President Lincoln's Cottage Reviews

The whole venue is elegant, historical, and meaningful. Kyesse, our Event Planner, was wonderful and easy to work with.

The Lincoln's Cottage was the perfect venue for our May 11 wedding. My husband was looking for a wedding in the country and I was looking for a wedding in the city, and the Cottage provided the perfect compromise. It was easy for our out of town guests to take the shuttle wee provided from the Viceroy Hotel and for our loved ones in town to Uber or park on site, and it felt like the Cottage was our own magical corner of the city that we met in and lived in.

Everyone who works for the Cottage was lovely to work with, our guests were thrilled to explore the house during cocktail hour, and it was perfect to host the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception all on the property. Despite the rain post-ceremony, the whole evening was magical (our gay wedding even had a rainbow!) and all of our vendors easily worked with the team at President Lincoln's Cottage. While our guests were bummed to end the party at 11 p.m., it was a quick and easy walk to the after party at Slash Run across the street and the celebrations continued.

Would get married at the Cottage again in a heartbeat!

President Lincoln's Cottage was the first wedding day venue we looked at and we immediately fell in love and signed the contract! It's a really cool venue that even many DC insiders know little about. It's absolutely picturesque and the monument is accommodating of various wedding traditions - we were able to have a full Baraat procession with a horse and light a fire in the havan kund during the ceremony. They also allowed us to have live Indian food stations during the cocktail hour. Our only issue was largely the result of staff turnover right before our wedding - the Cottage coordinator we had been working with for a year left and the new coordinator had to learn all the logistics of our large Indian wedding all at once. This led to some confusion with delivery of items. The Cottage stores items like alcohol from outside vendors in a storage area in the basement of the visitors center. However, when multiple weddings occur over the weekend these items are stored in the same room. There was some confusion by the various coordinators about which beverage order was ours and unfortunately we ended up having the wrong wine & liquor served at the wedding. The Cottage is an incredible landmark and more people should know about it, but do make sure that all the coordinators you work with have an itemized list of whatever you store at the Cottage in advance of the wedding so they can cross-check to make sure the right items are put out for your event.

We had a wonderful experience having our wedding at Lincolns Cottage. The venue itself was stunning and many guests commented on it. Being able to use both the outdoor space and indoor space was fun and a nice option to have. The staff were helpful and knowledgeable as well! :)

One of the things we were most looking forward to on our wedding day was having our reception at this amazing venue. The Cottage team were fantastic to work with and it’s clear how much they love the cottage and its history. Our wedding day had a bit of rain so we were so happy we’d rented the first floor of the cottage so we could pivot our cocktail hour to be indoors before dinner under the tent. Our family includes a few history buffs who really enjoyed the tours and museum. We loved the beautiful backdrop for our photos and I really appreciated being able to get ready upstairs. Kyesse made sure that my hair and makeup team had everything we need in terms of tables and chairs and I know the photos will be amazing thanks to the dreamy backdrop. Throughout the process we felt so supported by the staff who worked seamlessly with our wedding planner and vendors. I cannot recommend this beautiful historic space enough for your wedding.

This really was our dream venue. It’s beautiful and you feel like you’re transported outside of the city without having to leave the district. I love the mixture of outside and inside the venue offers. Actually being in DC was convenient for us and our guests. With this venue location our guests were able to explore all of the great tourist options in DC when there weren’t wedding events. There aren’t any hotels next door but DuPont Circle, where we had our hotel blocks, is only a 15 minute drive.

The flexibility for wedding size was a huge plus for us. Most of the other historic venues in the DC area have a limit at around 150 but even then a few of them seemed like it would be really tight if our guest count went over 100. We both have large families who live across the country so we knew we’d be inviting a ton of people who may not be able to travel so being able to fit up to 200 people while still working if significantly fewer people RSVPed was important and it worked perfectly.

Jerry, the event coordinator there, is great. He’s very responsive and made sure everything ran smoothly.

The only negative is that the cost of the tent from the preferred vendor they make you use (Sugarplum Tenting) is about the same cost of the venue itself so definitely take that into account when thinking through your budget. Sugarplum is the exclusive provider for basically all of the historic venues in DC though so if you have your heart set on getting married in a venue like that you’ll be dealing with them no matter what. Despite the cost, Sugarplum does a great job. The other thing to note is that the venue doesn’t provide you with any chairs, decorations, linens, etc. I was fine with that because it meant that we had more control over the look but it does mean more work and extra costs to consider. While the venue has recommended vendors they don’t require you to use any of them, besides Sugarplum, which I really appreciated because I liked having that level of control.

