Prospect Park Picnic House

they were very accommodating. The space was fantastic, very customizable, and very good value for the money. We did the ceremony in the park next to the venue, which was great and exactly the "backyard" wedding we had wanted. Because we could also move the ceremony easily inside we also were not stressed about the weather, which was iffy until the last minute.

Great venue in NYC at an amazing price.

t ease and taken care off throughout the process of planning our petit wedding. Even including all extras, and booking the venue for a couple of extra hours, and including dinner with one of their partnering catering vendors, the event was surprisingly affordable for a wedding in Prospect Park. The staff were accommodating, friendly, and efficient, while leaving complete control of the event up to us, which was wonderful. Our guests were incredibly impressed by the venue and surroundings and the atmosphere was dreamy (and our photos even dreamier!) We feel incredibly lucky and would highly recommend the Picnic House to anyone looking for a beautiful, functional, accessible, and highly unique venue for their wedding or other event, small or large. A huge thanks to the Picnic House, we will forever cherish the memory of this beautiful wedding!

he place for us. The location situated in the middle of Prospect Park is beautiful for any season, and our fall wedding was made perfect by the changing leaves around the Picnic House. Caity and Willy were a delight to work with. They were super responsive and everything ran smoothly and as planned. We are also happy that the fee for the venue goes to the Prospect Park Alliance, an organization we’re proud to support.

e venue would be giving back to the park that meant so much to us. But the Picnic House is more than just a do-good venue: It's an absolutely beautiful location. For a "blank space" venue, it's quite affordable. Caity was incredibly responsive and helpful throughout the entire planning process. And the updates made to the venue (air conditioning, redone bathrooms, new getting-ready space) were all really well done. We would absolutely recommend the Picnic House to anyone who is looking for a look-good, feel-good venue in NYC.

e barely decorated and our guests were raving about how beautiful it looked.

s. And boy did we have a ton of questions! And outside of how wonderful the Picnic House team is - the venue itself is absolutely gorgeous. The space is large and accommodating to various different setups and the natural light is second to none. Almost all of our guests commented on how perfect the venue was for our daytime wedding. We also found that the Picnic House was a great option for a venue during the pandemic (we got married in July 2022, and wanted to make sure we had covid protocols in place). The venue helped us brainstorm policies, and we were really happy with having a venue that allowed lots of ventilation while providing rain/weather cover options. FYI, the venue fee goes right back into the Prospect Park Alliance so if you like the park, it’s worth supporting them.

ors and windows really brought a sense of nature into the space. Caity was a great point person throughout our planning process too: communicative, organized, and helpful. We had such a magical wedding and the Picnic House will always be dear to our hearts!

rew who were there the evening of our event could not have been more warm, welcoming and helpful. They created an atmosphere of creativity and celebration. And of the caterers recommended by the Picnic House, we chose Miriam's, and could not have been happier! The food was delicious. And it was such a pleasure to know that the Picnic House and the caterer had worked together and so everything was organized and beautiful. We also had a four piece live band and they had a wonderful stage on which to perform, and a good upright piano to play. The whole evening was exceptional. I would recommend the Picnic House to anyone who wants a truly beautiful setting for their wedding or party. Can't wait to go back.

compared to other venues in Brooklyn - Caity our coordinator for the event was helpful throughout the planning process Things we did not like about the picnic house: - They are strict with entry times for the event, we could not get access to the space until 2 hours before the event, not even for dropping your stuff off way beforehand, which made us feel a bit of pressure to set up in a limited 2-hour window before the wedding. We should have had more time, 4 hours beforehand would have been enough in our humble opinion. - You can solve the issue above by buying extra hours, which are expensive ($400/hour) though. - We had an issue with the projector not working properly. They have a laptop set up in a small room to the side of the stage. The laptop has a long HDMI cable connected to the output that feeds the projector. They kept having issues with the laptop not coming up on the projector, they kept re-seating the cable at the laptop end so the projector would refresh/re-sync with the laptop and display the slides/videos we had. The audio was connected last minute to a speaker on the floor, where we were hoping the audio would already be integrated into the system house speakers or something like that. It just felt like a bit of a scramble to get the slideshow/audio portion up. There is a bonus charge of $250 to use the projector, so we were a bit frustrated when this portion was not working as we had hoped. We had several slides and videos to show our guests during the wedding and this was an integral part of the night. In the end, we did end up playing all the videos and slides we had, but we had hoped it would have been more streamlined. P.S. my husband is a video sytems engineer, so one can see his frustration with this portion of the night. Overall we had a great wedding at the picnic house and we were super happy to celebrate in our favourite park we go almost every day (we live in Park Slope). This is what makes this venue special and unique! For these reasons, I would highly recommend this venue for your event. Thanks!

enue's list of preferred vendors all did a great job as well. Our wedding at the Picnic House was just perfect!

with this venue and would highly recommend this spot to others!

an excellent value for our New Year's Eve wedding. Unforgettable for our once in a lifetime event, and fireworks a bonus.

he added bonus of natural beauty all around. No one else gets booked for the same day, so that also removes a lot of stress. We definitely would highly recommend the Picnic House to anyone who wants to get married in Brooklyn.

