Purslane at the Prospect Park Boathouse
Guest capacity
Up to 150 seated guests
About this venue
This Beaux Arts style building built in 1905 overlooks the scenic Lullwater and Lullwater Bridge offering a breathtaking natural setting and stately backdrop for your special occasion.
Our event spaces
- The Prospect Park Boathouse
Available services that can be provided by Purslane at the Prospect Park Boathouse
Services & amenities
- Bar services
- Catering services
- Clean up
- Dance floor
- Dressing room / Bridal Suite
- Event rentals
- Event staff
- Liability insurance
- On-site accommodations
- Pet friendly
- Service staff
- Set up
- Wheelchair accessible
- Wifi
Transportation & access
- Self parking - free
- Wheelchair accessible
Rentals
- Barware
- China
- Flatware
- Glassware
- Linens
- Standard Chairs
Reviews
Write a review- Zola (2)
3.0 (2 reviews)
They're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat
My wife and I wish we had gladder tidings to bring to this review. It brings us no joy to write this when we ought to be basking in newlywed bliss. Instead, we're exhausted from the stress and heartbreak that characterized our Purslane experience. We fell in love with the Boathouse the moment we laid eyes on it. We knew that this was where we needed to get married. The only caveat was that the Boathouse has an exclusive caterer, which is—you guessed it. Though we wanted to explore other options to find the right team for us, our hands were tied. Things started off well enough. Our initial contact was a delightful person named Kendall, whose gentle manner turned into palpable excitement as we described our vision for the Big Day. She loved the idea, told us it could easily be pulled off, and gave us a solid quote. We scheduled our tasting for July, when Purslane's Fall menu would be available. Which is when things started to go south. Kendall, we were told had been fired, and filling her place were Mathew (her immediate superior) and Elena, her replacement. First impressions were not great: both had an oleagenous, self-satisfied manner, and the latter even admitted to never trying the food. The fare was corporate event at best: subpar sliders and cold pasta dishes. Conspicuously absent was anything that we had discussed with Kendall. Panicked, we immediately sent emails to the new team, desperately trying to communicate what we needed for our event to succeed. In response, Purslane—almost punitively—doubled our quote with minimal explanation (roughly now the size of a mortgage down payment), accompanied by a gradual winnowing of expectations by the new team, who seemed to seethe with resentment that we had the audacity to say we didn't like what we were served. Imagine that your wedding is two months away. You nailed down all your other vendors months ago, but you still don't have a contract for the actual food. Imagine as you watch the catering team you got shotgun-married to drag their feet with every snide, dismissive response—even on simple requests like, "can I get the link to my contract on Tripleseat?"—as you watch the price tag steadily inflate like a helium balloon. How's your pulse? At that point, we kept telling ourselves we just needed the food to be good. Nothing else mattered. Finally, a month out, we had a do-over tasting, which admittedly was good (though we could have done without Mathew & Elena false obsequiousness). We breathed a light sigh of relief. If this was what the guests would experience, we'd be okay. Cue a series of backcharges that Purslane would impose us without explanation. We were charged for linens which didn't reflect anything that we had put in the floor plan with our planner (which was available to Purslane for months, per their request). We were forced to pay more when it became clear that they had neglected to look at our planner's timeline (also readily available for months). The night before our wedding, we were still embroiled in an email thread about the absurdity of it all. And finally, the actual execution at our wedding was not what we expected. The ingredients were there, but none of the heart. Mathew and Elena were kind enough not to show their faces. Despite the incompetence of Purslane's management, the kitchen staff and servers were INCREDIBLE. We experienced nothing but expert service and outstanding energy from them. They deserve better. You deserve better too.
The Best Venue in Brooklyn!
We live in the same neighborhood as the Prospect Park Boathouse, and so we had happened upon so many Boathouse weddings over the years that when it came time to choose our own wedding venue we naturally thought of the Boathouse. Getting married in what felt like our own backyard with Purslane running the show was truly one of the best decisions we ever could have made for our wedding. We worked with both Kendra and Kendall for our April 14, 2023 wedding and had a great experience being taken through the planning process, from signing the initial contract to seeing Kendall execute our vision on wedding day. One of the best things about Purslane at the Boathouse is the included rentals package: picking menu selections as well as details like linen color all in one place made the planning process so easy. The venue itself is absolutely gorgeous, and we loved that we could make the final call on a rain plan the morning of the wedding. Considering we got married in the unpredictable month of April, that gave us so much peace of mind. The food was absolutely delicious, and when we had some special requests around the groom’s mom’s food preferences, Kendall and her team worked with us to ensure we’d have an inclusive menu that made everyone happy. The catering team on wedding day went above and beyond, even helping the bride hide from the groom before our first look (LOL) and helping provide ice water to the bridal party on our hot wedding day while we were taking photos. We truly felt like we were in such good hands with Purslane, and all our guests absolutely raved about the beauty of the venue. We’ll cherish our photos and memories in this iconic building forever, and we love that we can always come visit on one of our neighborhood walks or even years from now, when we feel like reminiscing. All said, Purslane worked seamlessly with the rest of our vendor team to make our vision of a perfect wedding day come to life. You can’t go wrong with a Prospect Park Boathouse wedding!
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