Holbrook Palmer Park was a great location for our wedding! Beautiful, well groomed park with great amounts of outdoor space. Our wedding was kid friendly and the park had a playground, open grassy areas, etc. Coudn't be happier with this choice of venue!

I had my wedding at Holbrook Palmer Park (Jennings Pavillon) and thought it was great. It was a great balance of what my husband and I wanted for our wedding. The park is pretty flexible in terms of alcohol policies (top shelf liquor is allowed with permits) and they are flexible with your choice of vendors (caterer, band, florist, rentals, etc). No preferred vendor list or extra fees for bringing in your own vendors. We had to nix a lot of venues because of these issues. Price was reasonable, but even better if you were an Atherton resident. Julie, the Venue Manager, was great to work with and quick to respond to phone calls and emails. She knows the venue well and can give you good planning tips. The best thing about the venue is that you can make it however you wish (I chose to have my reception outside the patio under string lights). Since you have the freedom to work with any magnitude of vendors, i would suggest a day-of coordinator for this venue to help you execute your big day.

My husband and I married at Holbrook-Palmer Park in August '09. We chose it for several reasons: 1. We and nearly all attendees live in the Bay Area, so this was a great, centralized location, 2. We loved that we could do a ceremony and reception in the same place without it being a stuffy mansion or hotel (not our style), 3. The price was right!
Jean, the contact at the park was very helpful and is obviously very experienced in setting up weddings and events at the park. She knows what layout and positioning of various tables, seating, etc. work best, but is willing to change it up if you have something else in mind. As someone else mentioned, I would have preferred to be able to contact her by email. I was rarely available to call during regular business hours, but she was always quick to respond to my phone messages. There were no lapses in communication whatsoever, I was just so used to getting email addresses and cell phone numbers from other vendors, that it seemed strange that this park still seems stuck in the '80s.
The park itself is gorgeous. It required very little decor, as the flowers and trees are so well-maintained, it would have been a waste to cover them up with something else.
We loved that we could do the ceremony and dinner outside and as it cooled off in the evening, people moved inside for dancing (but the doors were still open for people to sit outdoors if they preferred). Everything was set up as promised so that when the caterers and rentals arrived, they could get started immediately. Overall, it was as close to perfect a venue as we hoped for and I would definitely recommend it to anyone considering it.