The Merion

Was here for a wedding in the Skylight room and it was beautiful. Staff did a great job being attentive to the guests and the food was pretty good — especially the cocktail hour.
I had a few dirty utensils, but as fast as I could bring it up to the staff, it was replaced with a shiny new one with a million apologies.
It looks like they are slowing finishing some renovations, and they are doing a great job. The entire place was beautiful. Valet was great and we had no poor experiences — even though some other reviews had me worried!

I was a matron of honor at a wedding here this past weekend, so I can only offer a guests perspective.
The Merion was absolutely fantastic! The venue itself was beautiful and huge. The bridal suite was perfect with a great set up of food and drinks. The maitre d’s were all very attentive and kept everything very organized.
The cocktail hour was amazing. Food stations were set up wall to wall and it was all delicious. Same goes for the dessert selection which was like nothing I had ever seen. They had every dessert imaginable including a waffle station, crepes and milkshakes! It was unbelievable.
This is definitely a great venue and I can only hope to be invited to another event here soon!

Thanks to the Merion staff for making my wedding the best night of my life. They catered to my every ask & request & made me feel like an absolute Princess! My guests can’t stop talking about the food! WOW! I’m just so impressed & so so happy with my decision to celebrate my special day at this venue. I couldn’t recommend more!

I would HIGHLY recommend The Merion to all Brides to Be! My husband and I were thrilled with the treatment and special care we received from beginning to end. Not only did the staff at the Merion make us feel like family but planning a wedding at the Merion became something I looked forward to on a monthly basis leading up to our special day. We decided to go with the Skylight Ballroom upstairs. It is truly a magnificent room, imagine your first dance as husband and wife under a starlit sky, AMAZING!
The food blew my guest away. The cocktail hour was over the TOP! Ice sculptures throughout, sushi, extra large shrimp cocktail, fresh seafood bar, steaming hot meat carving stations and much much more. When dinner was served they made you feel like you were at a five star restaurant. Our wedding cake was designed with elegance and was a moist red velvet yummy tower of goodness. If you can, be sure to add the dessert station, it is a great addition to the cake. We will never forget our wedding day for many reasons but the one that stands out is The Merion.

This place has consistently been one of the best banquet halls I have ever been to! It is beyond beautiful. I was reminded of this after going to another Wedding there. The amount and quality of the food presented for cocktail hour is staggering. Everyone I have ever talked to says the same thing. There is something for everyone whether it be delicious meats, vegetables, seafood, sushi, etc!
The soup and salad leading up to the entrées were perfectly timed and tasted fantastic. My steak dinner was cooked to perfection. The fish that my wife ordered was equally delicious. Try to save room for desert because the selections are as vast as they are delicious. Like the other events I have been to at this facility the staff was prompt, professional and extremely friendly. I would highly recommend The Merion if you are considering a location for a special event! Nice job to the staff and owners, keep up the great work!!!

This is easily the worst wedding hall I’ve ever been to in my life. I’ve been to two weddings here. I kept my restraint after the first one since I didn’t want to judge the place based on one bad experience. But now I can’t hold back. This place is terrible. I would not book this place for a wedding even if it was free. Just horrible.
Let’s start with cocktail hour. The seafood all tastes spoiled. No I’m not talking poor quality. I’m talking spoiled. The lobster does not taste anything like lobster. I never spit food out and I couldn’t help but spit out the cocktail shrimp. The oysters and clams on the half shell are a recipe for food poisoning. I did not try the scallops but by the account of those who did it was no better. The roasted lamb was very gamy and I like lamb of all sorts and eat game meat! Pastas were over cooked. Marinated artichokes were flavorless. I mean it struck out on every level.
The dinner service was equally bad outside of maybe the Italian wedding soup although even the meatballs in that were gag worthy. The pear salad was edible but that’s about all I can say. The sorbet was too sugary for a palate cleanser. The filet was tough and the meats flavor was unpleasant. I’m not expecting prime filet but I would bet my life this was not USDA choice quality and I highly doubt it was even select. The mash potatoes were blended with fried onions which left the onions soggy and the potatoes with the taste and smell of oxidized onions. The steak sauce did nothing to elevate the pain as it too was off in flavor.
Was a waste of calories. I tried to get decaf coffee to wash the filthy taste out and the staff told me its in one of two coffee dispensers but they don’t know which. I said no thanks to the caffeine Russian roulette.
The service staff was pleasant but frankly poorly trained. They leave finished food on your table too long. Poor your drink and serve your from the wrong side. Just a mess.
The downstairs room is much nicer for cocktail hour than upstairs. However the main hall is long and narrow as is the dance floor making for very awkward interactions. All the carpets are sticky and just to top off the night valet was completely disorganized.