nt and prompt with every question we had. We received a lot of good feedback about our wedding and received a lot of comments of how nice the setting was. You choose from their recommended vendors who are very experienced and work well with the Picnic House.

as...and also how affordable. The rental fee is incredibly reasonable and the tables (60" rounds) and chairs (as long as they're kept inside) are included in the fee. The staff is super kind, flexible and super responsive. Everything was a cinch. And of course the space itself and the PARK...just gorgeous. I couldn't recommend the Picnic House more highly!!

the ability for guests to be indoors and outdoors. We wanted a huge dance party for the bulk of our cocktail style event - and the space was more than big enough to accommodate our 185 guests on the dance floor. The staff and vendors were super accommodating and easy to work with. Simply put - having our celebration at The Picnic House was one of the best decisions we've ever made.

ibly responsive to e-mails, very helpful, and super friendly when we eventually met in person. William, the house manager who was on-site the day of the wedding itself, was also completely lovely and ensured that everything ran smoothly, including gradually adjusting the overhead lights over the course of the reception to fit the mood. The Picnic House is a beautiful space before you bring anything into it — the only decor we added was flowers and some candles on the tables (no extra lights), and it looked even more gorgeous the day of the wedding than we had imagined it would. The private room downstairs is no frills, but it's a secure place to leave valuables and sit with your partner / officiant before and after the ceremony and sneak a bite to eat before joining the cocktail hour; the bathrooms were also no frills but were perfectly serviceable. We definitely got married IN Prospect Park, and we were surrounded by the people of the park — there were kids playing and laughing nearby, people picnicking, and lots of bystanders observing the ceremony. We loved that environment and thought it was really special to be in the midst of Prospect Park. All in all, the Picnic House was the perfect venue for us. If you are considering getting married at the Picnic House, a few things to think about: Unlike other venues, Picnic House is pretty bare bones in what it provides; other than the tables and chairs, you have to bring everything else in yourself. This might be more cost effective in the end, but it does require more work and coordination than a venue that does everything for you. (Fortunately, your caterer should be responsible for reserving the rentals, and we were able to delegate a lot of that decisionmaking to the catering captain.) You should read the contract closely before signing it and probably at some point again as you start to lock down vendors. We didn't realize that the chairs the Picnic House provides could not be brought outside and that we couldn't amplify sound outside until we were well into the wedding planning process; neither wound up being a huge issue, but we hadn't accounted for them or budgeted for the extra set of chairs. The Picnic House is strict about clearing out the space at the end of the contract time, so you should have at least a day-of coordinator or a VERY supportive friend or family member who is responsible for making sure everything is out on time. Before booking you should also take a look at the list of exclusive caterers and rental company to make sure they work for your wedding vision, budget, etc. (For what it's worth, we thought it was great to work with a caterer who was familiar and comfortable with the venue and knew how to work with the space and the staff.) And, if you are hoping for an outdoor wedding, you should decide if you are comfortable having your wedding in a public space, surrounded by people; we thought it was a blast, but that might not be everyone's vibe.

g, she seamlessly picked up where the previous events manager left off and responded to all of our emails immediately. Picnic House staff were amazingly helpful on the day of and kept our wedding running smoothly. The space was beautiful and it looked amazing with just flowers on the tables, no extra lights, and comfortable AC. The ceiling is higher than it looks in pictures and overall, the space is very elegant with minimal decoration. We had the ceremony and reception inside because park rules say no amplified sound and you have to rent separate chairs for outside use. During the cocktail hour, post-ceremony, the Picnic House staff and Catering staff made a quick transition with chairs and tables from ceremony to dinner and dancing. We live down the street from the venue and visit the park almost every day so it felt almost like we were getting married in our backyard. Initially, having a set list of caterers felt frustrating but we actually ended up appreciating it because it seemed like all those included in the list have tons of experience working specifically with the Picnic House space and staff. The day was everything we could have hoped for and more.

e because the "preferred vendors" know the site really well and were great to work with. The travel arrangements were tricky for some out of town guests, but everyone arrived intact! It was very cool to be married in a public place and have children around calling me a princess and happy spectators wishing us congrats. It was unique. It was an elegant party in a laid back atmosphere which was so "US" and I can't believe how well it suited us and how smooth everything went. We had a 9-piece band which fit well and sounded great on the stage.

wedding- such a unique and loving experience. The venue was beautiful and didn’t need that much to decorate. The vendors they suggested were also great. I highly recommend using the Picnic House!

had 130 people and there was a ton of room for more. It’s beautiful to look out onto the greens from every window and they have air conditioning for a hot day. Some couples choose to decorate, but you really, really don’t need to other than table decor as the venue is just gorgeous with its old school charm. My only criticism is the bathrooms aren’t the nicest, but really, who spends time in the bathroom at a wedding anyway! Now for the staff! From the very first open house in April 2017 when we met Stephanie, to the very last few emails between us and Stephanie and Christina, the staff at the Picnic House are just a joy to work with. Over the course of the year they received several emails with tons of questions, several requests etc. Every interaction and conversation with them was always one filled with empathy and willingness to help. They always helped ease stress by providing solutions, making recommendations and being super accommodating. They were really a total joy to work with, you won’t regret it.

e.