For those of you who are worried about weather, please don’t let it dissuade you from choosing Lincoln’s Cottage! It POURED the day of our wedding but the rain plan worked perfectly and everything was still beautiful. The cottage is so beautiful that we still got great pictures and we used the covered porch to get outside shots that turned out beautiful with the stormy weather. Instead of having the ceremony on the front lawn it was moved to the tent space. For the procession we walked from the visitor’s center to the tent with Jerry holding clear umbrellas so we wouldn’t get wet. We had a chuppah from our florist and they were able to set it up underneath the tent too. We then had cocktail hour in the cottage while the caterer flipped the tent space for the reception. We had about 120 guests for our wedding and the cottage didn’t feel crowded for cocktail hour and guests were still able to drink and get some fresh air on the porch.

President Lincoln's Cottage was such a perfect venue for our wedding. It's such a great location within the district, but was still a quiet, serene setting with amazing history. Jerry was so easy to work with! Any questions we had were answered quickly via email, which was so helpful while we were drowning in the wedding planning process! We couldn't have asked for a more perfect place to get married.

We loved everything about our wedding experience at Lincoln's Cottage. The venue is beautiful, and our guests were excited to learn about the cottage's history from the docents on hand to answer questions and show them around. Jerry, in particular, was so easy to work with and answered all of our questions in detail and with encouragement to ask more. Thank you!

President Lincoln’s Cottage was a fantastic place to be married in DC. A wonderful combination of history, gorgeous greenspace, and spacious tent space, the cottage is conveniently nestled in the middle of DC’s Petworth neighborhood. Jerry, our primary point of contact, was fantastic. The team was incredibly helpful when rain threatened to complicate the ceremony, and they were fast to fix issues before they surfaced to us. As a fun bonus folks were given historical mini-tours of the cottage during the cocktail hour and folks have raved about how fun that was.

President Lincoln’s cottage was the perfect venue for our wedding - a mix of history and current day beauty. Jerry and the entire event staff were so easy to work with, and helped us turn our vision into reality. We heard from so many out-of-town guests how special and unique this venue was, and how much they appreciated its cultural significance. Many venues in DC have a long list of rules that can restrict your evening, not so with President Lincoln’s cottage!

We had the greatest wedding experience with PLC and Jerry, the event manager! He was so helpful every step of the way and it helped that we used a month of coordinator that was familiar with Jerry and the venue. Our guests were in awe of the beauty and history of the property, especially that it was nestled in the middle of the city. Guests could drive and easily park for free or take Uber/Lyft which was so convenient and allowed us to not have to worry about transportation. The one thing to be aware of is that if you are having a tent, it can only be through one company that is great but very pricey. That was the biggest expense of our entire wedding, which we were not expecting. However, we made adjustments in other places and we couldn't be happier with how it worked out. I wholeheartedly recommend having your wedding at PLC!

President Lincoln's Cottage was one of our very favorite wedding venues from the start of our search. It's a beautiful setting with meaningful historical significance, and it felt good knowing that our venue fee was going toward something we both cared about. We ended up having many unexpected developments in our wedding planning process, including happening to start our planning process during a transition phase between staff at the Cottage, but more so the COVID pandemic which obviously turned the whole wedding industry upside down. In the end, the Cottage offered us a "micro-wedding" package, which turned out to be the right fit for what we were looking for. It was very helpful to be able to downsize our wedding to a safe number of guests for Phase 2, and the great thing about the Cottage is that the outdoor spaces/grounds are so extensive that there was no problem at all social distancing (we had zero issues with COVID at all with our wedding, which was fully social distanced!) Perhaps the best thing was that we were able to have our dinner outdoor on the lawn under lights, which was beautiful. We recommend the Cottage to any couples looking for an outdoor wedding experience in the heart of DC. (One thing for couples to be aware of: under normal circumstances, a tent is required, and note that you can expect the cost of the tent to be equivalent to the venue fee). Thank you to all the staff at the Cottage -

Lincoln's Cottage is DC's best kept secret. As soon as you set foot on the property, you forget that you are in the middle of the city. It is beautiful, charming, and peaceful. We knew that it would be the perfect place for our wedding as soon as we visited. The staff at Lincoln's Cottage was wonderful to work with and made sure that our wedding day went smoothly. We couldn't have imagined getting married anywhere else.