This is a review of the management treatment towards myself as an outside pro photographer at my friends wedding who was getting married at the merion. after the wedding ceremony was over they allowed me 15 minutes after the receiving line to photograph the entire bridal party appx 16 people, the family appx 40 people and the bride and groom. Well you know this is impossible for any photographer which i explained. I told them i was given one hour by the coordinator and the bridal party was going to skip the cocktail hour to allow for photos. Well an older man in a suit (management) came to me after 15 minutes and told me i had 5 minutes or he was going to shut me down. Very rude manager. Needless to say i did not get no creative photos of the group or bride and groom that i wanted to get. After all the harrassment the bride and groom sat in a room for 20 minutes waiting for the venue to received them in the reception room when i could of been photographing them. Beautiful place but rude management. Dont know if this happens to all photographers here or not or did they treat me this way for a reason im not aware of. I’ve shot for 17 years so im not new to this. Good luck shooting at the merion.

Let me start off by saying that this was an amazing venue for any special occasion. I was in the Skylight ballroom for a wedding. The food spread was incredible anything you could think of was available during the cocktail hour. Complete with a cheesesteak station. The service was very nice. Our server was very attentive and assured that we had everything we needed to have a pleasant dining experience.
With that said, you may be wondering why my review provides only a 2-​star rating. To answer that, I have to bring you the day after the wedding, when myself and all other persons sitting at my table came down with a terrible gastrointestinal bug. I find it quite disturbing, that a place that was serving food to thousands of people a year, cannot get their staff to follow basic hand hygiene properly. I can only imagine how many people were affected after that wedding, but it’s unfortunate that it affected anyone at all.
Poor form, Merion. poor form

This was a nice place to attend a wedding. We were in the basement room and used their ceremony space as well.
First of all, the staff here is great. You can tell that they care about making each wedding special.
As for food:
I loved the appetizers. In particular, the Chinese station stood out among the rest. Appetizers are always my favorite parts of wedding meals.
Dinner was good, but nothing special. We started with a nice Italian wedding soup which was a bit thin. Crab-​crusted scallops followed, which were cooked well but not the best I have ever had. My wife did not like here chicken entrée, but I was not about to eat her entrée too!
Dessert was a lot of fun. There was assortment of fun items — too many to list. However, they ran out of milkshakes! Gah!
Despite my nit-​picking, I would still say the Merion is a great place to have a wedding. They do a fine job and really make the guests feel welcome!

I was a bridesmaid in a wedding here. My friend got married in the downstairs part. Every part of the celebration in which the music wasn’t on (most importantly the speeches), you could hear the music from upstairs and the people dancing/​stomping. We all felt like the ceiling was going to fall through on to the dance floor! It was such a turn off.
The food was nothing special either, I don’t have anything to say about it either way — just regular food. On the good side, the outside was pretty and so was the staircase leading upstairs. We took pictures there that came out nicely.
Overall, I had a fun night because I was with friends and family but I honestly felt like we were a nuisance to them, which made me just feel bad for the bride and groom because they deserve better.

I like this place. It is fancy and I am hard pressed to find anything wrong with it. I have been to many events here, both weddings and small conventions. The Chef (Chef George) is approachable, willing to help and just makes things happen. The owner, I believe his name is Billy, is also highly involved with all of the events that I have had the pleasure of attending or assisting with making happen. They run a tight ship, managing a large staff and a large complex.
The food has been universally good, 7 – 8 times I have been there and the staff has always been helpful and pleasant to me and my freinds. I would recommend this venue to anyone for weddings or for more intimate conventions. The parking is plentiful and even if you need more space there are lots not far away that can be accessed via a shuttle bus, if you choose to hire one.

