Elmwood Park Zoo

13 User photos

• 

  Suron Grim · Married on 08/03/2019

  5.0

  • Quality of service:
    5.0
  • Responsiveness:
    5.0
  • Value:
    5.0
  • Flexibility:
    5.0
  • Professionalism:
    5.0

  Fun and memorable wedding venue - that we can visit again and again

  Having a zoo wedding was unique, fun, and memorable for us, our family and guests. Full transparency, we did deal with a couple of different people in the early days of planning for our August 2019 wedding, but everyone we worked with was professional, helpful, and quick to address any questions/changes we had. We went in with expectations that this was a Zoo first, but were very pleased with how well beyond our expectations the service, food, and overall experience was. We had the zoo to ourselves so had the ceremony by the eagles pavilion, cocktails in the trail of the jaguar, and the reception in the canopy garden. We made sure to include some fun elements like the giraffe feeding, animal meet and greet, carousel, and a fire pit in the evening. We were able to get photos in some fantastic places across the whole zoo. The food was good, the team of staff on hand was very attentive making sure things moved forward as planned, and if I could do it all over again I wouldn’t change anything. We were happy to know having our event at the zoo would benefit the animals and best of all we have a place we can revisit often since it’s not a “wedding only location”.

  Sent on 08/19/2019

• Mara · Married on 01/06/2018

  5.0

  • Quality of service:
    5.0
  • Responsiveness:
    5.0
  • Value:
    5.0
  • Flexibility:
    5.0
  • Professionalism:
    5.0

  Our wedding was a vision of perfection all thanks to the staff and team’s perfect execution and attention to detail, at Elmwood Part Zoo events. In the week leading up to the wedding, the sensationalized news was reporting that our day would be the coldest of the century, and it was! Our guests would never know it. EPZ came prepared: extra heat, extra tent coverage, and every detail we dreamed up, was taken care of. Even two weeks later, our guests are still remarking on the delicious appetizers and food, the decor and beauty of the venue, and the team’s incredible service. On our “big day” there wasn’t a thing missing or finger for us to lift. Thank you Gary and Nicole for taking our vision to your team and thank you EPZ Team for a perfect moment for us and our guests!

  Sent on 01/20/2018

• Laura · Married on 10/07/2017

  5.0

  • Quality of service:
    5.0
  • Responsiveness:
    5.0
  • Value:
    5.0
  • Flexibility:
    5.0
  • Professionalism:
    5.0

  Elmwood Park Zoo is a gem. As a couple of other reviewers suggested, we had a rough go at it to start. We booked EPZ 2 years ago, and over the course of planning there were multiple banquet managers, all of whom were let go for various reasons. With weeks before our wedding, we were fearful of changing hands again. HOWEVER, Al Zone (Executive Director) and Gary Murray (new events manager) brought us in for an emergency meeting a week before the big day. They promised us it would be an amazing, perfect day. They delivered hugely. First of all, Gary is extremely detail oriented and responsive. There were numerous emails back and forth days leading up to the wedding and he would answer within 2 hours, no questions asked. Al is proud of his product and makes sure it shows with thoughtful details (His suggestions included champagne for right after the ceremony that guests could drink as they walked around the zoo- and special EPZ pens/pencils on each of the tables at reception). Our wedding was spectacular, the staff was incredible (our guests couldn't stop saying it), and the zoo was truly unique. We got married under the Bison Archway, had giraffe feedings while we said hello to our guests, cocktail hour in the Jaguar Exhibit, and our reception in the Canopy Gardens. Weddings are ludicrously expensive, but EPZ does a great job of providing an unforgettable experience without breaking the bank. Pro-tip: Go with their in-house caterer; you are guaranteed to get a competitive/justifiable price per plate and their food is DELICIOUS. I can't thank Al, Gary, and the rest of the EPZ team enough for making our big day absolutely wonderful.

  Sent on 11/02/2017