My husband and I are quickly approaching our first wedding anniversary and our baby’s due date! It’s an exciting time to reflect on the past year. We were lucky enough to get married in Oct of 2019, months before the COVID 19 pandemic. We had 192 guests from all over the US. It was the highlight of my life. We worked with the cottage staff starting about 7 months before the wedding and took their recommendations for various vendors. During the planning process they made themselves available for many meetings, phone calls and endless emails from the bride-to-be. We chose PLC for a variety of reasons: most notably the location, being in the city was something we wanted, yet we also wanted to be outside and dance under the stars... with the expansive estate there was ample parking for guests, room for a picturesque ceremony on the lawn, space for lawn games, cocktails in the cottage, and a reception under the stars (highly recommend getting a clear tent). Everyone continues to reminisce over our Big Day and they always mention the unique and elegant venue.

As a DC resident of 12 years I had my eye on this venue for a long time as did my partner. With only a limited number of weddings done per year we knew we had to make sure to call with enough time to snag our date. At the end of the official tour we put a deposit down with no hesitation.

The historical significance of this landmark was perfect for us as I'm a big history nerd, and with over 100 people coming from out of town, it enticed our guest list to attend the wedding as they got to tour an important historical site. It was nice knowing there would be historians on hand during the cocktail hour to answer any questions our guests had regarding the history of the Cottage and Lincoln.

When we first reached out to the Cottage, we were working with Sahand, who was delightful, but left his position midway through the planning. His successor, Shayla, however, not only made the transition painless but seamless. She was there for all our questions, walkthroughs, and even an impromptu walk-through when my mother popped into town randomly and wanted to see some venue details. Shayla is a wonderful addition to the Lincoln team and I cannot wait for the reviews on here to mention her as many times as her predecessor was mentioned.

Our ceremony took place outside on the back lawn facing the veranda, with a cocktail hour inside, followed by our tented reception on the visitor center lawn.

It's important to note that party size plays a role in where you can have your wedding at the cottage so be aware of that when you do your walkthrough. Also there is a noise restriction regarding amplified music outside, which we knew but had to explain to our Latin family.

The team at President Lincoln's Cottage is fantastic and made our wedding a truly special day. We're still getting people telling us how in awe they were of the venue and it was perfect to have our wedding at one of DC's best hidden treasures.

As soon as my now-husband and I visited President Lincoln's Cottage, we knew we had found the venue for our wedding. The historic nature of this hidden gem is unmatched. That history, and the Cottage's programming today connecting it to modern struggles for freedom and equality--made it a perfect fit as a place to celebrate our interracial, same-sex, interfaith marriage. (And as a native Illinoisan, I was doubly excited to have Mr. Lincoln share in our big day!) The grounds are beautiful and our guests--even most of those who were local--enjoyed the chance to experience a lesser known site in DC and learn some history as well. Having docents walk guests through the Cottage's history during the cocktail hour is unquestionably worth it!

When we first reached out to the Cottage, we were working with Sahand, who, as all of the reviews to date have attested, was a true delight. We would be remiss, though, if we did not acknowledge the incredible job done by his successor, Shayla, who took over just a few months before our wedding day. The transition between the two was virtually seamless, and Shayla worked well with our coordinator and vendors to ensure a successful event. We were fortunate that, despite an uncertain forecast, our outdoor ceremony and al fresco dinner ended up happening as planned, but we don't doubt that the indoor rain plan would have been equally lovely. The folks at President Lincoln's Cottage are true professionals and were wonderful to work with. We are overjoyed and feel so incredibly fortunate to have had the honor of celebrating the biggest day of our lives in such a special setting.

The Cottage is historic and is an amazing location. My wife and I have a great relationship with the Cottage. The venue is unique and holds a special place in our hearts. I highly recommend you put The Cottage on your list for any event.

I fell in love with President Lincoln's Cottage the minute it popped up into my google search. It had everything we were looking for and more that we didn't know we needed. From the time of our first visit to the cottage up until our wedding this past week, we were welcomed with open arms. This is one of the most magical, cute, charming and overall historic places I've gotten to encounter. I was a history major and my parents are both retired military; so the venue itself felt like fate.

Sahand (the venue coordinator here) is the best person in the world to work with. He is attentive and cares about your wedding and ensuring your vision and the cottage work together. His excitement about our Harry Potter themed wedding got us so amped up.

If you are considering this place as your wedding venue, you will not find better people to work with. Don't hesitate or think too hard, go with your initial instinct and you won't be steered in the wrong direction. Thank you Sahand and the President Lincoln's Cottage Family. You guys are absolutely the best.

As we walked away from our tour of PLC (the first venue we visited), we turned to each other and said: "This is it, right?" It seemed silly to only visit only one site, so we kept our other appointments that afternoon, but they only confirmed the impulse. We feel so lucky and grateful to have had such a great venue for our wedding and reception.