I attended a wedding at the Merion this weekend, though I have never reviewed a venue like this I feel like I have to Unilocal about the experience. The venue itself is beautiful, it was large and open and clean, it was well decorated but not overdone. The staff was welcoming and helpful as well. If you are a food lover, you must check this venue out for your special day, I do not think the food can be topped by any other place.
What I was truly blown away by the cocktail hour! My friends and I could not stop talking about it all night and all day the next day, we really were like broken records and we kept fighting over what the best part was. In sum, there is almost any kind of food you could imagine laid out for you in the cocktail hour, I’m not exaggerating, from a pizza bar, to a mashed potato station, to pasta, Asian, filet, seafood diavaolo, other steak dishes, lamb (my absolute favorite), a huge raw bar complete with lobster, made to order scallops and crab cakes, and much more! I have never seen so much food — and everything was delicious! Dinner was a sit down dinner, we were SO full but of course had to try and stuff more in. The dessert of course had to compete with the cocktail hour, this place truly goes all out — they had a milkshake bar (ask nicely and the bartender will add Baileys), milke and cookies, any kind of cake you can think of, peanut butter and jelly, waffles and ice cream… Oh my gosh I’m still full!
The whole experience was just wonderful, it seemed like they really took care of everything. The service was great, and I never stood in line for a drink huge plus in my book! We had a great time dancing, and celebrating the new husband and wife! I know they were very happy with everything and as a guest I can truly say I would recommend the Merion to anyone.

My new wife and I got married at The Merion this past weekend. We could not have been any happier with how everything went. All of the staff was so helpful and gracious. The food was some of the best I’ve ever had! I would highly recommend this venue for anyone that is looking in the southern New Jersey area for a wedding venue.

Attended a wedding in the basement room of the Merion last Friday– think its called the Empire room. The wedding was great largely due to the amazing planning of the bride… staff was pleasant and service was amazing. One small gripe– cocktail hour was a bit hectic, too many people in one room.
Special shoutout to Lisa E.- a great server at the wedding I attended!

Phenomenal venue… I just had my wedding here and this place is a first class business from beginning to end. You really feel like you get your money’s worth out of this place. I really feel like my guests had a great time. If you have your wedding here, you will not be sorry! Jim and Steph were so professional at all times. I never had any worries.

Starlight room was nice, but that’s about it. Booze was WAY overpriced, food was HORRENDOUS, temp was freezing. Thank goodness went to event to celebrate loved one, but will NOT recommend this place!

The venue was amazing, the food tasted great. Probably one of the best h’orderves/ dessert selection and quality I ever expeirenced. The staff were very friendly and professional. Why the low rating? My experience ended horriblely with the valet service. It was a complete train wreck how they managed this debacle. I understand wedding get out, but I’ve been waiting for 2 hours in the cold/​rain with 40 – 60 drunk guests leaving 6 different weddings all waiting for their bus, limo and valet car in one pick up area. I spoke to the valet desk and all he said I can give you your keys and locate your car in 2 parking lots. I’m surprised a fist fight didn’t break out during this fiasco.
Nothing like ending your night with pnominua, waiting 2 hours, ridiculous.

Went here in high school for a jr prom and it was a lovely experience. Great ambience and great food.
Came here last year for charity awards dinner and had the best time. It is absolutely beautiful inside and out. The wait staff was pleasant and personable. Great food.
I am going here tonight for a charity awards dinner and am so looking forward to it!

I came here for a wedding and I have to say it was wonderful. Everyone was really friendly, the place looked so amazing, the food was great, and also dessert and appetizers!
I love the way this place looks, when I first walked in I was surprised for I did not think it would look this nice on the inside. Also the staff seemed to be very in sync with the wedding coordinations, and make it extra special.

This was a beautiful venue for the charity event that we attended.
We drove up and were happy to see complimentary valet service (which is great since the parking lot is HUGE and could have been a long walk to get the car), and were greeted politely by both the valets and the doormen. As we walked in to the spacious entryway we were ushered to the right to our event, as there were two wedding receptions there as well that evening. I was amazed how huge this place was!
Our event had many different appetizer stations, as well as ample butler passed tasty bites, I especially liked the calamari station, and the butler passed baby lamb chops. The open bar for our event had a NICE selection of booze, and I was very happy that I could have a Grey Goose martini, and champagne with a bit of Chambord later in the evening.
The food at our sit down dinner was delicious, however, they served a soup course! And our waitress was sloppy and terrible and actually spilled some soup down my leg as she was scooping it into our bowls, luckily I had a short dress on so it only hit my lower leg. Other than that the rest of the meal was very nice.