Purslane at the Prospect Park Boathouse

Everything at Purslane was top-notch. Planning a wedding is quite stressful - there are so many moving parts and so many details to stress, so nothing is more crucial than clear communication, which is what we experienced with Elena from Purslane from beginning to end. We went through several different iterations of our catering plan and Elena was incredibly helpful and transparent throughout, helping us ultimately find a plan that we were delighted with. At our final site visit at the Prospect Park Boathouse, Elena helped us think through the pacing of our walks and many other practical details. Everything in terms of day-of execution was impeccable. Thank you Purslane for a dream wedding!

Our wedding at Purslane at The Boathouse was an unforgettable experience, and I would absolutely choose it again. The venue itself is breathtaking—the architecture and beautiful tiles created a stunning backdrop for our ceremony and reception. Even with our rain plan, it made the day feel incredibly intimate and even magical. We loved the feeling of hosting a wedding in our "backyard," with the picturesque lake and park setting. The day of servers were extremely kind and attentive, especially to our table and our VIP guests. They made sure we were well taken care of, always offering food and drinks without us needing to ask. Another standout aspect was having attendants to guide guests through the park, which ensured no one got lost on their way to the venue. However, there are a few things future couples should be aware of. At our first tasting, the staff didn’t know what they were serving us and had to check multiple times. Thankfully, they allowed us to have a second tasting, and this time there were menus, so it went much more smoothly. One of the biggest challenges all future couples should be aware of is their strictness with parking and delivery passes. You only get four delivery and four parking passes for vendors, VIP guests, and yourself, and they do not budge on this—even for guests with disabilities. This was difficult to manage, especially for our elderly grandmother and for family members picking up or dropping off items. Another important thing to note is the timeline. You’re only allowed access to the Boathouse two hours before the event starts, and most days there are other events going on earlier in the day. For example, the morning of our wedding, there was a bird-watching event until 3 pm, and we couldn’t get inside until 2 hours before our 5 pm wedding. Our florist even had to start setting up outside in a truck to make it work, so if you want big floral arrangements, it may be a challenge. Also, if guests arrive early (like ours did, about 20 minutes before), they won’t be let inside, even if it’s raining. Another heads-up, rehearsals are only allowed during public hours, and we weren’t allowed inside, which made it harder for our VIPs to visualize the walk down the aisle, especially with a rain plan. There were also a few minor issues during the event itself. The bar accidentally closed an hour early, which was frustrating because we had paid for the full time. This was fixed relatively quickly but many guests were turned away too soon. Some of the food at our wedding was different from what we had at our tasting in July: For example, the brown butter gnocchi I fell in love with at the tasting was served with a completely different, thicker squash sauce on the wedding day, and the mussels were missing from the seared halibut. Neither of these were communicated ahead of time. I understand it’s farm to table and dependent on what is available, but it would’ve been nice to know about these changes ahead of time. Additionally, in the beginning of the night, the custom cocktails had the wrong proportions of alcohol. Luckily my brother and sister in law were able to sort it out with the bartenders who were great about it. We could also hear some back-of-house noises during our ceremony since we were inside due to rain, including a timer that went off twice during the officiant’s reading. Lastly, if you’re planning to do the Hora, you will need to rent 2 chairs. The chairs at the Boathouse are folding chairs and not safe to lift in the air. Despite these challenges, the beauty and ambiance of the venue truly made our wedding day magical. These are just some things to keep in mind while planning. All in all, we loved every moment of our wedding at Purslane at The Boathouse and would choose the venue all over again.

We hired Elena and Kendra at Purslane to work with us at Prospect Park Boathouse. We had two weeks before the wedding and no wedding planner! And the wedding was absolutely beautiful. It is hard to describe how hard Purslane worked, how gracious they were, and how incredible and romantic the wedding ultimately was. They provided wonderful recommendations on flowers, cake, etc. And the food was absolutely amazing!

Smooth and beautiful - what can I say? Barely remember much fuss working with Elena and yet it was the wedding of our dreams. The park rocks.