We had a beautiful late September day, and I will never forget how magical it felt. We were going for a fairly casual, garden party vibe, and the space was perfect for that. It really needs very little adornment. Further, I honestly looked forward to every time I spoke or emailed with Sahand. He's a gem-- enthusiastic, generous, HILARIOUS, and great at what he does. At the end of the night, I made sure to pull him on to the dance floor, because we really did feel like friends.

To be honest, before we started, I kind of dreaded wedding planning. But with the help of Sahand and PLC, I was totally confident that things would be wonderful. A bonus: even many of our DC guests had never visited here before. It was really special to get to introduce so many people to this beautiful, tranquil space right in our city. We recommend it to others without hesitation!

I find this really difficult to write, not because this venue was terrible in any way, but because I feel that I can't convey how truly remarkable working with the Cottage was to myself and my husband.

Honestly, as soon as we met Sahand (the event coordinator for the Cottage), it didn't matter what the venue looked like. Sahand has an amazing, infectious energy. We felt that immediately and knew that we needed to work with him. (The Cottage was amazing, too.) Between Sahand and the Cottage itself, anyone could feel the warmth and positive energy all around.

What the other reviews state about this venue and its employees are all true. It was the perfect setting for our winter wedding. Sahand was with me every step of the way. If I could do it all again, I would do it the exact same way. It was incredible, moving, beautiful, charming, EVERYTHING because of the Cottage and because of Sahand's attention to detail. We are grateful.

President Lincoln's Cottage is an incredibly beautiful and unique venue for a wedding! We held our cocktail hour in the Cottage and on the surrounding lawns, where guests got to explore and learn some history, enjoy cocktails and appetizers, listen to live music, and play lawn games. We held our reception in a tent on the lawn, which had a relaxed, inviting feel. The venue is very photogenic, and the statue of Abe Lincoln made for a cute "photo booth" backdrop. Although it's a historical site the regulations are not overly restrictive at all, and we were still allowed to do a sparkler send-off. Sahand was awesome to work with leading up to the wedding and the day of; he is very friendly, responsive and eager to help. Our guests raved about the venue, and we would definitely recommend President Lincoln's Cottage!

We loved our wedding venue. We didn’t want to get married in a faceless generic hotel ballroom and looked for a site with character and charm.
President’s Lincoln Cottage was perfect. The ceremony took place at the lawn adjacent to the house, the cocktail hour in the veranda and the dinner was held inside. It was intimate and classy. The events coordinator was outstanding.

My fiance and I held our reception at President Lincoln's Cottage about 10 days ago, and can't begin to say enough wonderful things about the venue and about our POC, event coordinator Sahand.
The venue itself is just stunning. It was honestly the first and last place that we looked at for our wedding, full-stop. Our guests loved the historic aspect of it while still enjoying all of the modern amenities (air conditioning and bathrooms) of an outdoor/garden wedding. We were able to hold cocktail hour inside the cottage and then put a wonderful clear-top tent up that could accommodate out 130 guests (though they are one of the few venues in DC that can hold up to 200).
On the wonderful, amazing, ever accommodating Sahand, we really lucked out. Since over a year ago when we asked if we could tour the venue, right up until our wedding day, he was amazing and we honestly couldn't have felt any better taken care of (important when you have so many other things going on leading up to and the day of your wedding!). My finace and I don't miss a lot about the wedding planning process, but the main one is that we don't get to talk to Sahand anymore!
All around A++ experience, wonderful time, and great memories. We couldn't recommend this venue more.

We could not be happier with choosing to have our wedding at President Lincoln's Cottage!

This incredible venue is a hidden gem in DC sure to entertain both locals and out-of-towners. We were looking for an outdoor wedding venue in DC, and this was the first one we visited. We were blown away by Sahand's professionalism and down-to-earth personality as well as the beautiful venue. After we visited PLC, every other venue paled in comparison!

Throughout the wedding planning process, Sahand was extremely knowledgeable and attentive. I love that PLC offered a preferred vendor list - we ended up hiring all but one of our vendors through that list. Their preferred vendors have worked a ton of weddings at PLC and know the ropes like the back of their hand.

Another reason we were interested in PLC was their rain plan. Most venues we visited didn't have a rain plan or you'd have to pay an extreme amount, but Sahand graciously offered the 2nd floor of the cottage as a rain plan in our package. It did end up raining on our wedding day, but we were able to still hold the ceremony outdoors and moved dinner inside. Having an intimate dinner with your friends and family in Lincoln's master bedroom where he wrote the 1st draft of the Emancipation Proclamation is not a bad rain plan :)

Our bid day was the most beautiful and special day I could ever have imagined and that is mainly due to Sahand and the staff at PLC.