24th, 2018 at the John M.S. Lecky UBC Boathouse. It was a magical day and I couldn’t have asked for a better venue to have our dream wedding at. The boathouse was incredibly organized and professional throughout the entire time! Always there to answer any questions and trust me I asked a lot. They also were two steps ahead of me with the organization of my wedding it was amazing! Thank you so much UBC Boathouse for making our wedding flawless from start to finish and for making it such a night to remember!
Sent on 18/09/2018
Sarah Prigge
· Married on 11/03/2018
5.0
Quality of service:
5.0
Responsiveness:
5.0
Value:
5.0
Flexibility:
5.0
Professionalism:
5.0
Mountain Views & Gorgeous Venue
Wow! The UBC Boathouse is a stunning venue with a staff that makes wedding venue planning easy. Their website is intuitive with almost all the info you would need and the staff are ready to help with any question or concern. I planned my own wedding -so this is a BIG deal.
My now husband and I are very chill and did not want to have to think much about the details of the day. Katie helped us to plan it out in about a half hour and let us dream. She is easy to talk to and fun to be around.
Everything around finances was smooth and simple with the Boathouse. They are very professional and honest with costs. The UBC Boathouse provides many resources that are very helpful for the day such as sound equipment, tables, chairs, table clothes [extra minimal fee], patio furniture, coat racks, partners to the UBC Boathouse to help plan vendors, and views of the mountains you can’t get anywhere else. Compared to other venues this has the best value.
The venue itself has its own character, minimal decor is needed to make it look wonderful. We basically only added florals and lights to make it look how we desired it to.
I’m a huge fan of the UBC Boathouse, I will continue to recommend it to everyone I tell about my wedding.
We had our wedding on the dock in March! Turned out to be a stunning sunny day, everything ran so smooth. The day of the wedding there was a spectacular sunset and the photos we took were whimsy.
