President Lincoln's Cottage

ive, but also easy to get buses in here too. The event coordinator at PLC (Kyesse) was easy to communicate with and everything falls into place nicely. We did cocktail hour on the South Lawn and inside the Cottage, the ceremony on the North Lawn at sunset, dinner upstairs, and the reception downstairs in the cottage. On nice days they open up the windows and doors of the cottage, so it really feels like an indoor/outdoor experience. We were able to comfortably fit ~100 people upstairs for dinner. Though I think you could probably get 115-120 people up there. The cottage is broken up with separate rooms, so it feels intimate and there are different spaces in the cottage for people to hang out if they are not dancers. If you go with this venue, I would also recommend: - RSVP for catering - Dan Goldman Events for DJ (ask for Ricardo), bistro lights, and dance floor

ide 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.

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!

iliar with Jerry and the venue. Our guests were in awe of the beauty and history of the property. It is a gem right in the the city. The grounds make for gorgeous photos, too. 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!

coming from out of town, I didn't want them staying in a tiny town off the interstate. I wanted them to experience DC, and Lincoln's Cottage -- literally smack in the center of the District -- was the perfect location. They do a limited number of weddings every year, and they start bookings at 18 months out, so I signed my contract on April 5, 2018. There is only one tenting company and a small list of preferred caterers, but they were great to work with and we had no trouble settling on who would do the food. I was a little nervous when their legendary coordinator, Sahand, moved on a few months before the wedding. I shouldn't have, because Shayla was brilliant. I didn't spring for a day-of planner, but she helped get the guests and wedding party where they needed to go. All of my guests raved about the wedding, particularly how cool it was to go to a party on a property with so much history. The house is stately but not stuffy -- you can actually sit on the furniture. Cocktail hour photo shoots with Lincoln and Old Bob were a bonus.

tory, 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.

plore 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!

ator 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.

ers. 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.

able to host a wedding here and we highly recommend it to anyone considering it. We had planned an al fresco outdoor dinner for our big day, but got edged out by the spring rains. We'd been nervous about this, but honestly, the indoor backup rain plan turned out BEAUTIFULLY. Having dinner upstairs in the cottage felt like being in a time capsule and allowed our guests a more intimate experience with this beautiful setting. The team at the cottage is AMAZING. Sahand Miraminy was such a joy to work with. He kept us laughing throughout the entire wedding planning process at put us at ease when moments of stress arose. He made the wedding running so smoothly.