President Lincoln's Cottage Reviews

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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!

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!

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 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.

President Lincoln's Cottage is an incredible venue with a rich history and we just feel so lucky that we were able to get married there.

First, the space: The house itself is beautiful and both the front and back yards are absolutely gorgeous. We had the ceremony in the back yard under the striking magnolia tree, the cocktail hour in the house, and the reception under a tent in the front yard. The tent went over the statue of Lincoln, which was very cool and got a lot of praise from our guests. It also feels so special to be in the presence of so much amazing history and on the grounds of the old soldier's home. If you're a history/social justice/civil rights nerd, this is the absolute perfect venue. I was in heaven.

Second, the people. Sahand, who is in charge of events for the Cottage, is absolutely incredible. He helped me plan this wedding for two years, including a gazillion details, logistics, and emails. He was prompt, pleasant and helpful every single time. He didn't miss a beat. On the day of the wedding, he was amazing. He went above and beyond to take care of us and our guests. He was somehow both unobtrusive and incredibly attentive! I don't know how Sahand does it but we are so grateful for everything he did to make our wedding wonderful.

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.

Full disclaimer: we didn’t end up choosing the Lincoln Cottage as our wedding venue (primarily because our party ended up being very large), but wanted to still leave a review based on our impressions of the premises and of Sahand, the event coordinator, who, by the way, is a complete boss.

This is a wonderful venue. The grounds are beautiful and well-kept, and the cottage beams with historic significance and elegance. The house itself can accommodate a fair number of guests for a standing reception and / or seated dinner – it would make a perfect place for a very classy cocktail hour in my view, and you would need a bare minimum for decoration purposes, as it’s already stunning. There are a number of DIY customization options (lawn games etc) that are possible here, which is very nice. We were looking for a venue with an outdoor component that is still close to downtown DC, and this is one of the few places that fit the bill. Parking logistics seem very easy, and it’s located on a military base.

The ultimate reason you may want to choose this venue though, in addition to its beauty, is Sahand Miraminy. Planning a wedding is stressful, and you want to be able to blindly trust an on-site coordinator with overseeing the logistics on this all-important day. Fear not – Sahand is an incredibly well-organized, friendly, professional, kick-ass resource. Just having met him once, we would have hired him on the spot. He is worth his weight in gold. I strongly encourage anyone to check out Lincoln Cottage – a great place that has a lot of potential for a great wedding.

We feel incredibly lucky and grateful to have hosted our wedding at President Lincoln's Cottage. The setting is simply beautiful, charming, and historic. It is truly special to be 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.

From the very second we stepped foot on the grounds of the Cottage, we knew that we wanted it to be our venue. It is picturesque, beautiful, and historic without feeling stuffy or overly done. There is a relaxed and grounded nature to the cottage that is very welcoming and immediately made us feel right at home. Living up to its past, it truly feels like a retreat from DC while also feeling rooted in the city. We also loved that the Cottage has a rich history that fuels the amazing work and activism that the staff there carries forward to this day. Overall, as a DC venue, it surpassed everything we were hoping to find.

But beyond the venue itself, Sahand (the events coordinator repeatedly mentioned in other comments) truly is one of the best individuals that we had the pleasure of working with throughout the process. He was honest and upfront, professional, hilarious, engaging, knowledgeable, and accommodating. He made the experience very personal to us, provided us with insanely helpful advice, and was very quick to respond to any questions that we had. And on the day of, his staff went ABOVE AND BEYOND to make sure that everything was executed exactly how we wanted it -- all while keeping a smile on his face. (Seriously, cannot stress enough how blown away I was with the work the staff at the Cottage did on the day of the wedding.)

Selecting the Cottage as our venue was 100% without a doubt the best decision we made when planning our wedding, and we are insanely happy we will be able to be a part of the Cottage family for years to come.

I would literally give the Cottage twenty stars if I could. Not only is an incredible historic venue that will wow every guest, but it is such a picturesque place to hold a wedding and a perfect venue for a fall wedding in particular. But as great as the location is, the people make it even better. Sahand is the single best person we worked with during this wedding, and probably one of the greatest people I've worked with on ANYTHING before. So responsive, so fun yet professional, and was literally willing to do anything within reason to make our day special. It's rare that you can say a wedding venue is an incredible value for the money, but the Cottage is worth every penny (and probably more). Sure, you can probably pay tens of thousands of dollars and have a ridiculously lavish wedding somewhere in DC; but for a rustic and historic wedding that EVERY guest will fondly remember, and a top-notch experience for the special couple, there's no place else to even consider than the Cottage.

While my fiancé and I didn't ultimately book this venue because our guest list kept growing, we absolutely loved working with Sahand over the past month while we made our decision. The venue itself is a wonderful combination of an historic property and great ambiance - it has a special charm that you don't find just anywhere. Sahand was extremely professional and responsive, I would have loved to work with him to plan my big day!! Ultimately, we just had too many people for the venue's size, which is why we didn't book. If your event is within their capacity, I highly recommend checking out President Lincoln's cottage - you won't be disappointed!

We may be biased, but President Lincoln's Cottage is hands down the best place in DC to get married, and has the best staff of people to shower you with support and encouragement throughout the planning process. We were looking for a meaningful, historic venue with a good amount of outdoor space and knew immediately when we toured Lincoln's Cottage that we had found what we were looking for and more. And as other reviews have stated, Sahand is a pro! He gave us great tips throughout the process and made us feel as though our wedding had a unique importance to him and to everyone at the cottage. We're so happy to have chosen President Lincoln's Cottage for our wedding, and we look forward to visiting and remaining connected to the cottage throughout our marriage.

President Lincoln's Cottage was the perfect location for a wedding! We had family and friends traveling in from all over the country, and having our wedding at an historic, Washington DC venue made it extra special. All of our guests loved the venue and got a real kick out of being there. Plus, the location is absolutely beautiful! Finally, you get to work with Sahand, who is wonderful, super responsive, and flexible! Really, this place can't be beat and, if you're looking for a place that lets you have both an outdoor and historic component (and really embrace a DC vibe) to your wedding, this the ideal venue. It's worth every penny!